Very interesting question, what is good or what is evil. A couple of the examples that your have chosen do have two sides, the side of the victim and the side of the perpetrator. Perhaps it would be a clearer if you look at it that way. And under those terms, you have to base it on the society norm at the time of the incident. It is interesting that theft, the last example, has always been against society norm no matter what point in history or what culture.

Good and evil are a matter of perspective. They don't exist, except as abstracts. You can't even define the Nazi regime as "bad", because to some people it seemed good.

There's never an objective way to measure anything. The concept of right and wrong is just another one of these. In fact, life itself is subjective.

I like your thinking here. You're questioning one of the assumptions that is most central to our lives -- the existence of "right" and "wrong." Your example of the thief and the merchant is very thought-provoking. I would ask you to write a longer, more thorough discussion on this topic. I would definitely read and review!

The problem with our culture today is that it tries to enforce its own values onto every other culture. Think of those people coming to your house with Bibles in your hands. They view their branch of Christianity as good, but they really have no right to force the people in the house to think like they do.

Wow...you got me thinking...good job. ja.

Partly because of my nazi friend, I've become much more openminded, and believe the line between right and wrong is quite relative. What one person believes to be right and good may not be right and good in the eyes of another. Who is right? Who can determine it? Some higher being, perhaps. Certainly not we, we normal beings, as our own opinions of right and wrong would change whether we think someone else is right and good. Our opinions are an expression of our individuality, not a way to condemn another. No one is completely right, and no one is completely wrong... all actions have motivation behind them, and once you consider the motivation, it may change your opinion entirely.
Ehe, good essay, I should go now... Now that I've left a good sized rant in a review. o.O;