Some Christian philosophers contend that evil is simply the absence of good. According to Wikipedia, “This is known as the privation theory of evil, a theological and philosophical doctrine that evil, unlike good, is insubstantial, so that thinking of it as an entity is misleading.”
It can be argued that evil is the deviation of God’s will and His goodness. In Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-17, we read of the fall of Lucifer, an angel created as good and beautiful. It was his choice to rebel against God, thus embodying the absence of good.
I’m no philosopher, but this argument makes sense to me.
Let’s relate the theological doctrine to the decline of good in the United States of America, which some say began in 1963 with Abington School District v. Schempp.
This landmark Supreme Court ruling ended the practice of organized religious exercises in public education. The challenge was brought by Edward Schempp, on behalf of his son Ellery Schempp, in Pennsylvania, where public schools had been required, since 1949, to start the school day with a Bible reading.
Before 1963, many public schools in the United States, not just in Pennsylvania, included Bible readings and the Lord’s Prayer in the curriculum.
That was the start of removing God, goodness, and love from society and our children’s education.
On Sunday, Bishop Robert Barron addressed the nation at President Donald Trump’s “Rededicate 250,” a prayer event on the National Mall to rededicate our nation as “One Nation Under God” ahead of America’s 250th anniversary.
The theme of his talk was, “Religion belongs to the very fabric of our democracy.”
In an interview with Fox News Digital on Saturday, Barron said, “God is essential to the very foundations of American democracy. There’s a lot of talk today about the threats to democracy; that is a true threat to democracy, the marginalization of God.”
Barron believes that many of the problems we have in our society today is due to a separation from God.
“Take God out of the equation, what are you left with? Radical self-choice. Welcome to wokeism. Welcome to the culture of self-invention. ‘I make myself up, values is up to me, my gender, it’s up to the whole structure of my life, it’s my choice,’” he said. “That’s deadly to our democracy.”
Founding Father Thomas Jefferson is credited as the author of the Declaration of Independence. One of it’s most quoted lines is “all men are created equal,” is a fundamental principle of American democracy. “We’re not equal in any way. Look at the classical political philosophers; they would never affirm the equality of all people. We’re not equal in intelligence or moral virtue or beauty or courage or anything. We’re radically unequal. So where does this come from?” Barron asked. “Why would you go from we’re not equal at all to it’s ‘self-evident that we’re equal’? And the answer is in that little word, ‘created,’ that ‘all men are created equal.’ So, despite all our differences, we are all equally children of God and then endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. Take the creator out of the equation, rights will go out in a minute.”
This line is a uniquely Christian idea. “No one in the classical world believed that. Aristotle didn’t, Plato didn’t. Cicero didn’t, none of them,” he said.
In communist countries like Russia, China, Cuba and North Korea, individuals do not have rights. For this purpose, the first thing communists and dictators remove from their culture is God and specifically Christianity.
Most Radical Leftists today reject God. Political scientist Ryan Burge said, "For Democrats, secularism increasingly structures worldview and issue positions.”
In fact, according to a study done after the 2024 Presidential election by Burge, 57 percent of Democrats under 35 are not religious. Two-thirds of Democrats who voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 reported rarely attending church, if ever.
In comparison, 80 percent of Republicans who voted in the last presidential election reported being Christian.
Hollywood and much of the liberal media also try to remove Christ from our lives. This constant attempt is tearing at the fabric of our society and our democracy.
Freedom 250, bringing all American’s together in prayer and worship, was a wonderful way to begin the celebration of our Nation’s 250th birthday.
If you would like to learn more, please click on the links below.
https://biblehub.com/topical/t/the_absence_of_good.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abington_School_District_v._Schempp
https://thefederalist.com/2026/05/12/in-rejecting-god-leftism-renders-us-less-human/
