In a number of religious traditions, "evil" is widely considered to be a mystery; that life and its rules are "governed" by an innate benevolence, and behavior that directly contradicts "good nature" is not understandable in moral and reasoning terms. "Evil" characterizes and describes aspects of human beings that deviate from the social, loving, righteous, natures within, which in contrast lead to social strength, and continuing survival, through love. In the forms of malice and selfishness, evil represents the socially weakening and destructive behaviors that lead directly to a fruitless life and death.
The Abrahamic religions, as well as others, are largely centered around the concepts of good and evil, and this has led to much religious debate. Many cultures and mythologies personify evil, such as with Satan in Christianity. Others describe evil spirits or demons as the inciters of acts.
In Christianity, young children are considered to be good, and free of evil, though not of original sin as defined in the Bible. As they grow older, however, they can develop evil characteristics. The three main characteristics of an evil person are:
Pride: "I am better than you are."
Hypocrisy: "I have higher standards for others than for self."
Indifference: "I do not care."
Note that "self" does not necessarily have to mean "one's self," but also to the various units, groups, and demographics to which one belongs (e.g. family, school, team, generation, nationality, race, religion, etc.) Indifference is what binds together the total contradiction of pride (superiority) and hypocrisy (lower standards). Without it, the person could not stand his or her own evil.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EvilThe religious right has at least two of the three characteristics that they identify as evil, Pride and indifference. They arguably have Indifference as well.
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