Donald Sensing mentions the Christian doctrine of original sin and I wanted to toss in my 3 cents.
It's common to hear it said that "most people are basically good", but whenever someone tells me that I wonder if they're living in the same world I am.
Me: Are you good?
Them: Well, mostly I guess. I try to be.
Me: Have you ever murdered anyone?
Them: No, of course not!
Me: Oh, well that's good. Have you ever lied?
Them: Sure, sure, sometimes I do.
Me: Ever steal anything?
Them: Haha, when I was a kid maybe.
Me: Never fudge your time cards then at work, I suppose?
Them: Maybe a little....
Me: Ever rape anyone?
Them: What?! No!
Me: Not even in your mind?
Them: Well you certainly can't judge me for the things I think about....
Me: So you're a liar, a thief, and you've at least contemplated rape --
Them: Bye.
The point is that no one is "basically good". Everyone is depraved, self-centered, and evil -- the fact that we don't act on these desires isn't due to some inner virtue, it's because of fear. That's the purpose of society, to pit my selfishness against yours and thereby restain both of us from our true nature. I'm planning another article on this topic as it relates to my previous post on game theory.
Anyone who has ever seen or been a part of a mob knows what can happen when societal restraint breaks down. Otherwise orderly, good, decent, normal human beings can go completely nuts when their fear of retribution and punishment disappears, and this is our natural condition. Anyone who is honest with theirself knows this to be true -- I alone know the beast that lives within me.
It was horrifying to me to read about the terror that Saddam's regime perpetrated on the Iraqi people. How could anyone commit such atrocities? The countless murders and rapes, children tortured, mass graves, medical experimentation... we've only begun to discover the carnage. One of the scariest things to me was that I could see kernels of that same evil in my own heart. Sure, I'm a long way from there in action, but somewhere deep inside of me is a sliver of darkness just looking for tiny ways to break free each and every day. What about you?
I agree with you 90%. Where we differ on the 10%, I'm actually surprised.
I believe wholeheartedly in innate depravity. I think the only way to overcome it is to transcend it - learn your personal morals and live by them. Oh, and heed those law things, too, while you're at it. Makes life much simpler.
Society has nothing to do with it for me. The people who do good/are mostly good are that way because they CHOOSE to be. Obviously, it's not easy.
Still, there's my 10%'s worth. (From a woman who wore a shirt that says "Question Society" to the gym this evening).
hln
I don't think that anyone can be good merely through willpower. Even if someone does good most of the time, I wouldn't say they're a good person. The standard for goodness is perfection, and no one can meet it.
I believe that we are bent toward sin because of Adam's sin, but in no way do we have Adam's sin placed on our lives at birth. Adam's sin broke our relationship with God and broght the knowledge of evil into the world. And it is easier to do what is evil than try to leave as Christ has called us to live.