This entire post is SPOILERIFIC!
Shinra is pretty evil all right. Yeah, they fought Sephiroth. So? Stalin fought Hitler.
1: The dropping of the plate. And I REALLY don't think Prez Shinra Senior did it 'out fo the goodness of his heart' It was a purposeful move to shove it in the shoes of AVALANCHE, and get more obedience himself.
2: They often use assassinations, war and terror to gain power. Look at Nort Correl (an entire village, ERADICATED! And it's not like Scarle could have done that without Prez Shinra's concern) , look at Condor Fortress (military atack, and that started BEFORE the huge Materia was needed to save the world) look at Niebelheim (and yeah, all of he ORIGINAL inhabitants were killed by Sephiroth OR experimented on by Hojo, and they covered it all up) look at Wutai (another war)
3: The draining of the planet. But really, that is not merely Shinra but humanity in general that is to blame. After all, everyone is happily using it... Of cousre, oppinions differ, and a parallel to the real world is quickly made. (use a company's products = become partly responsible for all the company's actions?)
Shinra is definately evil... as for the individuals.
Shinra + Rufus: They are head honchos...: Shinra gave the command to kill thousands of innocents, Rufus comes out and SAYS he intends to use fear and terror to rule. I like Rufus as much as you, but the guy is every bit as evil as Sephiroth, he just doesn't have the means to become a god because he isn't a Jenova-created being. Little doubt as to what HE would do in Seph's shoes though.
Hojo: Strangely enough, he was not after power but knowledge. But he experimented on unwilling humans and other people ALL along the way. Near the end we can say he was insane though, and might not be held responsible for his actions anymore.
Scarlet + Heidegger: They knew of the plans and happily went along with them. Scalet oversaw the slaughter of Corel. Heidegger executed the Sector 7 massacre. They're evil. (but he, DJzen, just becasue you're evil doesn't mean you can't be SEXY)
The Turks: Not evil, you say? They're likable but... These people are kidnappers, saboteurs and assassins. Reno was the one who Ppushed the button and thus the immediate responsible for thousands of innocent lives lost, he never showed regret over it, and it's not like the Turks seem to be FORCED to work for Shinra. When they feel like it, they take a vacation so.... As for Tseng, he spend a good few years trying to capture a little girl (Aeris) so a mad professor coulde experiment on her. Elena seems the most innocent of the gang, but that's relaive. Then there is Don Corneo... yeah, he's a disgusting guy, but the turks were sent after him not for that, but because he blabbed about Sector 7. That's grade A evil right there.
Reeve: Now we're getting into troubled water. Reeve clearly didn't LIKE the evil Shinra commited, but he stayed with them. In quite a high position. AND he betrayed Cloud and the gang as well. Near the end, he started to redeem himself. (first by sacrificing a doll, later by actually running personal risk) But moreso than any of the other people who worked for Shinra, he KNEW how rotten Shinra was.
Then of course there is Cloud, Barret, Vincent, Tifa and Cid, who all worked for the Shinra in one way or the other. But how far did they know how evil it was? The question is really teh same you can ask about Germans during the Hitler period? How much did they know? How much should they have done? Not everyone can be a hero and spit in the SS' face as he got shot, but where does 'not being a hero' end and 'joining he evil' begin? There's quite some questions FFVII asks, and people still haven't agreed on the answer.
