purestblood @ 2004-05-01 22:31:00

Current mood:	contemplative
Current music:	"Carwitcha Burana"

It's late. The fire is low, casting it's flickering light on the rug here in the library, looking as if blood has been spilt recently. It's a sign of guilt, some would say, to see blood everywhere I look. As some assume I do. What's in the nature of evil? In the end, everyone is trying to maximize all that they are given to obtain what they want. Everyone. If they're honest, they'll admit to the truth of that statement. Is that evil?

Those who are laboring under the mantle of evil--whether imposed from within or without--are no worse than anyone else. It's the ones who claim they are good, or are in any way better than the rest of us, that we must beware. For those who claim to be good often claim to have higher knowledge, a more superior view of How Things Should Be, and that leads to dictatorship. I once believed those who told me they knew the truth. I don't anymore. But mantles are hard to get out from under. On the other hand, it's easy to disguise one's actions, and certainly one's motivations. Being underestimated is not, in itself, an entirely bad thing. Deeds are deeds. It is only society's mores that attach a label of "good" or "bad". The deed itself is neutral. Evil isn't doing bad things--the actions themselves cannot be evil. Evil is feeling bad about the actions.

To do what one must do, with the tools one is given, in order to keep that which he holds dear safe, is not evil. No matter what label may be attached.

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