How do you cope knowing there is evil in the world

[evolve]

The subject says it all really.

And I'm not sure how much of an OCD problem this is, but the extent to which it is dominating my thoughts and bringing me down suggests it might be.

It's really been brought on by what I'm seeing from the government in lockdown and the conspiracy theories floating around out there. My mum is discovering these at the moment and is very much a believer of what she's seeing. She's shared some stuff with me that is horrific if true. How are you supposed to be happy in a world where there's paedophilia, murder, where people in elite positions abuse their power?

[dksea]

2 minutes ago, evolve said:

And I'm not sure how much of an OCD problem this is, but the extent to which it is dominating my thoughts and bringing me down suggests it might be.

Sounds like you have answered your own question

 

2 minutes ago, evolve said:

How are you supposed to be happy in a world where there's paedophilia, murder, where people in elite positions abuse their power?

I don’t want to spend too much time on this because it strays a bit on the reassurance side of things but we can also apply some cognitive re-evaluation to the question. 
 

First, you have to recognize that this is the kind of question for which there is almost certainly no absolute answer.  It’s the kind of question that philosophers and thinkers and even average people have pondered for ages and problem will continue to do so until the end of the universe itself.  Right now OCD may be causing you to feel like you MUST answer this question perfectly, but the reality is you don’t have to, which is good since it’s so widely open to interpretation.

There are numerous ways to approach the question, pick any two religions and you’ll probably find at least two different possible answers.  
 

Or perhaps the question isn’t even really important. Perhaps the idea that the existence of bad things in the universe somehow negates feeling happy is flawed to begin with. How can I be happy when bad things can happen?  Because good things can happen too.  Throughout history there are examples of people finding happiness, even if only briefly, amidst great hardship and tragedy.  
 

At this very second, as you are reading this sentence, somewhere in the world a person may be being murdered, a tragic, and definitely bad thing is happening, an event which will cause sadness for some people. And their sadness will be valid and real.  However at the same time, somewhere else, a couple could be welcoming a new baby in to the world, a new life, one they have waited for for months, a life they will love and care for.  And so they feel happiness, genuine, real, and valid happiness. 
 

Evil exists. Good exists. Sorrow exists. Joy exists. It’s not really a question of how, they simply all do. Why? We may never know. In the end, it’s highly unlikely that dwelling on this question will do you much good, particularly if it’s OCD related. Again, you don’t HAVE to answer the question, you can live your life without doing so.