Well said, Matthew! You address the common English translation of the first precept of the Natural Law, and as a side note, the Latin word used in "avoid evil" is "vitandum," which is used not only to describe a retreat from or maneuvering around some danger, but also, and perhaps more interestingly, the way a guilty man averts his eyes from his accuser. The use of it here is a reminder that, as you say, we lose if we even make eye contact, so to speak, with evil, since we ourselves are guilty on all counts.
Well said, Matthew! You address the common English translation of the first precept of the Natural Law, and as a side note, the Latin word used in "avoid evil" is "vitandum," which is used not only to describe a retreat from or maneuvering around some danger, but also, and perhaps more interestingly, the way a guilty man averts his eyes from his accuser. The use of it here is a reminder that, as you say, we lose if we even make eye contact, so to speak, with evil, since we ourselves are guilty on all counts.