Good vs. Evil
I’m getting closer to answering a question I’ve been pondering for a few years: Are most people mostly good or mostly bad? I’ve begun to think this: Most people are bad (mainly because it is human nature to be selfish and insensitive). But there are enough mostly good people to make human society worth salvaging. Their kindness shines through the darkness. The opportunity to experience — and strive for — that glow is a just cause to persist through the rest. We just need a persistent reminder and a constant incentive to do good. Fearing the wrath of a higher being (either a god or a parent) is recommended.
July 5th, 2004 at 4:53 pm
hmmm… this is just me, but I’ve always thought most people as mostly good… It’s a mixture of circumstance and ignorance that makes them commit bad actions or deeds. but like you said, there are those good people that shine like candles, beating away the darkness.
I dunno, personally, I think that fear as an incentive to do good is kind of a strange phenomenon… and this is the idealist in me talking once again, but shouldn’t people just feel good about doing good?
July 6th, 2004 at 10:19 pm
People are both. We started out basically good, but we inherited badness which grew and plagued our once-innocent souls with evil. And I agree with dat-person-right-dar, fear doesn’t seem a great way to combat badness. If you do something good out of fear, it’s not really much of a good deed, but more an act of self-preservation. A good thing done in selfishness doesn’t seem that spectacular to me.
A better way, I believe, is doing good because you know good pleases someone you love, and bad hurts them. Personally I’ve found life much more enjoyable since I stopped being afraid of God and started trying to do things that please Him. It works with parents, too. You can be afraid of your parents’ wrath, or you can fear your parents’ will as being for your own good, and try to do good for their good.
July 18th, 2004 at 9:05 pm
Posted by Katiefish:
I’m gonna have to agree with these guys. People are mostly good but sometimes they make bad choices. Sometimes really bad choices. And it makes them seem like bad people. I think most of the things that make people seem bad are the products of nurture, rather than nature.