In the exploration of the source of the Nile river in the late 1800’s, one explorer quoted a minor chief in central Africa named Comora as saying: “The good people are all weak: they are good because they are not strong enough to be bad.” [1] At first I thought this was in reality a justification for the chief’s evil ways but then on further thought it appeared to me to contain an element of truth.
Bad people are stronger than good people and the reason is because they must be in order to survive. An example of this is when the explorers broke camp at the start of the day. Their last act was to torch the grass huts they had built the previous day. My question was: why go to this extra work? “The huts, of course, might have been useful for other travelers, but one left no gifts for strangers in this hostile world.” [2] In a world where everyone is potentially your enemy, it would make sense to destroy anything that would benefit your enemy—a scorched earth policy, even if it required extra effort to do so.
Another reason bad people are stronger than good people is because we are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27 and Psalms 8:4-5). If this is so, then it would require an effort to be unlike God. Just think of all the money and effort that those who fail to follow God’s standards impose on the rest of the world (e.g. prevention of theft, personal protection). What a waste! Why do we work so hard to be unlike God?
On the other hand, there are good arguments to support the idea that bad people are weaker than good people. Good people do not conform to this world (Romans 12:2) and it takes strength to be different from the norms of this world. Just consider all the martyrs for the Christian faith. Bad people simply conform to whatever the rest of the world does. Is it because they are too weak to oppose the world in which they live?
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[1] Alan Moorehead. The White Nile. New York: Harper & Row, 1960, p.147.
[2] Ibid., p. 30.
