“When one encounters Evil, the only solution is violence, actual or threatened.”
This whole quote is sophistry. The capitalized word “Evil” is a metaphorical personification of an abstract concept. A standard definition of “evil” is “morally objectionable behavior”. Suppose we replace the personification “Evil” with “morally objectionable behavior”:
“When one encounters morally objectionable behavior, the only solution is violence, actual or threatened.”
The result is absurd. Suppose we agree that shoplifting is morally objectionable behavior. Is it true that the only solution to shoplifting is violence or the threat of violence? I don’t think so. But “Evil” is an emotionally loaded term that triggers our biases and discourages careful, rational thought. So when we read, “When one encounters Evil, the only solution is violence, actual or threatened,” it is not quite so obviously false as, “When one encounters morally objectionable behavior, the only solution is violence, actual or threatened.”
One problem with the term “evil” is that it is typically applied to a person, rather than to a person’s behavior. For example (see above), “Kevin Giffhorn is Evil.” Compare this to, “Kevin Giffhorn has behaved in a way that is morally objectionable.” The first statement leads to the conclusion that an evil person must be punished. The second statement leads to asking what caused Kevin Giffhorn to behave as he did, and how can we address the cause? To say that he acted evilly because he is evil gets us nowhere.
“The simple fact is that non-violent means do not work against Evil.”
I believe that this quote is not rational, because thinking of human relations in terms of “good” and “evil” is not rational. I prefer to think in terms of the iterated prisoners’ dilemma; in terms of cooperation and defection. If you frame a conflict in terms of “good” and “evil”, you quickly reach violence. If you frame it in terms of “cooperation” and “defection”, you may be able to negotiate a cooperative agreement. Violence may be necessary in certain situations, but it represents a suboptimal solution to conflict.
In a blog that is dedicated to overcoming bias, the term “evil” should only be used to point out the bias and irrationality that is encouraged by the concept of “evil”.