Don't Be a Henchman
Copyright ©2018 by The Good Elder. All rights reserved.
In June, 2018, took my family to see the recently released and long awaited sequel, "Incredibles 2". I enjoyed the movie very much, but I hadn't expected to be inspired while watching it. But, as my mentor taught, "A student of truth will receive it from whatever source it comes." The following words, then, describe the inspiration that came.
This movie so aptly depicted how henchmen function.
Spoiler alert! Skip down to the end of the spoilers if you don't want to read them.
In this movie, the evil mastermind could lure anyone to be an unwitting henchman for the cause of evil by simply slipping goggles over the eyes of the victim, goggles that blacked out their vision and projected hypnotic imagery into the eyes of the wearer, causing them to succumb to, and thus carry out evil suggestions from the mastermind. The only way to break the spell was to break the goggles or remove them from the eyes of the victim--now henchman, so that he/she could again see clearly and regain control of his/her own mind again.
All cops and robbers movies, all super hero movies, indeed, all movies that feature an evil mastermind share the concept of the henchman. This, in and of itself invites us to take a second look at this archetype. However, if this were not enough, if we also perceive the fact that our world also includes many levels and layers of this evil mind--henchman dynamic, this should compel us to identify this dynamic wherever we find it affecting our lives, and to further resolve to not be a henchman.
Let us anchor ourselves in the so-called "Sermon on the Mount" by Jesus, where he drew a poignant analogy about giving. The argument was brilliantly simple and compelling: if God will give us what we ask for, even in our state of undone-ness, then we ought to only do/give to others what we want others to do/give to us.
As we know, this teaching, also known as the Golden Rule, is about compassion, empathy, relating honestly and truthfully with our fellowman, understanding our common plight and circumstances, and working together to endure and overcome the vicissitudes of life.
Jesus' contemporaries seemed to have trouble living like this, and often persecuted him for calling many of those of high esteem out as henchman for an oppressive regime. They tried to justify themselves in "the Law", but it was easy to see that their concern was more for their selfish desires to maintain power, status, and wealth in their society. As was (and still is) usually the case, the accused felt unfairly called out; the people being oppressed felt vindicated.
Lest we feel higher and mightier than the people of Biblical times, many of us today are perilously vulnerable to becoming henchmen to an oppressor; and, in fact, some of us may already be unwitting henchmen of someone else's selfish (or evil) agenda.
We all are under one, if not more than one subjective or oppressive system. Any person or group that seeks to govern, control, dictate to, or influence another person or group so that its purposes, goals, or desires are achieved without regard for the well-being of those under subjection is an oppressive system.
We know, for example, that many governments are notoriously oppressive, and others just do a better job of producing propaganda to hide or obscure its oppressive nature (like ours). But, when we see the basic human rights, dignities, and needs of the people being routinely overlooked or ignored, when the will of the people is ridiculed, their voice silenced, it is a sure sign of an oppressive government.
Economic systems where wealth is hoarded, when opportunities or avenues to enable one to acquire wealth are severely restricted, hidden, or outright denied to some or all of the people, are evil and oppressive. In fact, it could be argued that even needing/using a finite, quantifiable token like money is, by its very nature, oppressive; especially when these same ones control the creation and distribution of that token. Such systems even seek to promote glamorization the wealthy, and assign value judgments so that the wealthy are seen as being "better" or "more important" than others.
Religious institutions, where members are treated as cattle, corralled into services, not for their own spiritual development, but as a meal ticket and credit card for its leaders, are evil and oppressive. Such leaders don't really want the members to grow, but will, instead, control them with restrictive doctrines which they constantly (and sometimes ruthlessly) enforce. They seek to use the fear of hell or fear of ostracization to keep the people "in check." They don't want to hear, let alone respond to the needs of the members, and have no interest in their ideas for change or growth. The only care they have for the members is in what the members can give to or do for them.
The medical establishment cares more for maintaining the establishment than it does for healing illness. Since treatment is more profitable that curing, they maximize treatment, regardless of the suffering in causes the people. They encourage living with illness (pills, scans) instead of eliminating or even preventing the onset of illness. They have little interest in people being healthy, as healthy people don't need to pay for treatment.
Crime syndicates, drug cartels, and other illegal enterprises use violence and the threat of violence to exercise control over neighborhoods of people who just want to be left alone and live in peace.
