Janie - You're right! When red ants go out to annihilate black ants we don't call it evil. But when Europeans go out to annihilate Africans we call it racism, or sometimes ethnic cleansing--most people would call that evil. But maybe it's not, maybe it's just normal primordial behaviour being acted out on a modern stage.

                   Intellectually, though, I think most people would see it as evil, and would refrain from doing it. But if you can introduce the concept of goD, and get people to annihilate the enemy in the name of goD, then you're onto something. You could do it totally for economic gain, even, as is often the case. All you have to do is say you're doing it in the name of goD, and that makes everything wonderful.

                   You can even go one step farther. Like in Sudan, for instance, you can get the Christians and the Islamists to go after each other in the name of goD, and while they're distracted, the Chinsese government, Exxon-Mobile and British Pertroleum can happily slip in and make off with the oil.

                   I can't think of a war going on on the face of the planet that isn't being conducted without a religious component. Frankly, I don't think you can have war without religion.
Ants can, but I don't think people can, they've evolved too far.

                   I think religion is evil all right. It's the most evil thing ever devised by man. It is, in fact, the root of all evil.