Light in the Darkness

Season of the Haunted is quickly coming to a close. Alongside the release of Solar 3.0 (you’ll find links to my specialty builds all throughout this post), we were presented a story of overcoming trauma. Three of Destiny 2’s prominent characters, Crow, Zavala, and Caiatl, were forced to confront the ghosts of their pasts and come to terms with who they were and who they they’ve become. However, the main part about this season that rubbed me the wrong way was the process they used to face their traumas: warriors of the Light utilizing a ritual of Darkness.

The Witch Doctor Warlock (watch the video here)

I’ve mentioned this before, but due to my Christian worldview, I’m not a fan of how Destiny 2’s storyline is making it acceptable for us to use our enemies’ powers. Even when Stasis was the PvP meta last year, I still refused to use it. I am very black-and-white when it comes to right and wrong, and using Darkness, this instrument of evil, felt very, very wrong. We know that Darkness has been rebranded as merely a tool our enemies use, but the temptation to abuse it is far too high. Sex and desire could be considered tools for a healthy marriage, but using them outside of marriage turns them into lust and adultery.

That being said, I cannot argue with the results of the characters’ actions.

The Slow Cooker Hunter (watch the video here)

In the world of Destiny 2, one of Darkness’s facets is Memory. Things hidden or forgotten are brought out of the shadows (ironic, since it’s meant the be the antithesis of Light). The ritual used in Season of the Haunted accessed the lead characters’ memories and manifested them as Nightmares. For Crow, it was Uldren, the man he used to be and the one who murdered our beloved Cayde-6. For Zavala, it was Safiyah, his long dead wife and the reminder that he failed to protect their son. For Caiatl, it was Ghaul, the hero who taught her, fought alongside her, and abandoned her.

Each week, we played through a combination of firefight and therapy session with these three. We watched as they argued with their personal Nightmares, addressed the things that haunted them, and, ultimately, accepted their trauma’s and turned them, and their Nightmare apparitions, into strengthening Memories. It was, in a way, an inspirational portrayal of how real people confront their depression and mental illnesses and overcome them.

Yet, I still get hung up the process, where using Evil’s tool paved the road to healing. As a paragon of the Light (both in-game and in-real-life), how can I rationalize what transpired without discrediting the characters’ personal growth? After much deliberation, I was struck with a thought:

The Quarterback Titan (watch the video here)

God can bring something good out of sin and evil.

Many people believe the Bible is just all the rules we have to follow to be good. However, as you read through it, you’ll notice that it’s full of stories of people who fail, sin, and fall. Most of the people talked about (with the major exception of Jesus) are imperfect human beings. And what better examples to convince a Bible-thumping Christian than some of the key figures talked about in that very book?

First, let’s look in the book of Exodus. During Israel’s enslavement in Egypt, the Pharaoh of the time became concerned that the Israelite slaves were growing too numerous. So, he ordered a group of Hebrew midwives to abort any boys who were about to be born. However, they deliberately disobeyed him and aided in their births regardless. When asked why the boys were still being born, they told Pharaoh that Hebrew women were so strong, the babies were born before they could get to the house.

Now, this was a lie, and lies are bad. Ergo, they should suffer the consequences, right? Not so. It says in Exodus that God blessed those midwives with families of their own because of what they did. If you think about it, it’s very similar to how people in Europe concealed Jews from the Nazis during World War II.

Still not a good example? Okay, let’s backtrack to Genesis.

One of Israel’s founding tribes came from a man named Judah. Judah had three sons, and his eldest, Er, married a woman named Tamar. However, because Er was wicked, God put him to death (you could say Judah’s son made an Er-ror). Now, the practice of those days dictated that if a man died before he sired children, his wife would be given to his brother, and the children born from their union would be considered the first man’s descendants. This is what happened to Tamar. She was given to Er’s brother, Onan, so that he could continue his brother’s line for him. However, because Onan knew the children wouldn’t be his, he purposefully refused to impregnate Tamar. This, too, angered God to the point of smiting him, just like his brother. Now, Judah had one son left, Shelah. Tamar was supposed to be given to him next, but Judah told her to “live as a widow in her father’s house until Shelah grew up.” He didn’t do this for her sake, though. His concern was that his last son would die just like his brothers.

Obviously, Tamar knew she was being hung out to dry, so when she heard that Judah’s wife later died, she hatched a rather nefarious scheme. She disguised herself as a prostitute and seduced Judah. Before they did the deed, she demanded something of his that she could use as collateral, since he couldn’t pay her right away. They settled on his seal and his staff, conducted their business, and went back to their homes. Some time later, Judah found out that Tamar was pregnant. He was ready to put her to death for her adultery when he received a message from her: “The man who owns this seal and this staff is the man who made me pregnant.”

You’d think that plot twist would’ve shut Judah up, but no, he had one more thing to say. “She is more righteous than I.”

That’s a…really weird thing to say in this situation. We need to remember that when the word “righteous” shows up in the Bible, it’s used to describe “justified,” not “justifiable.” Perhaps in this case, Judah implied that Tamar’s deceit was justified in the face of his actions.

So, where’s the good that came out of this sinful mess? Well, the descendants from Tamar eventually led down to David, Israel’s greatest king, which in turn led to Jesus, the Savior of the world.

God does not condone sin, but that doesn’t mean He can’t make use of it.

Mind you, this is not a case of “the ends justify the means.” Unlike us, God can see the big picture and how one choice affects everything else down the line. It’s similar to how I’ll give a character a traumatic backstory or make them go through hellish conditions. My character may not know why they’re going through this at the time, but I know that because of that ordeal, they’ll turn out better and stronger in the end.

Will all of this convince me to use Stasis and whatever other Darkness subclass Bungie releases? Probably not. However, I won’t discredit the growth the characters go through when those powers are involved. I can’t see the full Destiny 2 narrative, but the Bungie devs can. Same in real life. I won’t actively pursue sinful behavior because I’m trying to be more like Christ. However, even Proverbs 16:4 says, “The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.” I can’t see life’s full narrative, but God can.