Shipman: "excellent doctor" -the mystery of iniquity

We like our mass murderers to be obviously and wholly evil. The truth we find hard to bear is that there still remains a deal of original goodness. "Shipman was a popular doctor among patients because he gave them 'a more personal approach'. Dr Dirckze said: 'He came across as very caring and would go beyond the call of most GPs' duty. 'Very often we heard stories of what he was doing that the rest of us wouldn't dream of doing. 'He used to call in on an elderly disabled patient on his way home after work and would wheel him round the block in his wheelchair.'"
I suspect he did this because whatever had led him into medicine in the first place was still to a degree woven into his identity. We keep forgetting that evil is not ultimate: it is derivative; parasitic on good, which reflects the ultimacy of God who declares creation 'good'. The fact that we are somehow surprised that a mass murderer can also be 'good' in some respects perhaps shows us to be in thrall to a popular dualism, forgetting that evil cannot exist without good; it is far from likely that the reverse is true.
A bit of an irony for theodicy, really.
SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Society | Shipman was excellent doctor, say colleagues: