How do we go from cute little kids to this....?

There is no answer to this question. If you follow the bible, then you have a compass to follow, if you have another religion, then you have that compass to follow. People are not evil, it's the choices we make that determine whether we are good or evil. Everyone knows what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad, it's the choices to ignore good that make you evil.

 

I wouldn't say the Bible itself is the standard, but rather that God is the Standard. The simple belief in good vs bad or a difference between has existed in every society in history. Even prior to most biblical writing. Excellent book that talks specifically about that in the opening chapters is Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. He uses that as his basis for why there is a God.

 

hahahaha! Quote of the quarter!

 

Vote: Vito for VP!

 

Seriously look at all the fun people could have without all the bs....

 

Do unto others

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So if a man knows to do good and he doesn't do it... that would be evil... is that correct?

Okay... now let's define good?

 

Part of why people feel so good pointing out the failures or mishaps of others, or by drawing a line in the sand condemning another's actions, is to create a "good" and an "evil". It is almost like people (myself included) need a daily dose of the battle between good and evil to reaffirm our self worth as the "good" persons.

 

If you poison the people of a country that you are supposed to be the leader of, there is an extremely good chance you are EVIL and need to be annihilated.

If you fly planes into buildings with the sole purpose to kill as many people as you can, there is also an extremely good chance you are EVIL.

If you go into a crowded theater to kill innocent men, woman and children, there is a good chance you are EVIL.




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What if you see a person in need... and don't help when you have the means to do so?

What if a beggar asks you for money and you say you don't have any when you really do?

What if you give less effort when your boss isn't around than you do when he/she is?

Do you really have to try to blow up the world to be evil?

 

Yes, I would say so. Ignoring what is "right" is a choice.

What is good, well that's where your belief system comes in. In my opinion, that is why religion was put into place, to give people a belief system to follow. Whether you believe in God or not, religion was developed as a way to help control people, give them a path to follow.

 

Obviously we could keep this going for months and never provide an adequate answer to the original question concerning why our cute little adorable children become... well... us.

Yes, we all have the capacity for evil... you, me (guilty as charged). As does every other person on the face of the planet. Isaiah, wrote "all our righteousness is as a filthy rag." Paul writes that "none of us are righteous... not even one." John wrote, "If anyone claims he has no sin, he is a liar and the truth is not in him." Taking a Biblical view or not... someone is always worse and someone is always better than the best or worst of us.

In answer to defining good... I have never been able to answer the question aside from goodness being one of the chief characteristics of God Himself. Any answer we could give without God, would always leave room for improvement That being said... You are correct in that "religion" is man's attempt to control the actions of another within some standard... but the problem is... even the most religious, or good, among us falls way short and we eventually blow one another up, in one way or another, to enforce our own personal standards of goodness, thereby perpetuating evil further.

Then, there is the One, who came to highlight the futility of our choosing religion as the answer. He offered something different... forgiveness, unconditional love, and a way of escape if and when we finaly come to the end of ourselves.

 

How can God, which is supposedly a perfect being, create such imperfect humans? I don't understand how something that is 100% pure can create such things that are impure. It would be like two purebred dogs mating and creating a mutt. It just doesn't happen so why has it happened to humankind?

 

Great question.

Your previous thread:

How would anyone know what is good if not for evil and why would a "good" person choose evil? If he is capable of choosing evil, is he still good because his choices are good, even though the capacity to choose evil still exists within him? Paul addressed this very issue in Romans 7. He describes his life as having two wills battling within him.

As to the question, "Did God create evil... or does He allow it?" When He created man, He did so in His own image... He could have programmed man as robots without the ability to sin but He chose to allow us to choose. I suppose He could force us to obey everything perfectly or He could have created us without the ability to sin. But He chooses to allow us to disobey for His reasons that I am not fully capable of processing.

I do know of only one man with the ability to sin, who chose perfectly not to and God's plan was that He would be turned over to society's "good" persons, and those "good" persons nailed Him to a cross.

But why not just create puppets? What "goodness" is in a puppet, really? What love can it give? It can tell you it loves you, only when you place your hands inside and force it's mouth to move and you speak for it the words you want to hear. Is that really being good?

If you were God... would you really have chosen to create man who was incapable of not loving you or incapable of evil choices?

 

You can have two parents, that are great people, that know nothing about raising a child. This leads to a child that is not disciplined and doesnt know right from wrong. So just imagine through time how that can build up. Then you eventually get two bad parents together that don't care which doesnt help. Sometimes the kid will grow into a good person but most of the time that's not the case.

There will always be evil in this world and sometimes evil will prevail but it is up to us to maintain our moral integrity.