[soylentcola]

I consider a modern, secular definition of "real" evil to be based in the malicious or intentional "taking" of something from someone else for your own gain. That could be stealing for profit or taking life for non-defensive reasons or it could be forcible rape or other coercion that takes away someone's right to control what is done to their person.

Not a complete or concise definition but the general theme I notice when I think about what I personally consider "evil" is the elevation of your own desires over the safety or well-being of others. In a way, evil (for me) is based on what helps humanity/society or hurts it. It's based in our natural instincts for empathy and the ignoring of those "higher" motives in favor of more primitive drives to take, hurt, kill, rape, or enslave.

For me, good versus evil is not so much about religious or Hollywood ideas of light vs. dark or god vs. devil but the more familiar battle between our "animal" side and our "human" side.