Tables = bad?

Lately I’ve been trying to conform my coding procedures to the web standards of XHTML, CSS and whatnot, but one thing I’d like clarified is the use of tables. To me, tables are evil, and poor design elements, almost like using shudder frames. But are tables really all that bad? I know the same results can be achieved in CSS, and can be more effecient that way, but are tables still good?