The impersonality of evil

In the previous blog, I argued that human evil is the result of natural forces. It is not separate from other natural phenomena, like hurricanes or earthquakes, but is another facet of the operations of nature.

The impersonality of evil was brought home to me yesterday. A Palestinian gynecologist, a man who lives in Gaza but trained in Israel, worked in Israel, and treated Israeli patients, had three of his children killed in the recent war in Gaza. A fourth child, a daughter, is critically injured.

An Israeli woman I know told me about the interview he did after the tragedy. He sobbed deeply and said that he and his daughters had always wanted peace and not war.

These were not violent people but ordinary people. Many people on both sides who wanted war are alive while young women who wanted peace are dead.


My friend's daugther, an Israeli living in London, called her mother crying. She had known this doctor and had been distressed to learn that his children had been killed.

Was it Heschel who said something like "Expecting life to be fair because you are good is like expecting a bull not to charge you because you are a vegetarian."