Spirituality and evil are not opposed
Spirituality and evil are not two entirely different and opposing things: with spirituality cannot be only a simple and naive friendship, because it is not the good opposed to evil, it is not salvation; on the contrary, it can cause us the most tragic sufferings and kill us, without any scruples. It has to be treated as what it is, that is an object, as, for example, a tree may be considered: a tree can be very beautiful and can help us to live in many ways, but, if it will fall on us, it will have not scruple to crush us; yet, not for that we give up to enjoy the trees and appreciate all their goodness and beauty.
Spirituality is not objectively better or more important than other things, it is not essential for living: it is similar to music, it is based on feelings, not on an objective value. It is exercise of a human faculty and as such contributes to the equilibrium of the person.
Spirituality does not make us insensitive to evil, it does not diminish suffering, otherwise it would be a drug, it would lay itself open to the accusation of being “opium of the people”, that Marx levelled at religion. It serves rather to pass through evil and react to it with a search for consciousness of our own humanity. If the world is all evil, good, for each of us, is our humanity that tries to grow. In this sense, spirituality and evil are opposed, as human and universal spirituality, but we must not forget that we call both “spirituality”.
In this world, suffering as balanced people may simply mean suffering more: as Dante said poetically, “who knows more, regrets more wasting time”, but this is not enough to make wise people prefer ignorance. This means that spirituality, despite all its limitations, has in itself so power to attract the human heart as to make it willing to sacrifice anything for it. A passion like that can be accused of brainwashing, but we can object that in this world there is nothing else to do than to choose what we prefer to be brainwashed by.
