Good and bad
Let's throw in a semi-biblical one:
The tree of the knowledge of good and bad, and the detail that apparently it made man like God, in this respect.
Even if you take this story as a myth, at the very least it indicates that one segment of mankind had drawn some conclusions by about 1500BC (and alledged to have been drawn by 4000BC).And I would present them this way:
Man inherently has the knowledge to do good or bad, something that is observable in the natural creation, and may be an extension of "God" himself.Example
I've seen my little nephews demonstrate beaming love, and even sharing. I've also seen them act selfishly AND poop in the bath (LOL).
As we get older we tend to curb certain impulses, because of the community around us, but if we can get away with things, we sometimes will (depending on the strength of our personal ethics).Counters
Scripture tells us that man is bad from his youth up, and certain sections of Christian belief indicate that man is "Totally Depraved", needing God to lift man out of the mire (not religion per se).On the physical plane, this is statistically unprovable. There ARE good things happening in the world that appear to have little or no connection to people's spirituality. An example being a reactive response to someone's need (albeit in cases of violence, sometimes self-preservation overrides this).I've seen "spiritual" people do detestable things, so spirituality isn't the cure to "badness". I sometimes wonder if it makes one less prone, or whether or not a strong community spirituality reduces "badness" to the degree in which it is observable. In other words, do overtly "spiritual" people try to act like they are expected to act? I believe this is reduced somewhat in "non-works religions", at least by the practitioners, if not the adherents.Conclusion
Man has the propensity to both.
I do think there's a clue in "spirituality", but since it's hovering in a mist, it's hard to quantify.An excellent thread, albeit a topic that is self-confessedly classic.
Let's throw in a semi-biblical one:
The tree of the knowledge of good and bad, and the detail that apparently it made man like God, in this respect.
Even if you take this story as a myth, at the very least it indicates that one segment of mankind had drawn some conclusions by about 1500BC (and alledged to have been drawn by 4000BC).And I would present them this way:
Man inherently has the knowledge to do good or bad, something that is observable in the natural creation, and may be an extension of "God" himself.Example
I've seen my little nephews demonstrate beaming love, and even sharing. I've also seen them act selfishly AND poop in the bath (LOL).
As we get older we tend to curb certain impulses, because of the community around us, but if we can get away with things, we sometimes will (depending on the strength of our personal ethics).Counters
Scripture tells us that man is bad from his youth up, and certain sections of Christian belief indicate that man is "Totally Depraved", needing God to lift man out of the mire (not religion per se).On the physical plane, this is statistically unprovable. There ARE good things happening in the world that appear to have little or no connection to people's spirituality. An example being a reactive response to someone's need (albeit in cases of violence, sometimes self-preservation overrides this).I've seen "spiritual" people do detestable things, so spirituality isn't the cure to "badness". I sometimes wonder if it makes one less prone, or whether or not a strong community spirituality reduces "badness" to the degree in which it is observable. In other words, do overtly "spiritual" people try to act like they are expected to act? I believe this is reduced somewhat in "non-works religions", at least by the practitioners, if not the adherents.Conclusion
Man has the propensity to both.
I do think there's a clue in "spirituality", but since it's hovering in a mist, it's hard to quantify.An excellent thread, albeit a topic that is self-confessedly classic.