There seems to be a trend on the rise in America. If you don’t like something or you disagree with it then you paint it as evil. I know that this is certainly nothing new. It just strikes me as being more pervasive now than at any other time in my life.

For instance, if a political figure has a policy that you don’t like it’s not enough to disagree with the policy. You have to engage in scare tactics and name calling to get your point across. Assigning them an unpopular political ideology or juxtaposing their name or image with that of a well known dictator is a hot trend (though again nothing new). Coming up with not so clever nick names for these groups is also de rigueur.

It’s not just about politics though. I mean that’s too easy. The term originated with religion. If someone is a member of a religion that we don’t understand or agree with then it’s so easy to call them names or ascribe attributes to them that simply do not apply to the religion as a whole or to most adherents. It’s not even just about other religions though. The flame wars between conservative evangelicals and those in the emergent movement can get messy. Then of course there are those non-religious who believe that all religions are a destructive force.

Social issues are also common fodder for painting in an evil light. We’ve got those evil secular humanists that want to brainwash our children into the cult of Darwin. Homosexuals have an “agenda” that wants to… what, make us all gay? Illegal immigrants want to destroy our way of life and take our jobs. Granted most of these instances exist thanks to either the political and/or religious demagogues.

It’s even stretched to inanimate objects. High Fructose Corn Syrup? Evil. We’re blaming a thing for making our kids fat and now we’re going to tax the heck out of soda (more than likely).

I’m sure I’m leaving out some great examples, but I think my point has been made. So why do we do this? I think a lot of it comes down to desiring a scapegoat. “Why does my life suck? It can’t be anything I’m doing. Who can I blame then?” It’s also easy shorthand in debates. Rather than talk about the issues and heaven forbid find a compromise we just take out our favorite charged phrases, dust them off and apply (heh) liberally.

I think that there are certainly things and people in this world that are evil/wrong. I’m also fully willing to admit that I’ve fallen prey to this unfortunate tendency, so that the people I’m certain are “evil” are perhaps no more than my own personal whipping boys. the questions I have are two fold. Is there a place for this demonization? How can it be avoided where it is unnecessary (assuming that the answer to question one tells us it’s ever necessary)?

And just for a little self reflection, what have you demonized?