Restrictions on Summon Monster Spells?

[Saeviomagy]

The problem is that some people have this whole idea that a rules-sanctioned [evil] outweighs any other alignment tag - ie that if you cast an [evil] spell, then regardless of use you become more evil.

Typically even casting an [evil] spell to save a town of innocents will have them saying "oooh, that character's evil!".

Additionally, those same people will NOT weight a characters soul for casting a [good] spell. So casting [good] spells isn't a way of cleaning your soul again. There's usually some tortuitous logic (typically "casting protection from evil isn't a good act, because nothing good comes of it" - which will contradict their stance that using an evil spell for good makes you more evil, but they really don't care, see below).

Frankly, I think they're just out to screw PCs.

 

[James McMurray]

Nobody said that [evil] spells override good acts, or vice versa. But they are still evil acts, regardless of the whys and the wherefors. Someone truly aspiring to be good should probably find a different route to their goal.

 

[Voadam]

One of the most evil things a summoner can do is use angels and celestials to fight the paladins that come after him.

I would not have the summoner become closer to switching to good alignment because of using this tactic, his spell would simply detect as good.

I don't recall reading any rule that casting an aligned descriptor spell affects your alignment, only that the spell detects according to its descriptor, clerics have restrictions on casting them, and there are certain specific magical interactions.

The way I see it there is elemental magical alignment descriptors and there is moral alignment. The two are separate concepts rule-wise.