Is everyone capable of evil?
Yes. I believe everyone is capable of evil,
but what counts is if they act on it. There is good and evil inside everyone,
and things such as their environments, surroundings, and relationships
influence which of these becomes more prominent. At the same time, I believe
everyone has a choice to act on the good inside him or her or the evil inside
him or her. Everyone does not-so-nice things every once in a while -- it’s
human nature. But everyone does wonderful things, as well, because that’s human
nature, too. You can choose to do evil and unfortunately, many people do.
We are often products of our surroundings,
but I don’t think anyone starts off their life with more good or evil inside of
them. In fact, I don’t think they start off with either. Instead, there is only the potential to grow and become
someone good or evil -- or a little of both. The people we encounter, the
things we hear and see, the events that occur around us as we grow up and grow old shape us into the people we are. We often gain our moral compasses from our
parents and friends, as well as the media and others around us. This is what
gives us the option of acting on the good or evil inside of us -- it’s entirely
a choice, and sometimes, the evil inside of us is louder than the good.
Right now, I could do evil. I could start
screaming at the top of my lungs and throw my laptop at someone. I could hurt
them. But I won’t, because I don’t
want to act on the evil inside of me, and my conscious and moral compass says it’s
wrong. I know the consequences I would face, and most of all, I don’t want to do those things. In the end, I
am perfectly capable of it, but I still have the choice not to do it.
I like the part about babies beginning their lives in a neutral state. A good discussion. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with your stance on our neutral position as babies. God created us and when He did so, "He saw that it was very good"- Gen 1:31. I believe we are all good to begin with. We do possess the stain of original sin, but that does not make us inherently evil. Humans are affected by sin in so much that they have a tendency to fall prey to it, this is called concupiscence. While we do have the choice to perform evil or good deeds, this is simply an extension of the free will God gave us. He made us good, because God never made anything that was not up to par with His standards.
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