Even families can be subjective or oppressive. Matriarchs and patriarchs who are more interested in their status as head of the family, more interested in the reputation of their family in the eyes of others, more interested in the allegiance or loyalty of family members, can rule their households with a velvet-gloved iron fist. These ones develop and enforce (however subtly) systems for ostracizing their own flesh and blood to keep them in line, they suppress or sabotage the goals and dreams of their offspring, they discourage or cut off free thought and expression, for fear of losing their grip on power, or for fear of the carefully erected façade will be seen for what it is.
These are just a few ways that evil manifests in groups. If the truth be told, many of us find ourselves under multiple, overlapping systems of subjection or oppression. And, almost all of the day-to-day suffering caused by these systems is carried out by the faithful (but sometimes unwitting) henchmen!
Few people start out evil or seek to subject of oppress others. Most fall victim to the call of the henchman due to some vulnerability within themselves in order to satisfy a selfish, short-term agenda to satisfy that vulnerability. These ones want money, power, status--or simply don't want to be on "the bottom." These ones see the subjection and the oppression, but opt to try and make the best of it by carving out a niche as a henchman. In their eyes, the overthrow of the entire system seems impossible, unlikely, or even undesirable. So, these ones accept the role of a henchman, choosing to do the evil work of the master mind against his fellowman, instead of requiring the evil one to do his own dirty work.
The henchman often operates under mob mentality, feeling empowered to do dirt in a group, dirt that one is unwilling or unable to do by him/herself.
The more that the henchman does for the perpetrator(s), the more that the henchman identifies with his own oppressor. The more that government officials silence dissent or unfairly mete out justice, the more that the bank official unfairly grants access to wealth, the more that the family member fails to speak against the dysfunctional family dynamic, the more that the gangster enforces violence and threatens people in his own neighborhood, the longer these injustices will persist, and the more that that one cements his role as an enabling, dutiful henchman! For, although such a one has the semblance of money, status, and power afforded to him as a henchman, the henchman nevertheless remains oppressed himself! He is confined not only by the agenda of the master mind, but also by his own selfish desires (not to be broke, sick, on the botton, or ostracized), which keeps him tied to the perpetrator of that agenda.
As the henchman continues to push the agenda of the perpetrator(s), he incurs for himself karma (i.e. divine retribution) for all of the evil that he does (or stands by and allows to go unchallenged), not even for his own self, but on behalf of another! The henchman further establishes his usefulness to the ring leader, and more firmly establishes himself simultaneously as a henchman and a victim of the very evil he perpetuates!
The henchman loses sight; his vision is obscured.
Consequently, the henchman loses sight of the fact that there is a Power, a Source greater than the evil one. The henchman loses sight of the fact that the perpetrator is using him, preying on his vulnerabilities and weaknesses. The henchman loses sight of the fact that the perpetrator cannot continue his subjection and oppression without his help. The henchman loses sight of the fact that, by delegating the carrying out of evil to the henchman, the evil ones become dependent on the henchman's consent to remain in power. Without it, the perpetrator's agenda will collapse!
If we are honest with ourselves, we will see that our world is upside down, and that the masses are under subjection of multiple layers of evil; all perpetuated by the henchmen of the evil ones. The challenge for each of us is to determine whether we are henchmen, wittingly or unwittingly.
Are we subjecting others? Do we resist or ignore the needs of others? Do we use others to feel good about ourselves or to get them to fulfill our selfish desires? What character flaws exist within us that make us vulnerable to being (unwittingly) recruited for employment as a henchman? What is it that we think that another (and only another) can give us, that God cannot give us? What is it that causes us to fear, and thus, continue to go along (begrudgingly or not) with an agenda that actively suppresses many and only empowers a few? Why do we want or seek status, wealth, or power; is it to be stronger than someone else? To hold someone else down? To avoid being on "the bottom"? Or, to be a help to others?
Don't be a henchman and give up your power to another in pursuit of selfish goals that are vain, short lived, and subject to be taken just as easily as the evil one gave it. As Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6:
[19] Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
[20] But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
[21] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Let us learn to have increasingly deep compassion for others experiencing the same challenging plight. Let us learn to work together to overcome a common oppression, instead of living with a constant tension wherein one hopes and prays to always remain on top of someone else in some form.
Always remember that a henchman is only as good as his latest heist; a henchman can be replaced, with no credit or regard for all of the effort expended to prop up another. All your hard work for selfish gain ends up wasted, as well as the gains themselves. The sooner that the henchman recognizes and realizes his fate, the sooner he will work with his fellowman under the same subjection to overcome/overthrow the system that keeps them all oppressed, and the sooner he will live by the Golden Rule: (Matthew 7:12)
"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the Law and the prophets."