Evil just doesn't cut it.

By Anthony Levensalor

Tuesday, August 30, 2005 at 04:18 AM

Evil:
1. Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant.
2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful: the evil effects of a poor diet.
3. Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous: evil omens.
4. Bad or blameworthy by report; infamous: an evil reputation.
5. Characterized by anger or spite; malicious: an evil temper.

But when arsonists kill a small child by setting the house on fire, evil isn't enough of a word.

And you know, there isn't a powerful enough word in any language to describe the kind of detestable qualities inherent in a human being that would do something like this:

"On Sunday, mother and son were at home alone. The front door was left open which is the norm. "At approximately 2230 BST Danielle was in the kitchen when two men wearing black entered the house, they punched Danielle and kicked her. "She fell to the ground and it's believed she passed out. She was then dragged into the living room where her baby son was sleeping on the sofa." When the mother regained consciousness the room was filling with smoke and she was tied up, said the policewoman. "She screamed loudly, and neighbours heard her screams. They tried to get into the house to help but were unable to get through the door. "Since her hands were tied, Danielle managed to ring the emergency services using her tongue."

Her four-month-old son, Alexander, was killed in the fire. Dead because of something stronger that evil, more detestable than mere criminality.

The nature of evil is to do bad while perceiving to do what is right or just. That word has no meaning in this context. It is too weak, too forgiving a word for someone who would set a house on fire with a woman and child inside it.

And we live in a world where you won't see this on the front page of any paper, never mind the American press. Nope, we're too busy with the ghosts and goblins foisted on us by a manipulative media to see the real world for what it is.

And what is it, exactly? Is it the terror-laden bastion of danger that our usurpers would have us believe it is? Is it the pit of despair that our government so badly wants us to believe in?

No, that's not what it is. But it is a place where people like this exist, and they hurt people, and they kill people. Violence is a tool to be used to acquire anything they want, and they are terrorists in a very real sense of the word.

Are they evil, the assholes who did this? Yes, absolutely. Is that descriptive enough, black enough, degrading enough of a term?

Not by a longshot.

~A!