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Confronting Evil Today
David Seljak, PhD
Mainstream culture still thinks of evil in fairly traditional terms, that is, the actions of individuals who cannot resist the temptation of the rewards of their evil acts. In this series of lectures, we examine religious thinkers - including Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Gustavo Gutierrez - who look at evil in its social context. These thinkers from the world's religions go back to the roots of their traditions to find wisdom, values, practices and forms of community to fight evil in the modern world. The objective of this mini-course is to inspire a discussion of what evil means in a world that both benefits and suffers from dramatic changes brought about by modern society, technology, and ideology.
Lecture #1: Understanding Evil
Friday, January 16, 2009 / 7:30 p.m.
Lecture #1 PowerPoint Presentation
Modern society has brought us many benefits; however, it has also unleashed new death-dealing forces on a previously unimaginable scale. Dr. Seljak asks why is it that frequently the greatest evil emerges from our dreams of building a good society? Like democracy and material prosperity, total war, genocide, ecological destruction, manufactured famines, and global imperialism are all products of modernity. Using the work of Holocaust philosopher Stephen T. Katz as well as sociological studies of ideology, we will discuss the role of ideology and the unique features of modern society - including bureaucracy, technology and scientific reason - in these new forms of evil.
Lecture #2: Studies in Evil
Friday, January 23, 2009 / 7:30 p.m.
Mohandas Gandhi understood imperialism as an evil rooted in ignorance and grounded in ideology. In his Satyagraha campaign he fashioned a uniquely modern response to evil by appealing to India's rich religious heritage. His disciples Martin Luther King Jr. and Thich Nhat Hanh adopted his vision and elements of his strategies in their campaigns for peace and justice. From these "case studies" in confronting evil, we will examine themes that can help us to understand and oppose evil in the twenty-first century. One of the most important lessons, Dr. Seljak argues, is that when we confront the evil "out there" (the evil done by one's enemies) without confronting the evil "in here" (the evil done by one's own community), we risk doing terrible evil ourselves.
Lecture #3: A Response to Evil
Friday, January 30, 2009 / 7:30 p.m.
Lecture #3 PowerPoint Presentation
One of the most sophisticated and intelligent discussions of confronting evil in the modern world has emerged from Roman Catholic social teaching, which some have described as "the Church's best kept secret." In a personal reflection, Dr. Seljak outlines how his thinking about sin, redemption, and the Good News of Jesus Christ has been changed by the work of prophetic Catholic thinkers such as Enrique Dussel, Gustavo Gutierrez, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Gregory Baum. He argues that understanding and confronting evil, especially the evil in which we ourselves participate, is crucial to our own salvation and the redemption of a world given over to injustice and violence.
All lectures are free and open to the public. No registration is necessary.
