Evil wears a Mask of good...

Little evil would be done in the world if evil never could be done in the name of good. Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

This quote had me thinking for days as to what I wanted to write with it.  One of my fellow students at university emailed me once with the question, "Do you believe in evil?" 
I shot back, "Do you actually want to know?" 
"Yes," was his brief reply.
"If you have ever met true evil, you never forget that it exists."

My memories of my childhood were almost completely gone.  There were only blips here and there.  I knew in high school that I didn't have any memories of my childhood.  However, I knew that evil existed in the world.  The return of some of my memories were the key behind why I knew it.  I remembered the way evil was masked as being a good thing to do.  You want to be part of the crowd so laugh at this fat person.  You want to be accepted so hit those that are weaker than you.  Train a child so spank them until they can't sit down.  You want to be loved so allow yourself to be molested.  You want to live so don't tell the secret.  I heard the scriptures used to reinforce that evil was good. "Spare the rod and spoil the child."  Barbaric acts have been done in the name of this one verse.  On a more global realm, there is the Spanish Inquisition, Salem witch trials, Jonestown, Holocaust, and this is just the tip of the iceberg; many things lie hidden.  Some dirt is dug up on a person that appears good and I am asked if I am surprised.  Before I remembered my childhood I was always shocked by my cynical, "NO."  The pedophile in our neighborhood was a "pillar of goodness" in our area.  He worked so well with children.  Adults didn't seem to see what kind of monster he really was.  Even when he was sent to prison, people bleated the poor man was framed.  I have seen evil things happen that I was told was for good purposes.  Star Trek actually had an episode of 2 captains fighting each other.  The fight was evenly matched finally they stopped the battle and the last 5 minutes was between the alien beings and the two captains.  The aliens pointed out that the both fought with the same determination to win.  Captain Kirk pointed out the difference in motivation.  The other captain fought to take control and conquer another ship.  Captain Kirk fought to protect his people and journey on safely.  A paradox and confusion used to twist and bewilder what are you doing and what is your motivation.  Teaching a child is good.  Beating them to do it isn't.  Each person is presented with hundreds of choices every day.  Some times these choices seem non-consequential but they build a point of view as to what is good and what is evil.  Some people go so far to say that there is no such thing as evil.  Yet, as a teenager I helped donate to an organization that sent ship loads of food to starving people in Africa, the government kept it in the docks until it rotted then dumped it in the ocean.  I was appalled at the evil perpetrated.  I had no direct knowledge of why any government would do something so appalling.  The government in charge said it was for the 'good' of the people.  I can not stop the horrors that happen around the world, I can make a difference in my own little world and how I treat the people I encounter everyday.