Good vs. Evil

I am in the middle of a chapter (whose reading is long overdue, ah, the life of a college student) of my sociology book about politics. There is a section on War and Dehumanization. It has discussed how a man can torture another and has brought it down to a level of good vs. evil.

"As sociologist Tamotsu Shibutani (1970) stressed, dehumanization is aided by the tendency for prolonged conflicts to be transformed into a struggle between good and evil. The enemy, of course, represents evil in the equation. [. . .] The thinking goes like this: To defeat absolute evil requires the suspension of moral standards--for we are fighting for the precarious survival of good."

I was struck by the idea of the "survival of good" as if it could be destroyed. Of course, I, without realizing, equate good with the ultimate good that is God. I think our thinking has been tainted by this in some way. It's weird to think about this idea because it has such implications. Is good a position or is it state of being or is it a being? What is good? Evil has been purported to be easily defined as the absence of good. I think until an adequate understanding of good is established we cannot define evil. This is where I have run out of smart words and am simply questioning...thinking...pursuing the truth that I know with all of my being has its source in my God. Perhaps in the months or years to come I'll have a few more words on this rather important question...