Precisely my point, Joe, and I believe that is McGrath's point as well. It contributes nothing useful to a debate to start labelling other people as "evil".

You can judge their actions, but you cannot judge their worth as a human being. (in my opinion) You aren't morally equipped to pass judgement on the intrinsic value of another human being, only on his or her actions.

(If anyone were ever to call you "evil" for whatever it is that you believe in, you would realize immediately how awful it is to be tarred with that label...and your sense of outrage would tell you what had really been done to you in that moment by the one who presumed they could judge your worth as a human being.)

Thus laws are designed specifically to proscribe illegal actions by people, actions that are deemed unacceptable. Laws are not designed to decide who is "good" and who is "evil", at least not laws in any place where I ever want to live.

One of the worst things about organized religion is its frequent tendency to label large numbers of people as "evil", those being usually the people who don't follow the rules and dictates of that religion.

It's also one of the worst things about political demagogues. Remember, it was George Bush who decided to label 3 countries as an "Axis of Evil". That's caveman-level thinking. It is designed to incite people to violence and to sanction slaughter. It is a preparation for war.