Put God First

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. – Edmund Burke

Most of the evil acts in my life, and those I have witnessed in others, seem to be acts more of omission than commission.  My failure to speak up or act at times in the face of what I know is wrong or unjust sometimes seems to me a form of muted evil.  More often I see righteousness in small kindnesses around me, in everyday civilities and generosities.  Evil seems to shout (at least in the headlines) whereas righteousness mostly whispers.  Evil seems largely depersonalized, and doesn’t seem to care who I am.  By contrast, righteousness seems to whisper directly in my ear; it seems to know exactly who I am.  The banality of evil is the depersonalization of evil, and – as Edmund Burke observed: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.”  Perhaps that describes the difference between “good” and “righteous”: A “good” man can do nothing and still be good, whereas a “righteous” man is compelled to act.

The thoughts, theories, and discussions herein are predicated on those found in my latest book, Put God First: A Pocket Guide to Quality of Life in the Great Age of Excess.  Click here to read the Preface and Introduction (requires Adobe Reader 4.0 or above).

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