Is Man born inately good or bad natured?

[ruger17hmr]

Is Man born innately good or bad natured?

According to the Bible we are all sinners- "Original Sin" coursing through our veins. If you are a Christian, it seems you are predestined to have a sinful life, which makes you an innately bad person.

Do you agree?

If not, why? Please do share your thoughts.

Something to think about...

 

[hornadylnl]

Does a child have to be taught how to lie, cheat, and steal or do they figure it out on their own?

 

[furbymac]

Does a child have to be taught how to lie, cheat, and steal or do they figure it out on their own?

they figure out how to do it on their own but it is the responsibility of said childs parents to teach them right from wrong.

 

[jeremy]

Man is what Man is...
Neither innately Good nor Bad, somewhere in the Grey is where you find Man...

 

[gunman41mag]

Believe in JESUS, & your sins will be forgiving

 

[Expat]

I think it is a mixed bag. I have seen brothers from the same family, raised the same and one was just destined to be bad it seemed. He rebelled against his parents when he was a toddler and it just got worse. The other never wanted to disappoint his folks or anyone else that knew him.

And I have seen bad people, drunks, liars, crooked that turned their lives over to God and never went back to their old ways.

 

[Gabriel]

Believe in JESUS, & your sins will be forgiving

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

My son was a pathological liar from an early age. Believe me, I never taught him that. I finally had to tell him he needed to quit it because he wasn't any good at it (he wasn't) and practice wasn't making him any better. He still missteps once in a while, but anyone will. He's over the lying thing, though. I think he'll do fine.

 

[pitbull88]

Hate the sin, love the sinner

Most people are inherently good, but imperfect. We make mistakes (e.g., choosing to do drugs), and sometimes these mistakes are compounded (e.g., addiction to drugs). There are a few "bad apples" and by this I mean people who are born to be bad. Most people that turn out "bad" are socialized that way, or, reinforced to engage in bad behavior.

Just my opinions.

 

[VERT]

I normally wouldn't comment in a thread such as this because I feel that religious beliefs are a deeply personal matter. But in this case I have strong feelings on the matter. When I look into the eyes of a child, any child, all I see is innocence. I just can not bring myself to believe that children are evil. Naive I know. One of the most disturbing stories that I can remember is when my former bosses wife was critical of a neighbor for not having their child sprinkled/baptized. This neighbor had recently lost their child and apparently this baby was now going to burn in hell. Not belittling anybodies beliefs but I just can not bring myself to believe that the soul of a baby is going to burn in hell.

 

[Hoosierdood]

This question is difficult to answer without getting into religion. But the answer is that man is innately bad. Sure, we can occasionally do selfless and kind deeds, but our nature is basically flawed.

Think of this... a tiger can be taught to jump through hoops, and stand on a box. A man can even teach a tiger to let him stick his head in its mouth. But a tiger is still a wild animal in its basic nature. And even though it can be taught to be "tame", it is still a tiger. (think of Sigfreid and Roy)

 

[Mr.JAG]

Just FYI, this question has been asked by the most famous of philosophers - long before even modern day religions existed. Religion really doesn't need to be involved to discuss the issue.

And yes, I do believe that if left to their own devices - man would inherently be immoral. Religion also doesn't necessarily need to be (or can be) the way we manage that as a society. Laws, social norms, parenting, etc all shape who we ultimately end up being. Without these things, I really do believe man will take the easiest path to any goal - whether that means stealing from the weak for monetary gain or simply forcing sexual acts when the mood drives us (like animals often do).

 

[navarre1095]

"Beware the beast Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death."

 

[hornadylnl]

they figure out how to do it on their own but it is the responsibility of said childs parents to teach them right from wrong.

I'm not sure you guys got my point. If a child was born inherintly good, they would have to be taught to lie, cheat, and steal.

 

[Dead Duck]

Temptation Sucks! But you know very well who started it all.

