user43: When a person or a group of people identify themselves with "the good" (in opposition to "not so good" or even "the evil" of others), quite often this can lead to "the good" getting overly aggressive in its pursuit of the goodness and de-facto turning into evil.
Is this an inevitable problem arising due to identification/reification or is there a way to keep it under control and identify with the good without becoming the evil? If so, how can that be achieved?
What guidelines do various Buddhist schools offer on this topic, if any?
P.S. by "to identify with" I mean "to consider themselves to be affiliated with, or to be representative of, the true something (in this case the good)"

user471: The sutta quote below is a good guide.
If what one does, although perceived to be good by popular opinion, but in fact increases one's unskillful mental qualities and decreases one's skillful mental qualities, then it is not good.
And so on.

"When — by following a life of precept & practice (sīlabbata)
, a life, a holy life
that is followed as of essential worth — one's unskillful mental
qualities increase while one's skillful mental qualities decline: that
sort of precept & practice, life, holy life that is followed as of
essential worth is fruitless. But when — by following a life of
precept & practice, a life, a holy life that is followed as of
essential worth — one's unskillful mental qualities decline while
one's skillful mental qualities increase: that sort of precept &
practice, life, holy life that is followed as of essential worth is
fruitful."
AN 3.78


43: <p>When a person or a group of people identify themselves with &quot;the good&quot; (in opposition to &quot;not so good&quot; or even &quot;the evil&quot; of others), quite often this can lead to &quot;the good&quot; getting overly aggressive in its pursuit of the goodness and de-facto turning into evil.</p>
<p>Is this an inevitable problem arising due to identification/reification or is there a way to keep it under control and identify with the good without becoming the evil? If so, how can that be achieved?</p>
<p>What guidelines do various Buddhist schools offer on this topic, if any?</p>
<p>P.S. by &quot;to identify with&quot; I mean &quot;to consider themselves to be affiliated with, or to be representative of, the true <em>something</em> (in this case <em>the good</em>)&quot;</p>
 471: <p>The sutta quote below is a good guide.</p>
<p>If what one does, although perceived to be good by popular opinion, but in fact increases one's unskillful mental qualities and decreases one's skillful mental qualities, then it is not good.</p>
<p>And so on.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;When — by following a life of precept &amp; practice (<em>sīlabbata</em>)
, a life, a holy life
that is followed as of essential worth — one's unskillful mental
qualities increase while one's skillful mental qualities decline: that
sort of precept &amp; practice, life, holy life that is followed as of
essential worth is fruitless. But when — by following a life of
precept &amp; practice, a life, a holy life that is followed as of
essential worth — one's unskillful mental qualities decline while
one's skillful mental qualities increase: that sort of precept &amp;
practice, life, holy life that is followed as of essential worth is
fruitful.&quot;<br />
<a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.078.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AN 3.78</a></p>
</blockquote>
