"Inexorable Justness is a lofty ideal that most strive towards, and few attain."
Before we continue, let us first examine what “Inexorable” and “Justness” mean, as understanding these words is paramount to understanding the theme of this article.
In short, “The Inexorable Justness of Doing What Is Right” means doing what is right is always, and will always be, the correct thing to do, and no matter how people try to reframe it, or view the world in shades of grey, ultimately doing what is right is always what should be done.
It’s a desire that is woven deep into our DNA, and yet that desire is not alone within us, a second nature, a darker one, claws at us from within, seeking to eliminate all that is known to be good and right.
Some of my favourite games are those which allow me to choose between right and wrong, and have those actions affect the game world, there is something ultimately rewarding about choosing to do the right thing, no matter the cost, regardless if taking any other route would have provided more benefit in the short term.
Deciding to lay aside selfish and darker ambitions for the single solitary reward of “doing what is right” is an indescribable feeling, a deep and abiding part of the human consciousness that all people have, or in some cases had at one time, before allowing it to be snuffed out entirely.
I have heard that desire to do good, to show kindness and charity, described as “the thumbprint of God” a lingering vestige of who we were created to be, before humanity descended into the abyss in which we now reside, an abyss that we cannot escape by ourselves.
The desire to do what is easy, expedient, and selfish is a heady thing, choosing to do wrong is in many ways playing life “on easy mode”. Unfortunately for those who choose to live this way, they are risking their eternal soul to make life “just a little bit easier”.
And yet despite many choosing, even in small ways, to make selfish and immoral choices day in day out, all but the most lost of people know this truth, gamers perhaps most of all, there is something inescapably right about doing what is right.
It’s why every civilised culture in the history of the world knows that murder, theft, rape, and child abuse are evil, a single universal morality exists, regardless of culture or religion.
Certain things are universally deemed as “wrong”, because deep down every person who has ever lived, at one time in their life, knew that these things were wrong, and that despite the ease of compromise, there was and is a better way of doing things, a right way, a righteous way.
This is the bit that people do not like to talk about. The saying is true, you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain, or rather it is “mostly true” with one very important exception.
Just like in Marvel movies, Doctor Strange saw only one single universe in which Thanos was defeated, there is only one single way to defeat the evil that dwells within the human heart: Jesus Christ.
Darkness and evil do not have to rush. In fact, sometimes their greatest victory comes through patience, slowly eroding the will of even the strongest good man.
But that is the problem, mortal goodness is never good enough to stop the ever-present call of darkness. Even Jesus had this to say: “Why do you call Me good? Only God is good.”
The strongest human, the most devout and sincere person, the strongest believer in all that is good, will eventually fall, in small ways or in big ways. There are so many ways to fall, and once the fall starts, it becomes very difficult to stop.
Throughout history, we have seen good men fall to evil. We have seen deliverers become oppressors. We have seen heroes turn into villains in our own world, not just in fantasy, although we have certainly seen enough of it there as well.
A perfect example of this is Anakin Skywalker, the chosen one of the Jedi, who only wanted to do good, to save his mother, to save the one he loved, only to become Darth Vader and end up being directly involved in the death of his wife and so many of those he once swore to protect.
The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was a defining moment in history, a moment everyone should aspire towards, because He lived as we should live: perfectly.
Jesus said that He only said and did the things the Father told Him to say and do. He said that the Father gave Him the commandment of what to say and what to speak.
You may be thinking, “Well, I do not believe in your God.” And that is your choice. The Father gives us free will. But the existence of free will does not negate the fact that we need a Saviour, that we need Jesus Christ.
The best fantasy stories, the best games, the greatest tales in which light and darkness clash, all carry with them a deep and abiding truth: we need a hero.
Whether that hero is a knight in shining armour, a wizard with fantastical powers, or a Jedi with a lightsaber, one fact remains constant.
A hero is needed to save the day.
Jesus Christ was and is that hero.
Darkness could not comprehend nor defeat Him. And notice, it was already dark. Darkness was already the default state of the world.
It was like Tyranny, the 2016 role-playing game by Obsidian Entertainment, a world in which evil had already won before the story even began.
The birth of Jesus Christ was the greatest victory of good the earth had seen up until that moment. But the ultimate perfection of that victory came when Jesus willingly gave His life on the cross, not just for those who liked Him, followed Him, or stood beside Him, but so that even those who opposed Him would have the chance to come to the Father.
But He does not force His gift on anyone. To take away our ability to choose would be to strip away what makes us human.
It may not be polite to say, but you can choose to ignore His gift. You can choose separation from Him for eternity. The Lord will not force you to choose Him, because to do so would be to go against the freedom He created us with.
You are free to refuse His gift of salvation and spend eternity separated from all that is good, He cannot force you to do what is best for you any more than He could force someone to choose good over evil.
While humanity yearns to do what is right, as we battle against our darker natures, the quest for Inexorable Justness is a failed one without accepting that we can never achieve it on our own, and only by accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour can we win the battle that rages within us, and in doing so hopefully make the world a brighter place.
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