Are people basically good?
Is human nature intrinsically a good nature?
Is humanity generally good?
Or not?
Shockingly, I have encountered many people (safe to say a majority) who believe, as Anne Frank described in her famous diary, "in spite of everything I still believe people are basically good at heart." In fact, I remember when we read that in High School, I ended up in a debate between my teacher and some other students who also believed that people are basically good.
Now to be clear, I do NOT believe that people are basically evil (or bad)! And I do NOT believe that people are basically good.
Rather, I believe people are basically… Intermediates… constantly choosing between the two competing inclinations of good and evil.
We are born, not good, and not evil, but rather just innocent… and selfish… and narcissistic.
Babies can't do evil or good, as they cannot even understand the concepts or make choices. But they are primarily occupied with their own needs. "Give me mommy", "Give me milk", "Change my diaper", and so go their demands without a care as to the parent's needs. In fact, if the baby does not get what she needs she will make your life even worse until y0u provide. Still, none of that is bad or evil behavior. It is innocent when it is done by a baby.
As your child grows, you must teach them to share. No child (that I know of) naturally shares so much that their parents have to teach them to not share, and be a little more selfish.
You must teach your child gratitude. Again, I know of no child who first or second words were "thank you." Nor is there a parent I know of who does not constantly remind their child to say "thank you" when appropriate. Gratitude requires constant reinforcement as it does not come naturally, unlike selfishness.
Yes, some kids seem to be better at these skills then others, but all children must be taught these good behaviors in one way or another… they don't come naturally hard wired into our nature.
I have coached younger children and it is amazing how cruel they are to one another. The constant taunting and berating and abuse they afflict on the weaker or different child borders on sadistic. And it is with very rare exception that another child steps up to fight against this bad behavior.
Again, this does not mean that, since babies are innocent and behave selfishly, and children tend to act cruelly and selfishly that therefore human nature is evil.
NO! I do NOT believe that human nature is evil either. But I DO believe that if left unchecked, and people are not taught to battle their evil inclinations then they will act evil and exhibit more and more negative behavior as they age.
So there lies the gap between the two different mindsets. One believes that people are basically good and left to their own devices humanity will do good, and the other mindset believes that people are NOT basically good, and left to their own devices humanity will do evil.
These mindsets determine much of our behavior in life such as voting, raising kids, and choosing our battles.
In general, people who think that people are basically good also believe that bigger Government is fine because they will naturally want to do good (since human nature is toward goodness.) If you think people are basically good then you likely have a more laissez fare attitude toward raising your children (since their good nature will naturally lead them to do good.) And if you think people are basically good then be less likely to battle the people doing evil as much as you will with the external cause you believe corrupted their good nature (i.e. poverty causes crime… so battle poverty and there will be less crime.)
On the other hand, in general people who do NOT believe people are basically good will vote for smaller government because they fear the tendency of greater power to lead to corruption and distrust the idea that people are basically good. Unlike their counterparts, their attitude toward parenting will be more authoritarian and well… parental. Again, because they believe they must lead and instruct their child toward goodness as well as battle their inclinations toward evil. And those who do NOT believe people are basically good, will be far more likely to place blame and responsibility on the person who did evil rather than the circumstances surrounding their behavior.
Now, to answer the critics who want to use God as an argument that people are basically good. I ask you to tell me, who in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) was described as being born good?
Actually, there is one that I know of and that's Moses. When Moses is born the word used to describe him is "tov" which literally means "good." And yes, you will find plenty of examples where people do good in the Torah. But you will find far more example of people doing evil.
And the argument that since we are "created in the image of God" has nothing to do with our being basically good, rather our ability to transcend our lower animal natures and choose to become more holy. Or to put it another way, as taught in the parable about the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Human nature has the ability know good and evil, and choose how to behave. Finally, the idea of mankind alone being in God's image is a way to articulate our uniqueness in creation, our infinite value, and our sanctity.
Now for those who are atheist and want to argue that evolution drove us to become naturally good, I will ask two questions "How?" and "Why?"
How would evolution as we understand it drive human nature toward goodness? I thought evolution was about "natural selection." How does survival of the fittest comport with the idea of survival of the goodest? Do you believe that doing what is morally good canNOT or does NOT compromise survival? Do you believe that the strongest or fittest are also have the most good nature? I am sincere in my questions, as I do not understand how evolution's natural selection computes with the belief that human nature evolved into being basically good.
And why? Why would being good at all factor into the evolution of mankind? Would it be so that our species can survive? If so, then why did we seem to 'evolve' to do be able to do more devastating evil? Why have we gone from evil done on basically an individual basis (one man murders another man) to genocide (one man capable of murdering millions). Logically, wouldn't evolution toward goodness work the other way? If our goodness was part of our natural selection, then would humanity be constantly improving and becoming less and less violent and evil? But that is not the case.
As Dennis Prager wrote in his article of the same nomenclature:
Anyone who is at all familiar with human history knows how universal evil has been — from human sacrifice to slavery to mass murder and torture.
And anyone familiar with evolutionary thought (see, for example, “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins, who is also a major advocate of atheism) knows that evolution’s emphasis on survival of the fittest hardly allowed the innately good organism (if there ever was one) to survive.
So, too, no body of wisdom literature in the East or West ever posited that people were basically good. The idea is a product of modern secular Western thought.
~ Dennis Prager "Are People Basically Good?" ( Jewish Journal Oct. 2010)
And this product of secular Western thought (that people are basically good) ends up being terribly destructive.
When you think people are basically good, you will not fight evil. As I stated earlier, when you think the main reason for evil is due to poverty, mental illness, society, or some other exogenous environmental factor… then you will inevitably fight that and not the behavior itself and the people who commit the transgressions.
Values determine whether or not people act good or evil.
Not poverty… How do you explain why so many people in previous generations would never steal despite their poverty? (i.e. great depression when crime rates were lower)
Not mental illness… Again how do you explain all those who have a diagnosed form of mental illness and yet would never commit the crimes others do? (i.e. mass murder)
Not society… Every society, the best and the worst, have good and evil people residing in them. People are just people, and they decide how they will act based on their values. And yes, society or culture can affect someone's values… but again… it's the values and not the society.
Non-children (as I would define as 13 years old and older in general… that is old enough to know the difference between right and wrong, good and evil; and should be held accountable for their actions) are intermediates who are constantly deciding whether or not they will be guided by their good inclinations or evil inclinations.
This is a constant battle we all face on a regular basis. Not that we are constantly deciding between theft or homicide necessarily, but more subtle behaviors like inappropriate behavior while driving or gossip.
The Lord says of mankind in Genesis before and after the flood:
Gen. 6:5 "The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time."
Gen. 8:21 "...even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood."
This is why He choose Noah, the most righteous of his generation. God was "saddened" by the chosen depravity of His creation, and so they suffered a consequence - annihilation. And then God vows to never destroy the world again on account of humanity. BUT we are free to destroy it ourselves. We are free to destroy each other. We are free to choose between good and evil. And as He states "every inclination of the human heart (mind) is evil from childhood." Therefore we must battle ourselves.
The greatest challenge we face for the 21st century is ourselves.
Good vs. Evil
Which inclination will you lead your life?
How can you aid others in the battle?