Its all Eve's fault! Adam was just minding his own business being naked.
I know it's true. My X-wife is the Devils Spawn.



Lets all go back to be Good and Naked!











Amen

 

[theweakerbrother]

Is Man born innately good or bad natured?

According to the Bible we are all sinners- "Original Sin" coursing through our veins. If you are a Christian, it seems you are predestined to have a sinful life, which makes you an innately bad person.

Do you agree?

If not, why? Please do share your thoughts.

Something to think about...

Loaded semantics aside, what is presented is not necessarily what the ancient texts say but what you are presenting is your interpretation of those texts.

Man is born innately ... man. This is what makes our specific manifestation of creation so beautiful. Conversely, it is also what what makes it so tragic and dangerous. Each person has the capacity for greatness, great evil or mundane neutrality. Man is also in constant flux with the ability to do good because they can change through a slow progression or in a passionate moment, for better or for worse.

Man's desire to seek things greater or better than his self comes from a power that he believes exists that is an inspiration to his self. Man needs no horned beast with a bifurcated tail to encourage him to do evil because he does a pretty good job at being evil on his own.

It doesn't happen as often as what I'd like, but have you ever encountered someone whose life has so drastically changed that he was a much better person later? It happened because of choice. Likewise, we've all seen really dynamic people change for the worse because of other kinds of choices.

Does a child have to be taught how to lie, cheat, and steal or do they figure it out on their own?

This.

Good post! Very well thought out!

 

[beararms1776]

Is Man born innately good or bad natured?

According to the Bible we are all sinners- "Original Sin" coursing through our veins. If you are a Christian, it seems you are predestined to have a sinful life, which makes you an innately bad person.

Religion has nothing to do with human nature.

 

[ruger17hmr]

Loaded semantics aside, what is presented is not necessarily what the ancient texts say but what you are presenting is your interpretation of those texts.

Man is born innately ... man. This is what makes our specific manifestation of creation so beautiful. Conversely, it is also what what makes it so tragic and dangerous. Each person has the capacity for greatness, great evil or mundane neutrality. Man is also in constant flux with the ability to do good because they can change through a slow progression or in a passionate moment, for better or for worse.

Man's desire to seek things greater or better than his self comes from a power that he believes exists that is an inspiration to his self. Man needs no horned beast with a bifurcated tail to encourage him to do evil because he does a pretty good job at being evil on his own.

It doesn't happen as often as what I'd like, but have you ever encountered someone whose life has so drastically changed that he was a much better person later? It happened because of choice. Likewise, we've all seen really dynamic people change for the worse because of other kinds of choices.



This.



Good post! Very well thought out!

The post was created to make the forum members think.

If you feel it was loaded with semantics, it was not my intention to do so.

BTW, I do agree with the most of your views: well thought out and carefully structured opinions.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Religion is only a construction of the philosophy of good and evil. Good is what benefits us, and it behooves us to encourage it; evil is what harms us, and it behooves us to discourage it. Religion may be thought of as a way to describe good and evil to a people who are not mature enough to realize these things on their own. A way to convince them to do right instead of wrong when they do not have the logical facilities to recognize the right from the wrong themselves. When you want someone to behave, either you tell them: this is the law of the king, and he's watching you, and if you don't obey, his minions will kick your ass, or: this is the law of God, and he's watching you, if you don't obey you'll get your ass kicked in hell. Or preferably both, which is where separation of church and state comes in.

 

[goinggreyfast]

The post was created to make the forum members think.

[STRIKE]If you feel it was loaded with semantics, it was not my intention to do so.[/STRIKE]

BTW, I do agree with the most of your views: well thought out and carefully structured opinions.

Don't think it was loaded with semantics. And I agree with TWB's assessment. Well put, don't think I could have said it any better within the parameters of the rules of the forum. Being a Believer, I have very strong convictions as it relates to this matter though. Nuff said...

Something I try to remind myself of daily is: "The choices we make today are the realities we live with tomorrow."

+1 to theweakerbrother