Come to the dark side, Luke-Maya Creamer

     Since there really is no set definition of "good" or "evil", it's hard to say whether someone can be purely evil or absolutely good. Although we often hear about acts of pure evil and acts of absolute kindness, I don't think there's really such a thing as absolute good or absolute evil. I think that every human being is born with a mix of good and evil within them, and the amount of each that they exhibit or act upon depends entirely on the situation they are in at any given moment.
     Take, for example, the gunmen in the school shootings that we have had far too many of recently. Although what they did was unthinkable, and they will probably never be forgiven or forgotten, I don't think that they are all bad. As we have heard in many accounts from those who know them, they were people with families, friends and normal lives-they had at least some good in them. I believe that many of them were mentally ill; many of the gunmen were bullied, and were often considered "weird" by those around them. The constant blows to their often-already-low self-esteem caused them to feel an intense need to get revenge on those who hurt them, even if that meant hurting innocent kids. In a moment of weakness and feeling like they had no other choice, not a moment of pure evil, they pulled the trigger. And they will forever be known for their acts of evil.
     In the same way, everyone who seems good most of the time has some bad in them. Leah Kleppinger may have returned the wallet, but I'm sure that in many smaller, similar situations in her life, she has made the wrong choice-the choice to keep the wallet, or make a cruel comment, or hurt someone else in some way. This doesn't make her evil; it makes her human. I believe that everyone, no matter how good they seem, has moments when they make the decision to do something cruel or evil. Leah Kleppinger will always be known for her good deed, but she will also have to live with the guilt of any bad decisions she has made in her life.
     Everyone is both "good" and "evil"; each person just leans more toward one side or the other, and we group them in one of the two categories.