This essay was originally published on Splice Today.
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Do we really need a book defining evil? Most people, it seems, know evil well enough when they see it. Murder is evil. Torture is evil. Lying is evil and, as a direct consequence, politicians are evil. There are various caveats — some would argue that it’s not evil to murder an enemy combatant in wartime; others that waterboarding is not torture; still others that waterboarding Mark Thiessen is not torture; and still others that lying to your child about who delivered that Christmas present is not morally indecent.