Evil: Francis and Augustine

I have read Augustine and his Theory of Evil. It basically is the lack of good. But evil is a powerful word, a real powerful word. We call Hitler Evil. That has true meaning.

But today Francis tweets:

Inequality is the root of social evil.

With all due respect to The Bishop of Rome, does this mean all inequality is Evil? Some people run better than others, is that Evil? Some people make better investments than others. Is that Evil?

When one makes such a sweeping indictment then it often tends to reduce the strength of the word.

The Guardian jumped on this quickly. As they say:

But in last autumn's essay, Evangelii Gaudium, Francis wrote that: "Just as the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say 'Thou shalt not' to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills … Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalised: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape. Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded." The claim that human beings have an intrinsic value in themselves, irrespective of their usefulness to other people, is one that unites Christianity and socialism. It can be even found somewhere in the shadows of Marxism, but there humans gain their value from history, and when they stand in its way, that's tough for them, as the millions of Stalin's victims could tell us. But if you think the market is the real world, it makes no sense at all, since in the market, value is simply the outcome of supply and demand.

Yes people have individual value, that is the essence of individualism.  Yet humans each have a duty to perform, to maximize their potential. Humans ultimately must answer for what they have made of their lives, either to themselves or God. Survival of the Fittest is a view of nature that has a basis in fact. It may not be a norm for social interaction.

I wonder what Augustine would think of this Bishop of Rome?