“Two mil on that I-95,
Bow your head cuz it's time to pay tithe.
Opposition want me dead or alive,
Motherfucker but the devil is a lie.
The devil is a lie, bitch I'm the truth.
The devil is a lie, bitch I'm the proof.”
-Rick Ross Feat. Jay Z, “The Devil is a Lie.”[1]
Beginning is the 1930’s, the Japanese empire entered into a series of conflicts with the Republic of China which resulted in Japanese occupation of parts of mainland China. During this period the Japanese committed acts which border on (well…I’ll be frank…it was genocide) genocide, such as the Nanjing Massacre which resulted in the death of an estimated 300,000 Chinese civilians at the hands of the Japanese.[2] One of the common questions that I have heard as a history teacher, especially when covering genocide, is “Why or how could this happen?” Think of the worst events in history, the lowest points of humanity, and these questions naturally come to the forefront of discussion.
What really struck me, as an undergraduate, was when we read the confessions of the Japanese soldiers. Nagatomi Hakudo, a Japanese doctor who participated in the massacre, said the following:
“I beheaded people, starved them to death, burned them and buried them alive, over 200 in all. It is terrible that I could turn into an animal and do these things. There are really no words to explain what I was doing. I was truly a devil.”[3]
This quote always stood out to me because of how it relates to the question raised above, and its philosophical implications. How could this happen? Hakudo’s account alludes to a popular explanation: “the devil (evil) did it.” Hakudo separates himself from what he did. He became an “animal” or “devil,” something or someone aside from who he is currently (something other than human). I’ve heard this explanation used to explain everything from the holocaust, the rise of Hitler, etc. Any act that strikes us as inconceivable or inhuman, something which lies so far from the norm that it defies traditional explanation, we are tempted to label as the work of the devil or evil force. The act is so horrendous that it must be the work of some non or super human entity or agent.
Ancient historians invoked nonhuman causal agents, both good and evil, all the time to explain historical events, and of course most religious traditions still do. Aside from this explanation being historically naïve, there is also a moral dilemma that lurks beneath the surface. To highlight this issue consider Jay-Z’s verse form “The Devil is a Lie:”
“Gotta be illuminati if a n*$$% shine?
Oh we can't be a n*$$% if a n*$$% rich?”
Just as we are with the historical narratives, we are presented with a causal question in the song: “how/why is Jay-Z rich?” Well, as Jay-Z suggests, some have suggested that he must have been helped or funded by some larger than life organization which in this case is the illuminati. This is similar to, if not the same as, the old trope which explains a musician’s success as resulting from a deal made with the devil. The real explanation is much simpler, even if it is still hard to believe; namely, this poor black kid from the Brooklyn housing projects was able to become one of the best musicians of the past 20 years (feel free to disagree, but you’re wrong). The primary cause of Jay-Z’s success is himself, not some external cause.
History provides us with a similar answer to these how/why questions once we explore the nuances of the past. In the case of Nagatomi Hakudo listed above, moral responsibility for the atrocities committed are avoided, or at least the load is lightened, by attributing them to a devil. The same is true if we evoke this explanation to explain other past atrocities. The real cause is much simpler, if not infinitely more terrifying: we are the cause. History can and must always be explained within the context of human agents, no matter how brutal.
"Enquire no longer then, who is the author of evil.
Behold him in yourself.”[4]
[4] Jean Jacques Rousseau, Profession of Faith of a Savoyard Vicar, https://www.bartleby.com/34/4/2.html