It seems to me that I have been abetting an act of frightful wickedness and violence, performed by a set of men against one of their fellows; and I pray God that it may soon be out of the power of any man in England to witness such a hideous and degrading sight".
For the Guardian, for example, this is a tale of British complicity in an alleged act of wickedness by the Bush-era CIA.
But that windfall was not a conscious act of wickedness, or even of greed (unlike, arguably, Baby Boomer schemes to award each other early retirement at 55 on vast pensions, which were a form of stealing from future generations).Britain needs a discussion about inter-generational solidarity, to be sure.
Theron's most abysmal act of wickedness, while the King is away, is to force himself upon Leonidas's queen, played in full spirited-filly mode by Lena Headey.
Maypoles, "a heathenish vanity, generally abused to superstition and wickedness," were forbidden by an act of parliament in 1644.
Yet Bresson — who was eighty-two years old when the film came out, and clearly in no mood for mellowing — frames the acts of wickedness, both great and small, with a terrifying calm.
But, once a day, he allows himself a measure of wickedness.
In their belief system, the Rapture is a way of escaping what they deem is an unavoidable escalation of wickedness in the world.
Very few claimed a monopoly of wisdom for their candidate, or alleged a monopoly of wickedness on the other side.
You can stand there all day in sunshine and shadow, never realizing that a river of wickedness runs three stories below your feet.
