“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains a small corner of evil."
“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
There are no absolutes of good and evil, it is a continuous spectrum, and often hard to see which is which. The Christian idea that there is such a division is a toxic misunderstanding which has rendered Christian morality primitive and unworkable from its beginning.
Hhmm... replace the word heart with brain, and I'd pretty much agree with that premise. Having "heart" is of no consequence, if one decides to go along with evil it is not heart that person lacks, but rather they lack empathy (for a start anyways). That said, the above is an interesting albeit more of a spiritual take on the subject of good and evil.
Remember... Oz never really did give anything to the Tinman, nothing he didn't already have. He didn't need a heart, he had empathy, and a deeper level of empathy even more so than his friends in my humble opinion.
A fan of the band America, I see.
@p-nullifidian Astute observation there. I wondered if anyone else had connected the dots on that one?