Good and Evil and Everything in Between

Completely good people do not exist. Neither do completely evil people. The lines are not that clear. In a recent interview, Cardinal Timothy Dolan said, “We can never judge persons, right? We can judge actions, but we can’t judge persons; Jesus taught us that.” Following this logic, each of us is an amalgamation of actions that have built up over our lifetime, some good and some bad. The question, then, is which actions are good and which are bad?

Certainly, some actions are pure evil and others are pure good. Murder is wrong. Robbery is wrong. But what about other, more complex issues, like physician-assisted suicide? What about abortion? Is a lustful thought condemning if no action results? This is where the ethical gray area develops; judgment is, by its nature, subjective.

Furthermore, the “Good vs. Evil” aspect is overplayed. The two are not opposing prizefighters, constantly duking it out for world supremacy. Good and evil are just endpoints on the number line of human activity.

Therefore, I posit that true good and evil are immaterial. These terms are just abstractions—like “perfect” or infinity—that we employ to make sense out of the world around us. Overall, the total impact of good and evil average out into the gray mess of humanity.

P.S.: Yes, I did forget about this until the last minute. Thanks for reminding me, Hans.