Yes, as a human being. But not his deeds. Someone who does such things is sick and confused and not evil.

Not sure I agree about people not being evil, although I suspect there are far less intentionally evil people than we'd like to think.
As for respecting criminals, it think it's more important to respect the justice system. People are quick to judge, and quick to wear blinkers when it suits them.

Now that I have offended both of you, my work is done.

Evil, and also good, are judgements that only exists inside people's heads and has no actual substance. Someone who becomes a criminal is someone who did not gain the respect he needed to become a sincere human being. Only judging and punishing them for what they've done, or looking for vengeance, doesn't help anyone. Hatred only leads to more hatred. I believe every human being has the same potential inside them. If I would have grewn up in unfortunate circumstances, for example, I maybe would have become a criminal, too. But that wouldn't turn me into someone evil all of the sudden. There is always a reason why people become misguided, which is the lack of love and respect for their being, which creates perversions in human minds. They're actually victims, and of course, then those people create new victims by living up to their hatred.
There's a quote that says "If someone doesn't see the beauty in life, it's because life has not seen the beauty in him" or something like that.

I didn't read anything offensive about your post o.O

I gave an honest opinion and didn't offend anyone? That's rare. The same opinion would have, at the very least, garnered a few sharp looks in public. Or worse.

I don't quite agree that good and evil are purely in the mind. There are probably better definitions, but let us define good as "deliberately bringing good fortune to others" and evil as "deliberately brining misfortune to others."

Both require intent, which requires a will, self awareness and thought, however, while only an individual knows their motivations, the concept exists even if there is no thought (even though a little pointless then).
While impossible to judge another's actions on this basis, it is still a very clear-cut definition.
It does fall down a bit by leaving selfishness in a grey area. Perhaps a more layered approach would be suitable.


While I believe we are partly products of our environment, I also believe that we have sufficient influence on our own identity ourselves. In fact, in contrast to life showing people beauty and them responding likewise, I know many people who have been through hell, and are generous and kind, and plenty who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth who are downright nasty.

I also had a kinda hard life and I think it shaped me quite in a positive way because I know how it feels to go through such things and I don't want others to experience the same pain, so it made me more compassionate. But life is just too complex to generalize things. It could even start with genetic dispositions and in early childhood. It's like a domino effect.
Judging and separating existence in "good" and "evil" is a learned mechanism of human's ego. I look at humanity from a higher view. The ego is a conditioned personality and behind every conditioned ego, there is also the higher self. The ego is just a structure of the mind and sometimes it can just become really messed up, depending on how existence shaped this person. I'm learning spiritual enlightenment, it's transcending ego and duality of human mind. Separate identities, concepts, definitions and judgements do not exist from this point of view, because the higher self is unconditioned.
In fact, not only good and evil exist in the mind, but everything else also. Reality is perceived with mind, without mind, there would be no reality. But that's just playing with words I guess ^^