by Mary 20 Replies latest jw friends
All of us were raised by someone and even though our cultures vary greatly as to what constitutes "good" and "evil", there's some pretty basic guidelines that people are generally raised to believe.
If there were no set guidelines as to how we should act, would humans grow up good or evil if there wasn't someone else telling them what to do? What is our inherited nature? To be like Ghandi or Hitler? Or somewhere inbetween?
22. O SON OF SPIRIT!
Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.
(Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words)
carmel
Barring sociopaths, I think that we're inherently a cooperative species (a trait that also benefits the individual). That then translates into people being empathetic and "good" to one another more often than not. Selfishness can override that to various degrees though.
Good . . .however it's those unwashed, bad smelling, Middle Easterners and Russians that don't understand English and work at the 7-Elevens that have the ability to irritate me.
I think the conscience we are born with makes us generally good people.
POTENTIAL for both.
I think we are intrinsically good - until someone throws religion into the equation!
Ian
Good morning, Mary. GOOD QUESTION! I believe, the answer, lies within the genetic makeup of every individual, within our hearts, and our minds. Our conscience allows us to make decisions, accordingly.
That's my 2 cents worth, and I haven't even had a coffee yet.
Good ALL THE WAY ....with the capacity for BAD thrown in by circumstances, upbringing and some being far too selfish for anyones good. Oh some mental imbalance brought about by whatever...
I do not agree that 'the inclination of the heart of man is bad.' Total BS!
I'd like to think that we as a race are an intrinsically good race.
It doesn't matter what culture we come from we all look up to and congratulate someone that does good works. So we all aspire to those works
