Miscellaneous: “When genocide was called good.” | Ben

The Bible is filled with examples of people doing bad things and thinking that they’re doing good. Probably one of the best examples of this is when genocide was called “good” in the book of Esther. Now, to be clear, the one who said it didn’t know what he was saying. But I think the point stands because the person he said it to, did. 

Allow me to explain. 

This moment comes after King Xerxes (a bad guy) was convinced by Haman (an even worse guy) to make a new law permitting force against the Jews. Cleverly, Haman never tells the king which people group he meant to kill. His entire speech is a masterclass in manipulation. But shockingly, neither does the king investigate further. Why the king had no follow-up questions is not clear. Though it probably had something to do with Haman bribing Xerxes with an exorbitant sum of money. Thus, seeing the dollar bills rolling in, the only response the king gives is to say in Esther 3:11, “do with them as it seems good to you.” (Emphasis added) 

It is often said, “Ignorance is bliss.” But in this case, I think we can all agree that ignorance is stupidity. Without even knowing the details, this aristocratic buffoon called the “deliberate and systematic destruction of a group of people because of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, or race” good.[1] As in, the exact opposite of evil. This is literally like saying that the Holocaust was a good ol' time for the Jews living in the 1940s. 

Now, when I first got to this point in Esther’s story, I thought, "How could anyone plot the destruction of an entire people group and think of it as a good thing?” And what’s interesting about that question is that it’s similar to the ones I’ve had before. Such as when I wondered, “How could two teenagers walk into a high school in Columbine, CO and kill 13 people?” Or, “How could someone hijack a plane and fly it into a building?”  Or, most recently, “How could a person claiming to be Christian, storm the Capital?”

Admittedly, none of those questions are easy to answer. Humans are complex creatures with varying motives. And so, narrowing things down to just one explanation may be so simplistic that it isn't beneficial. However, every solution must have a first step. Thus, I think a good starting point is this: a worldview devoid of a biblical foundation will regard “good” as evil and “evil” as good. In each of those scenarios, a failure to know right from wrong led to great heartache.

But this problem isn’t new, is it? We need only look as far back as the 1930s and 1940s to get more than enough examples in world history. Such as the aforementioned Holocaust, where nearly 6 million Jews lost their lives, over a million of which died in Auschwitz alone.[2] Or how Joseph Stalin's communist ideologies led to a self-induced famine called the "Holodomor," where at least 5 million people died of starvation in what was supposed to be the breadbasket of Europe.[3] Even more shocking was that those who didn't die had to resort to things like theft, murder, prostitution, and even cannibalism—yes, cannibalism—just to survive.[4] Why? Because Stalinism convinced the masses that the farmer was oppressing the people. That lie spurred communist agitators to take the farmer’s land, often killing them in the process. And, ultimately, this collectivist mindset gutted the farming industry, leading to food shortages. 

Moving away from recent history, examples in the Scriptures of evil being regarded as good are so numerous you don’t even have to leave the very first book to get your fair share. For instance, Eve took the forbidden fruit because it appealed to the eye (Gen. 3:6). Sarah mistreated Hagar because it pleased her (Gen. 16:6). And Lot willingly offered his daughters to a violent mob saying, “do to them as you please.” (Gen. 19:8) 

When we alone become the arbiters of truth, "good" changes from an objective principle into a subjective preference. Rather than some fixed standard determining what is allowed, our individual circumstances become the determination. Determine the parameters of your own good, and “good” can be whatever you want it to be. Thus, should you feel strongly about something, it no longer matters whether you’re taking something you shouldn’t or hurting an innocent. So long as you feel like it's right, it must be right. Right? This line of reasoning is what leads humanity towards the Holocaust and the Holodomor alike. It motivated Eve to take the fruit, Sarah to abuse Hagar, and Lot to offer his daughters. Without some true north to guide us, our thoughts and feelings will tend to overrule the rules. 

It is no secret we are born believing that we are right and everyone else is wrong. Ironically, what does feel wrong is when someone tells us what to do or what not to do. Anyone who's ever tried to reason with a child gets a distinct impression that they think themselves infallible. And maturity does little to dull this inclination.  A toddler pitching a fit because they’ve been told not to eat the yellow snow is no different than a man-baby losing his mind because he can’t go into a store at the height of a pandemic without wearing a mask.[5]

At our core, we like to think of ourselves as gods, and no one can tell us what to do. Thus, to be the gods of our own destiny, “good” must be made in our own image. And precisely because of this, the human race has done some horrific things. 

