I had this conversation with my step-mom a couple of weeks ago on the notion of Good and Evil. A peeve of mine is sometimes turning things "black-and-white" when it blurs the root of a given ordeal.
In my experience, few things in life are as simple as good and evil. What makes me laugh, is that I can't seem to escape this mentality in writing stories... even knowing full well that human problems are more complicated and not easy put into a box.
A "good" thing, for example, is to be a good Samaritan. One, however, might avoid helping one in need for many reasons. And it isn't necessarily "evil".
One could fear danger in falling in a trap; a false situation designed to prey on good natured people. A simplistic view couod brand them a coward, but whether this is true or not in the situation... it isn't actually "evil". The same person might not get involved because they may not have time or resources to help the one in need. They could also have selfish reasons, of course... but I don't know if I could call it "evil". Even if there are some deeds I would brand as evil... I think it may be too binary to attribute every thought or deed under the lens of good and evil, right and wrong.
[Note: Find rest of paper version to type up].
