Good v. Evil, one of my favorite ways to analyze the world. I study politics, and political rhetoric is laced with this mentality. Look not further that Reagan labeling the Soviet Union as an "empire of evil" or G.W. Bush's famous "Axis of evil."
Reagan said: "In your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride, the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil."
Politically speaking, the dichotomy that exists between good and evil is the main force behind ALL violent conflict. Why did the USA get involved in Vietnam--"communism is evil" and capitalism is good. Why did Al-Qaeda attack the US, because our lifestyle is "evil." In the same light, why did America attack many Muslim countries. I would argue, whether known or unknown to the former administration, that they viewed Islam as evil and Christianity as good. Typically, it seems that what people view as good and evil, somehow has roots in religion.
The problem with good v. evil is that they are perspectives, yet they are used to justify conflict. There is a wonderful book written by Reza Aslan called "Cosmic Wars" that is filled with this type of thought.