For example, here in my own city, a woman took the bodies of her deceased niece and nephew and hid them in the trunk of her car. Apparently, the five-year-old boy weighed only 21 pounds when he died and had been deceased for about two months before they found him. Whereas the girl, who was only seven, seems to have been in a suitcase since May of 2020. Now, no one would argue how tragic this story is. But before we begin to distance ourselves from this woman, allow me to remind you that within the shores of the United States in 2017, 13.5 women out of 1,000 aged 15-44 had an abortion.[6] Admittedly, this is a historic low, lower than when Roe v. Wade legalized abortions in 1973.[7]  And while I hope and pray this trend continues to drop in the coming years, I must say that even one abortion is still one too many. The deaths of 862,320 unborn children in 2017 is no less tragic than the bodies of two children being hidden in the trunk of a car in 2021. 

So, why make this comparison? Because we live in a world of cognitive dissonance where the latter is rightly condemned, but the former is curiously debated. Most people view the world through their own lens of "good" and "evil" rather than God's, and it is often the innocent who pay the price. Rather than condemn evil, our world condones and even commends it (cf. Rom. 1:32). God says, “My creation, my claim.” But the world counters with, “My body, my choice.”[8]

But there is a harsh warning in Scripture for those who would pervert the definition of what is good and what is evil.  

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and shrewd in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right! Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” 

Isaiah 5:20-24 (ESV)

The degradation of truth leads humanity further down the road of debauchery and depravity, leading to its destruction. And while God is merciful (cf. Ex. 34:6-7), longsuffering (cf. Ex. 34:6; Rom. 2:5), and not willing that any should perish (cf. Pet. 3:9); a day of reckoning is coming (cf. Mat. 25:31-46; 2 Tim. 4:1; Heb. 9:27). I wonder how many will go into eternal darkness thinking they haven’t done anything wrong.

Going back to the story of Esther, Haman thought the massacre of an entire people group—the young, old, men, women, and children—and the plunder of their possessions was good. Xerxes, a monarch who was supposed to protect his people, instead put his "stamp" of approval on genocide (cf. Esth. 3:10, 12). Just because something is legally permissible does not make it morally acceptable. And both men would end up dying untimely deaths because of their duplicitous morals. Haman is hung on the very gallows he himself had made for Mordecai; whereas, Xerxes would later be assassinated by one of his own ministers.[9] Fitting ends for wicked men. 

Thus, whether in this life or the next, God will avenge the victim. He will defend the defenseless. And He will right every wrong.  It is our choice whether or not we will align with what God thinks of as good. A worldview devoid of a biblical foundation will regard “good” as evil and “evil” as good.  You are either the man throwing the dice trying to control your destiny, or you're the man trusting the One who tells the die where to fall (cf. Esth. 3:7; 9:24-32; Pro. 16:33). The one man defines for himself what is good, while the other allows God to define it for him. 

Which one are you? 

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[1]            Andreopoulos, George J., "Genocide," Encyclopedia Britannica, January 14, 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/genocide, [accessed, August 6, 2021].

[2]            Frost, Natasha, “Horrors of Auschwitz: The Numbers Behind WWII's Deadliest Concentration Camp,” January 23, 2020, The History Channel, https://www.history.com/news/auschwitz-concentration-camp-numbers, [accessed, August 17, 2021].

[3]            Applebaum, A.. "Holodomor." Encyclopedia Britannica, November 12, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/event/Holodomor, [accessed, August 17, 2021].

[4]           Coates, Ta-Nehisi, “Grappling With Holodomor: Thoughts On Timothy Snyder’s The Bloodlands,” January 3, 2014, The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/01/grappling-with-holodomor/282816/, [accessed, August 18, 2021].

[5]           Yong, Ed, “How The Pandemic Now Ends,” August 12, 2021, The Atlantic,https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/08/delta-has-changed-pandemic-endgame/619726/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29, [accessed, August 13, 2021].

[6]           The Associated Press, “Number of abortions in U.S. drops to lowest since they became legal nationwide, report finds,” September 18, 2019, NBC News, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/number-abortions-u-s-drops-lowest-they-became-legal-nationwide-n1055726, [accessed, August 6, 2021]. 

[7]            French, David, “How To Be Pro-Life in Joe Biden’s America,” February 7, 2021, The Dispatch,  https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/how-to-be-pro-life-in-joe-bidens, [accessed, August 6, 2021].

[8]           Piper, Kirstie, “Bodily Autonomy and “My Body, My Choice,”” June 3, 2021, Focus on the Family, https://www.focusonthefamily.com/pro-life/bodily-autonomy-and-my-body-my-choice/, [accessed, August 17, 2021].

[9]           Wikipedia contributors, "Xerxes I," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Xerxes_I&oldid=1036598990, [accessed, August 6, 2021].