The Role of Free Will

You wrote:

If creature A does something that it is genetically programmed to do which leads to creature A treating creature B in a way that creature A itself would not like to be treated then is that the definition of evil behaviour on the part of creature A?

The emphasis is mine.

Let us look at this from two angles:

• The genetic programming mandates that creature A take some action -- in this case the action is not "evil" ... creature A has no opportunity to do otherwise. It is like asking if the hot volcanic lava is itself "evil." The answer is "no" ... it is simply being lava. (I'm well aware that there's a difficulty here: did God design harmful things that way, or are natural things of this world that are harmful that way due to the fallen nature of not just man, but creation as a whole? Did God create cancer, or is cancer a byproduct of our fallen world? I don't know.)
  
• The genetic programming suggests the action, but does not require it -- here the action may very well be a "sin" (what is contrary to God's wishes) if creature A knew that engaging in behavior X was wrong but did it anyway. This is why I asked whether we thought lower-form organisms "thought" about their actions. I doubt they do. But we do. And that's what separates us from them.

So I do not believe a cancer cell is "sinning against God" ... a cancer cell is simply being a cancer cell, just like sharp rock formation is simply being a rock when it slices a hiker's leg open.

Note: here again, that's not to say that God wants cancer to kill someone. But he allows it. Yes, it's a tricky balance. No, I don't fully understand it.

We humans, with our ability to discern what is right and what is wrong, have been given an enormous burden as well as the opportunity of a glorious gift. The burden is the struggle with evil and our knowledge of it; the gift -- if we choose to seek it and accept it -- is the Grace of God in our lives. It's a difficult thing to explain, but I believe this is why we have "free will" ... so that the preciousness of Grace could be more fully appreciated by us.

Some have argued that we have free will so that God benefits from our willing love. That may be. But I've always thought that free will is, ultimately, another example of God's utter selflessness -- the gift is really to us, so that Grace is all that much sweeter.