Society & Lifestyle >
Personal Morals & Values
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedAre people inherently good?
Results so far:
| Yes | 62% | 1132 votes | Total: 1830 votes | |
| No | 38% | 698 votes |
Yes
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesWe come into this world with a longing to learn and absorb as much information as possible to build our own diverse character. Individuality sparked by how we perceive the world around us, and how we relate to the events taking place or have taken place in our lives. How we react to society, and what information we choose to build upon relates to how we shall advance in the growing world around us.
All are born good, we have religious dynamics that pursue the fact that we are not born free of "sin". Yet, what child can be seen as evil or wrong when growing in their own way? As individuals, we all grow either faster or slower toward doing better for ourselves and those around us, or we have our spirits broken. The outcome of our livelihoods comes down to how we perceive the world in which we live.
It would be liked to believe, by those in power, that we have a need to create demons so we can feel safe ourselves, for our own shortcomings. If we rely on others to create an illusion that the world has gone mad, and their is nothing to do, but to ride the snowball downhill and watch the world fade away. We then have deceived ourselves into believing that we are inherently evil.
I have no reason to believe or to assume that any of us think that way. The seemingly rejoice of the media in destructive events, is diminishing. World opinions are changing rapidly from a world of governed right and wrongs, good and evils, to a more individualistic basis of thinking. I rant and rave all day long, my whole life trying to tell people that we should all think for ourselves based on realistic conclusions, formatted by conceptualized thought, rather than to formulate opinions based on non-realistic views.
Views are just that, pictures painted by one man's mind as of how to view the world. Good is in us and is a natural part of us. We have the ability to create and destroy, whether we "end-up" good in the end is every-one's freedom to explore. Thoughts do not make us evil, no matter how bad. Actions determine a realistic base to formulate an honest opinion of just how well we have clung to the inheritance bestowed on all creation....... Goodness!
So always remember, the information that you absorb from your daily routine to conversations you have do really make all the difference. Our brain is a peculiar instrument, what we hear, read, and think about, stews in our brain like a pot of mixed vegetables, trying to sort each piece by the information received and how we perceived the moment. Our brain is constantly trying to base facts on reality, how we perceive reality, construes the formula coming to our own logical conclusion. How can our brain try so hard, naturally, to ward off bad decision making, and mankind not be good? How do you perceive? What do you conceptualize as to what good is? You are an individual, you are good, we are all good...... but it's what we do with the gift of goodness that matters most.
Learn more about this author, Marshall Brown.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
One of the hardest issues that we have to wrestle with and eventually face is the reality of human goodness. Everywhere we look, we see the impact of evil and wrongdoing all around us. Each new day brings us news of violence in our streets and in the homes down the street. The abuse of drugs, alcohol, and a host of other addictions are on the rise. Poverty seems to be rampant in our neighborhoods and in the countryside. Children go to bed hungry because their families do not have food. Images of a war fought half a world away fill our television screens. We see the reality of evil on a daily basis.
Can we honestly take a long, hard look at the world around us and honestly say that human beings are inherently good? Sadly, the answer must be absolutely not.
First, we need to come up with a working definition of good. What does it mean to be good? According to Dictionary.com, good means to be morally excellent, virtuous, righteous, or pious. By this definition, there is more to being good than we would first expect. Good is nothing short of choosing to do what is right over what is wrong because of our moral character. Being just above the level of behaving in a wrong manner does not make us good.
Goodness is associated to several things when it we consider the human condition. Good associates to the essence of our morals, the existence of our character, the focus of our ethics and the nature of our spiritual well being. Goodness is at the center of our being and at the core of who we can become.
We have to learn to be good
If anyone in our world are viewed in a manner that is innocent, it would have to be children. Children are seen as innocent and as being without fault, at least young children are seen this way. Do children have to learn to fight with one another? Do children have to be taught to commit acts of cruelty? No, they do not, because it is already in their blood. Disturbingly, children may encounter circumstances that might enhance their behavior but the nature of behaving in a wrong manner is there from birth. Human beings struggle with wrongdoing from the time we can walk and talk.
The problem is that we too often deny the reality of our human nature and then fail to overcome it. The longer we ignore our essential nature, the more likely we are to live in its bondage. The truth is simple, we must learn to act in a good manner. Goodness is imparted to us through the means of instruction and in the manner of a personal conscience.
We must learn that wrongdoing is wrong
We cannot be inherently good because we have to learn that doing wrong is wrong. Our nature is inherently directed toward doing that which is wrong. It takes us all some time to learn what is right and what is wrong. There is an inner instinct that distinguishes between right and wrong but our human nature seems driven toward doing wrong. Every child will have to learn the difference between right and wrong. The reason is simple, we must be taught that wrongdoing is wrong. It may sound a bit strange but that is precisely what needs to happen.
The issue is that if we never learn right from wrong, we will continue down the path of wrongdoing. We do not choose to do what is right on our own. We have to learn what is right and we have to be taught to do what is right.
Learn more about this author, David Dewitt.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Difference of opinion? Debate now.
