By Francis X. Maier, The Catholic Thing - Evil is an inversion of the good. The philosopher Jacques Maritain likened it to a parasite clinging to a healthy body; it draws its lifeblood from the repudiation of all things wholesome. It feeds itself by attacking the people and standards that hold it accountable to higher obligations and virtuous behavior. Thus, evil speaks eloquently of tolerance and compassion when it’s weak, but switches effortlessly to intolerance and contempt when it gains the upper hand. It cannot bear to be “tolerated.” It demands to be affirmed and its critics punished. Evil can never live peacefully with truth and sacrificial love ....