WHEN GOOD BECOMES EVIL

𝑼𝒏𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒚 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅.

For example: Some of the most passionate promoters of tolerance and inclusion are also some of the most intolerant and censorious people, towards those with whom they disagree. But why is that? ​How can someone be so passionate about something, yet seem to lose all sense of virtue when it comes to those with whom they strongly disagree? C.S. Lewis eluded to an answer when he said,

𝑂𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑦𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑎 𝑡𝑦𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒…𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑜 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒.

​What Lewis is saying here is that when we make a certain virtue the highest aim and a man's ungoverned passions become the mechanism by which to achieve that aim, there is no limit to what he can do to ensure the virtue is upheld. The end will always justify the means, no matter the cost.

Pilgrims, whatever our deepest passions are and no matter how virtuous they may seem to us and others, they must always be governed by and tethered to the truth.  The greater the good, the greater the temptation will be for that good to be leveraged as a justification for doing what is evil.
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Be careful how far you allow your ungoverned passions to take you, down the road of evil.