Darkness of the Human Heart

Susan Powell went missing on December 7, 2009 after her husband left the home for a sub-zero, spur of the moment camping trip in the middle of the night, only to return later the same day. Joshua Powell was under investigation for her disappearance and presumed murder. He lost custody of his two children in September 2011 after his father was arrested for child pornography and voyeurism charges. He had been living with his son and grandchildren.

On February 12, 2012, Joshua separated his children from a social worker during a supervised visit, locked them in his home and then engineered a gas explosion. Later investigation suggests he took a hatchet to his own children before carbon monoxide poisoning killed him and the children.

How can such things happen?

You can blame demon possession, I suppose. It may not be far afield. You could blame mental illness. You could blame addiction and abuse, perhaps illustrated with the moral deprivation of Joshua’s father. You could blame all these factors and more, but you are still left with a picture of hell itself. The father with a hatchet, in an inferno. It makes your mind reel. It slashes reason away and shatters the supports for our ordered, moral world.

But this is the world. This is the hell that we have created for ourselves, and if not but the mercy of God, this is where we would all burn. We live by illusions that people are basically good, that this world makes sense, that humans basically do good to one another, but all these aphorisms and platitudes form a thin veneer over the dark demons which find harbor in our hearts.

You don’t need to look far to see barbarism and demonism: the atrocities of Abu Grahib, US soldiers who skinned Viet Cong alive, scalpings and the torture of catholics and protestants in England (see Braveheart), the Inquisition, it goes on and on. And if this doesn’t sicken you, consider what our children play on the computer. Watch this video and remember it’s little boys who play these games and watch their brothers play.

What’s the cause? We are fallen and corrupted creatures, turning away from light and life and embracing death and darkness. This is our species. You want to know the miracle? That this doesn’t happen more in this wicked world. You want to know the miracle? That we don’t see more of this stuff all the time happening in our neighborhoods and schools. As much as we deplore Political Correctness and The New Sensitivity and how Offended people are, we live in one of the most human and gentle ages, even considering the massacre of the unborn. We live torture-free lives here in the West, which is more than most people in history can say. That’s the miracle.

And this is the reason I believe in Christ and the resurrection. If my hope were in men, all would be lost. This is my reason for faith in Christ and resurrection. Without this, it’s all meaningless hell.

Possibly Related posts:

1. Wasteland, Revisted
2. Babies make Children Human?
3. Nitpicking is the Currency of Hell
4. A Generation Gone
5. Moralism at VBS