Evil and suffering

Humans have defined evil in different ways throughout history as they seek to make sense of war, genocide, and disease. Spiritualities and religions have offered their own interpretations and responses to evil and suffering. Even amid atrocities such as the Holocaust, which can seem beyond human reason, spiritualities and religions provide a lens through which to make meaning, find solace and spur action. The inability to practise one’s spirituality or religion can itself elicit profound personal, communal and intergenerational suffering, such as that experienced by Stolen Generations. 

For example:

• How does a spirituality and/or religion define evil and/or suffering and prepare followers to understand and respond to it?
• How do spiritualities and/or religions confront evil and corruption in their own communities and structures?
• How do spiritualities and/or religions respond to widespread human and planetary suffering today?