I think the problem is that the creators treated Good and Evil as both cosmic forces and as moralities, and I honestly don't think there's a way to do that that makes any real sense. So we're made to believe that the White Robes are morally good when they should just be considered to be on Team X, as opposed to Team Y and Team Z.
Personally, I think if a setting should have cosmic forces you align yourself to, they should have names other than Good/Neutral/Evil. And if you have alignments to describe morality, then they should not be cosmic forces.
This is one item I think is influenced by Mormonism. I don't agree with it myself, but I think it is an item which many of them believe.
If I recall right, it is the idea that in order for Good to exist, evil also must exist. That in order to experience something, the opposite of it must also exist.
The idea is that if there was no law, there would be no sin, and if no sin, there could be no righteousness (why...I have no idea...I suppose because they think that if you can't be bad, you can't be good either??). If there was no righteousness, there could be no happiness (why...again...because you have to experience sadness in order to realize or recognize you are happy??).
In that same light, if there was no happiness and no law and no sin, there would be no punishments or misery. If there was no punishment or misery, there would be no rewards either.
In my opinion, I think evil can be completely eliminated and good can actually be just naturally there. At least in my current way of thinking. So, my own feelings are not aligned with how Dragonlance presents the idea of balance. That's as much as I will elaborate upon my thoughts on this though.
It is this idea of opposites in Mormonism that I think may have influenced this entire idea of a balance between good and evil in Dragonlance. The idea being that we basically only have two choices in this life, to choose either good or evil (or neither I guess, the path of indecision as a neutral). Both have to exist so we can choose. This is why we have free agency, because we have the ability to choose between one or the other.
Anyways, I think this is where the idea of Good and Evil needing to be balanced comes from, and the idea that Good cannot exist without evil and evil cannot exist without good. That there needs to be a balance between the two...which is something that has come to be VERY core to Dragonlance in the past few decades.
With the diminishing of emphasis on alignment, one could wonder how much or little this idea will be emphasized in the new Dragonlance releases.
Edited: My original wording may have been taken too harshly against some individuals religious beliefs. My point is not to bring controversy, but to point out where this idea may have originally came from. I respect most other beliefs of others, whether I agree with them or not. This is not the place for religious expression though, nor the place to express the lack of it, so I have edited my posts to reflect a more positive outlook on the issue.
