One of the philosophical positions I’ve never really been able to grasp is how some people believe evil doesn’t exist. I get that they might not think anyone is purely evil–I think there are exceptions, but I think most people aren’t any such thing–but how can they say that evil doesn’t exist?

All around us, throughout the world, there are actions that can only be described as evil. There are crimes that are universal taboos and yet people still commit those crimes and do so knowing full well how those crimes are viewed. They just do them anyway.

Yes, mass murder has to be right up on that list.

However, this piece argues that not only does evil not exist, but we need to do something about evil just the same. They just don’t frame it quite that way.

I don’t believe in evil. When people commit horrific acts there are always those who claim that such acts are “evil.” They are not. They are human.

I object to the use of “evil” because it’s a cop out. If I call a murderer “evil” then I am essentially denying his humanity. And I don’t mean this in a bleeding heart liberal way (although I am that, and proud). I am saying, “That person is not and can not be like me.” It’s a kind of emotional insulation. The fact is, humans do some terrible things. But it’s not because they’re possessed by some kind of evil spirit.

Except evil people aren’t possessed by anything. Yet for whatever reason, they’ve committed an evil act–and yes, murder is evil–and done so in such a way that it can’t be chalked up to anything remotely understandable. The man who rapes and tortures a woman before killing her and setting her body on fire is still human, but that doesn’t make him any less evil.

And yes, this distinction matters, but only for our discussion here.

Moving on…

In a country that has more shootings in a week than some countries have in a year, we should know better than to call gun violence evil, as if we’re casting the blame away from ourselves. When someone picks up a gun and shoots someone, it’s not an isolated act of “evil.” It’s downright American at this juncture.

If gun violence is the product of evil, then there is no societal responsibility to do anything to stop it. After all, you can’t stop evil.

But you know what you can stop? The massive proliferation of guns in this country. Guns are too easy to get. Period.

Except the premise here is faulty. You can stop evil. We do it all the time. How you stop it might depend on the evil in question, but we stop evil regularly.

The Civil War stopped the evil of legal chattel slavery in this country forever. I’m sure the author won’t try to tell me the enslavement of almost the entire population of African-Americans in the United States wasn’t evil, after all, so yes, we can stop evil.

Could you stop the proliferation of guns in this country? It’s possible. Guns aren’t as easy to get as the author thinks, of course, but for the sake of argument, sure, you could.

Then what?

JD Vance called school shootings “a fact of life” after the recent school shooting in Georgia that took the lives of two students and two teachers.

Vance has stirred up a lot of outrage with this comment. But you know what? He’s right. Mass shootings are a staple of American life. This is a crisis of our own creation. By doing so very little to stop gun violence in this country, we have decided that gun rights are the most important rights one can have. More important than life.

But, as Kamala Harris said, “It doesn’t have to be this way.”

Except it should be noted that Vance actually said pretty much the same thing. He lamented that it was a fact of life, then went on to say that we need to address it. It’s funny how often that gets missed, especially by someone who thinks evil doesn’t exist, then trips up trying to present Vance as precisely that.

The author goes on to say, “It’s. The. Guns.”

The periods are how you know it’s serious.

But evil acts like mass murders happen without guns all the time. People set houses on fire, for example. there are mass stabbings. There are bombings. Over and over, evil people commit evil acts that don’t involve guns in any way, shape, or form. That’s because it’s. Not. The. Guns.

It’s. The. People.

People are the problem, and until and unless we address that issue, we’re just going to have more and more events like the Apalachee High School shooting. Vance at least upping school security to try and minimize the risk to our kids. The author and Kamala Harris just want to punish people who did nothing wrong.

If you ask me, that’s downright evil in and of itself.