WHAT IS EVIL?

Explaining away even the most horrific acts of violence by saying some people are just wicked is understandable—but it won’t help us build a safer society.

Excerpt: "When the news first broke about the four University of Idaho students who were stabbed to death in the middle of the night, the word evil was on everyone’s lips. I encountered it on Reddit boardsand podcasts, in the tabloids, on daytime TV, and in mainstream news outlets. This was surely the work of a monster. And when Bryan Kohberger was arrested, the evidence only seemed to confirm the fact. This guy was taking classes with an expert on serial killers. He’d worn a black mask and disconnected his phone during the murders. His car had been thoroughly cleaned, and he was seen wearing surgical gloves and depositing trash in his neighbor’s bin. The verdict was in even before he entered court with what a body-language expert described as a “sociopathic stare”: This guy was immediately seen as the next Ted Bundy. The darker and more callow corners of the internet were even asking, Who’s hotter?

Now, nearly three years later, Kohberger has been sentenced to four consecutive life sentences with no possibility of parole. The families of Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Kaylee Goncalves faced him in court during his sentencing and shared their grief. I was especially struck by something Goncalves’s mother, Kristi, said: “You’ve altered my every waking moment.”

Kohberger’s response? Nothing. No discernible remorse and, maybe even worse, no hint at a motive. Kohberger, even in pleading guilty, continues to inflict suffering on these families by refusing to provide a full confession, to explain why.

And perhaps in direct response to these families, Judge Steven Hippler has urged everyone to stop focusing on that lingering question. “By continuing to focus on why, we continue to give Mr. Kohberger relevance. We give him agency. We give him power.” Hippler described the murders as an “unfathomable and senseless act of evil.” Pure and simple. End of story.

...The only thing I’ve found that has actually helped me heal from my own terrible experiences has been acceptance, and a desire to understand the flawed, complicated, and sometimes extremely dangerous humans around me."