I recently read one of the most chilling accounts of murderous human behavior I have ever read. It demolishes the "man is naturally good" mantra which we all would like to believe. George Will tells the story of July 10, 10941, in Jedwabne Poland as recounted by Prof. Jan Gross of New York University in his book Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland. If you and I don't have time to read the book, we need at least to meditate on Will's review in order to grapple with Eric Voegelin's statement concerning "the simple man, who is a decent man as long as the society as a whole is in order, but who then goes wild, without knowing what he is doing, when disorder arises somewhere and the society is no longer holding together."
George F. Will's concludes his article asking, "Why in Jedwabne did neighbors murder their neighbors? Because it was permitted. Because they could." In a rapidly declining America, where social bonds are in increasing jeopardy, this account of human evil should be all the more sobering.