It’s been ages since Pastor David Hegg has gotten my attention. His columns usually follow a general pattern that is well-worn, formulaic and predictable, but while reading his (Oct. 22) column on the situation in Israel, I saw the magic word: “Evil.” It’s like a shiny thing to someone with ADHD.
Why Pastor Hegg felt the need to mention the likes of one Richard Dawkins in his column is not clear to me. Dawkins, atheist extraordinaire, is the last person I would use to verify anything but whether the tea I was served is Earl Gray or Darjeeling. His arguments against the existence of “God” are as useless as those of theists in favor of the existence of God, but according to Pastor Hegg, Dawkins did say something with which I DO agree, and that is that there is no such thing as evil.
Hegg almost sarcastically defaults to his training, that if there is no evil then there can be no good, only “pitiless indifference.” How about “passive” indifference, Pastor Hegg?
I am certain Pastor Hegg is familiar with the concept of “deism.” Most of the Founding Fathers of our country were deists. For those who are not familiar, deism is the belief that a supreme being created everything but then just walked away, leaving things to themselves. No good, no evil, just a big, fat universal, “It is what it is … deal with it.” But in rebuttal to the nonsense about “everything has a purpose,” I will counter that “everything has a REASON.” The end doesn’t justify the means, Pastor Hegg, but for every action there is a reaction, wouldn’t you agree?
What I suggest is an assignment for everyone to read the book in the Old Testament that chronicles the Israelites being led out of Egypt to their “Promised Land.” It just so happens that the land they were led to was already occupied. What happened to those people — men, women, children, infants, and even their animals? The rest is history, but who started this whole mess? It’s all there in those pages. What we’re seeing isn’t a matter of “good” or “evil.” It’s simple cause and effect, but you’re conveniently ignoring that. Again, I understand, you’re a Christian pastor, not a Muslim cleric.
Arthur Saginian
Santa Clarita
