Humanizing Evil

What the Holocaust, horror films, and Stephen King teach us about the nature of evil

SS auxiliaries poses at a resort for Auschwitz personnel, 1942. https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/laughing-at-auschwitz-1942/

This photo went viral on twitter not too long ago. Instantly, it fascinated me. It was probably for the same reason most horror books and scary movies always have. I treasure Stephen King and this recent A24¹ golden age we have all been living through has been giving me life. I deeply enjoy not just a good scary story, but ones that bring in deeply human elements of true horror and dread.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good jump scare as much as the next gal and have at least one of the Paranormal Activity films in my top 10. But it’s the stories, the authors, and the filmmakers who use the horror genre to unpack and bring life to everyday human evils that hold a special place in my Halloween loving heart. It’s the narratives that, much like this picture above, are able to hold the tension of ordinary, casual, even commonplace realities in tandem with the deeper levels of trauma, corruption, and pure wickedness that often lie dormant underneath them.

https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/laughing-at-auschwitz-1942/

These photos were recently received by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and came from the personal scrapbook of a high-ranking SS officer, Karl Höcker. Höcker worked at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp and these photos found inside his scrapbook depict several Auschwitz concentration camp workers giggling, being silly, and simply enjoying some social time off from work. On the same day these above photos were taken, two transports of Hungarian Jews would arrive at Auschwitz— most of whom would be murdered upon arrival.

What fascinates me and I am sure many others who come upon these photos is how “normal” these incredibly young and seemingly innocent individuals appear. These resemble photos many of us would have taken in college among our group of friends or sorority peers. And they certainly do not resemble what most of us think about when imagining who could have participated in such atrocities all that time ago. And that is why pictures like these, movies like Midsommar, and books like The Stand continue to absorb my interest so earnestly. They confirm what the great Stephen King believes and often writes about:

“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”

The scariest forms of evil that should leave most of us cowering under our sheets in terror cannot be found under the bed nor stuffed away in our closets. Such evil is found within and among each of us, and yet, that continues to be the place we remain most reluctant to see it.

Failing to Recognize Evil as Human

I think often, we are afraid of really seeing the humanity behind the many faces of evil. Maybe we are afraid it will lessen the gravity with which we abhor that evil— to realize somebody’s mother, somebody’s sister, somebody’s first love, somebody’s best friend is the ultimate culprit of its overwhelming harm. Maybe we fear it will cause us to lean too far into sympathy and relent in our pursuit of true justice. We are afraid as soon as we learn of someone’s story— their background, their upbringing, and the complexity of it all— compassion rather than righteous indignation will cloud our hearts and minds. Maybe we are hesitant to use such labels, especially toward those we love, for we fear such a label would determine them beyond repair. And maybe, just maybe, we are afraid we may see a little too much of ourselves within the faces that lie behind the evils we detest so deeply.

Whatever our reasons, it remains true: we deeply struggle to hold the tension that is recognizing evil as incredibly human.

We struggle to acknowledge that at the helm of every great injustice of our time and at the heart of each of our most passionate topics of advocacy, there exists very real and present image bearers whose stories are far more nuanced and complex than we often care to realize.

We also struggle to acknowledge that even our very favorite humans— the pastors we look up to, the mentors who have never steered us wrong, the congregations we have belonged to for 10+ years, the friends and family we have enjoyed so many happy and joyful memories with— they too are capable of causing incredible pain and damage. And while we are at it, so are we.

Because evil is not some outside of ourselves foreign force that overtakes “the bad” but allows “the good” to exist unscathed. No, evil is an everyday reality that comes as the result of everyday choices that we find ourselves making constantly.

Most people do not wake up one day and decide, “I think i’ll abuse someone this morning.” Most image bearers do not intend nor seek out to damage lives, to wreak havoc on innocent souls, nor to cause lasting trauma, especially toward those they love. But many people are faced with many decisions throughout many lifetimes during which they will choose self-preservation over protection of the vulnerable, defending insecurity over the risk of being seen as weak, ignorance over education, avoidance over listening, control over empathy, comfort over compassion.

The true beauty and true complexity of our human experience is that it is an ever-widening and overlapping tapestry of decisions we make, decisions our parents made, decisions our children will make, and decisions those in power make today and in days to come.

Some of those decisions are good— made in the name and pursuit of wholeness and flourishing for all.

