Mark Shea on evil

After all, if there's anyone who would know evil inside-out, it's Mark Shea!

In this case, he makes the point with exceptional clarity:

The Church does not see evil as the "opposite" of good precisely. That's because we are not Manichaeans. We do not believe that evil is a power equal and opposed to good. Rather, we believe that evil is a parasite on the good, a perversion and (mark this) a thing that must always depend on the good in some way for its very existence, while the good exists without needing evil. Because of this, we can always say of any evil that there is *something* of the good about it. Even Satan still retains the good gifts of existence, power, and intellect that his Maker gave him (perverted though they are). To deny this is to deny that God is the absolute Creator of All.

This is in the midst of a post on his own attempts to think with Christ and the Church. Worth a read, like most everything he writes.