Some of those decisions are messy and imperfect— made in the name of doing our best, and making honest attempts toward good amidst the broken and damaged fragments of a reality we are given.

And some of those decisions are cruel— made in the name of ignorance, apathy, or hate and leading to a harm that ripples out beyond our comprehension or personal capacity to mend.

And often, it can be hard to know which of the above we are making at any given time. It makes sense that in our earnestness to avoid such complexity, nuance, and uncertainty, we attempt to dehumanize evil to make ourselves feel better.

Because if we can dehumanize evil, well then that isn’t something I nor any of my favorite people has to worry about, we are good people. Only bad, malicious people need to worry about evil. The only issue with dehumanizing evil in this way, is it actually creates the potential for further damage in the long-run.

The Problems with Dehumanizing Evil

Problem 1: When we dehumanize evil we deceive ourselves into believing we are above or beyond the potential to remain complicit in or capable of great evil too.

By continuing to believe that evil is always another’s issue or an “out there” problem, we deny our own potential to fall into the same reckless patterns that history shows everyday, well-meaning people fall into all of the time. Lest we become our grandparents normalizing the everyday regularity of segregation, or their grandparents normalizing Jim Crow Laws, or theirs normalizing the owning of another human being as property— we would do well to recognize the normalcy through which great evil has been practiced in the everyday of our history. And we would do better to recognize that none of us is above or beyond becoming such passive participants in such great staines upon human history. While yes, it is far easier to declare we just aren’t sexist, racist, or cruel to the marginalized. How much more important it is that we admit we are sexist, racist, and cruel to the marginalized all the damn time and we must continuously unlearn and reconcile those evil behaviors with great urgency, lest image bearers continue to be damaged by our harm.

Problem 2: When we dehumanize evil, we distance ourselves from the responsibility and capability we hold to do something about evil.

There is no talking to a hate-filled, destruction seeking monster. There is no reasoning with an emotionless sociopath beyond the capacity for empathy. There is not much to do, work for, or hope for in the face of detached and foreign demons who only seem to tempt and lure the people we remain most distant from. However, it is possible to talk to our racist church members. It is possible to reason with your sexist co-worker. There is much to do, work for, and hope for in the faces of present and embodied human beings who you interact with everyday.

For it is from and within such human beings that great evil often emerges and it is from and within each of us that the potential to defeat such evil exists.

We need no brave exorcists, nor the safety of daylight to come and save the day. We need our own boldness and courage to do what is right. Our own tenacity and determination to never tire of working toward what is good. Our own willingness to accept the cost that standing against injustice often demands, because the stakes are simply far higher than we ever care to realize.

The battle between good and evil is occurring everyday— in the midst of our ordinary interactions, our casual conversations, even our common workplaces, churches, and neighborhoods. This is what it means to humanize evil. It is to recognize its presence and potential from within our own circles, relationships, and spheres of influence. And it is having the willingness and bravery to do something about it when its face befalls before us. Because it will, and likely already has.

“Those who attempt to describe the horrors of one holocaust or another inevitably use language that mythically denies, romanticizes, or diminishes the oppression. When history is collapsed into myth, responsibilities become diffused, and repentance and reconciliation become impossible. In the inflated realm of mythical oppression, villains are so villainous that no one sees themselves reflected in the image.”²

Evil is not simply the Freddy Krugers, the Hannibal Lecters, nor the Pennywises of the world. Evil is also the Jack Torrances³, the Harold Lauders⁴, and the everyday residents of Derry, Maine⁵. It can be found in the complex, haunted, and incredibly human individuals whose internal demons, lapses in judgement, and moments of ignorant inaction wreaks havoc on the individuals and world around them.

Would we be so bold and so willing as to begin to see ourselves, our co-workers, our family members, our pastors, our churches, and our trusted institutions reflected maybe not in the image of our history’s greatest villains, but possibly in the image of our history’s greatest harms.

And would we be even bolder as to actually do something about that image that we see.

1. The production company behind movies like Hereditary, Midsommar, and The Witch

2. Holmes, Barbara Ann. Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church. Fortress Press, 2017.

3. The tormented but often well-meaning alcoholic father depicted in The Shining.

4. The unpopular, unassuming, and heartbroken reject turned monster depicted in The Stand.

5. A fictional town in which many of Stephen King’s most horrific stories take place. Home to It’s “Pennywise the Clown” as well as everyday residents who see and say nothing in the midst of great abuses and harms toward children.