Original sin and the nature of children?

Question

I was recently told that one bit of evidence for the reality of original sin was that children never have to be taught to lie or to be cruel to their classmates, that it seems to simply come naturally to them.

Even though I don't buy into this, it did make me wonder about children's motivations. Obviously, at some point we all LEARN that we can tell a lie and avoid punishment. However, I was wondering if anyone had actually done any studies, or can remember from personal experience, why kids make fun of each other, call names, etc?

As we get older and become adults, it probably stems from insecurity, but does insecurity begin that early? Any thoughts/ideas welcome.

Answer 1

Deception is a useful trait; many species have evolved it. Game Theory of Evolution assumes that creatures are often in resource conflict or in predator/prey relationships with each other and develop strategies for advantage gain or loss reduction; deception is one such strategy.

Psychology (and animal psychology) is full of it; however the online sources are sparse. Here are some references to offline sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie#Sources

re: cruelty - obviously what we recognise as 'civilized behavior' does not come naturally; although such 'cruel play' can again been seen in many mammals; dominance games, bonding, etc. etc.

Answer 2

Try checking out Focus on the Family (.org). Dr. Dobson has a lot of experience and study on children and parenting. He also has written many books about children, parenting, family, marriage, etc.

Why would children do this? At that age it is probably a mixture of being "top dog", fitting in with others who are making fun of someone and probably a bit of insecurity, moreso stemming from the fear of being picked on in the same way.

Children DO have to be taught to be kind, generous, gentle, etc. For some it comes easier than others and for some it is like being a broken record (scratched CD for you younger folks). But, as it says in Proverbs, "Raise up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."

Answer 3

Kids do EVERYTHING because they learn it. Children are learning from birth, and anyone who thinks they don't learn to lie from their parents, long before they go to school, hasn't studied families very much.

Parents lie all the time to their children. Generally it's not a big deal and it's because they child wants to do something they shouldn't. Instead of teaching the child the real reason about why, parents lie. Children know when you're lying, and they learn from you when you do.

They learn cruelty at home too, whether it's intentional or not. Adults recognize sarcasm and humor as such (usually) but children do not. Because they don't recognize why saying something "mean" is mean sometimes and not others, they will say it at inappropriate times. They also get more attention by being mean, either from other children or from adults. Attention is everything to a small child, whether it's good or bad.

Answer 4

Original Sin is the ability to choose right from wrong and the fact that even though we have the ability we never choose right all the time perfectly. Non-sentient beings (animals, or probably ancient man) did not have this ability of knowing right from wrong and therefore they are de-facto innocent. If a tiger climbs through the window and eats you , he is simply acting out of his nature and innocent, but if a man comes through your window and kills you he is making a choice. The man has what is known as original sin, basically this is the true meaning of the story of the Garden of Eden and the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The desire to be like God and the responsibility that comes with the knowledge of right and wrong and our inability to always do right.

Answer 5

I think that children learn bad and good habits very very early, probably since their time in the womb. My baby listens with attention to songs that my wife used to play when she was pregnant, and this is not only our experience but many people tell us the same.

In Islam, the "Original sin" does not exist. Adam and Eve did commit a mistake, they asked for forgiveness, and it was granted to them. We do NOT carry their sin, and babies are born pure and free from any sin.

However, the Quran says that humans are equipped with the ability to do (and learn) good things and bad things. Our development is the result of our environment, parents, and our own decisions. That's why kids can be evil or good, or a mixture of that.

Peace/salaam.

Answer 6

The three weakest, silliest, least believable, and down right mean religions -- all from the same desert God wouldn't vacation in let alone live in -- all start with the premise that men (and by extension, women) are created evil. Judaism, christianity, and islam can all drink purple piss and die for all I care. Sitting on the couch with my 2 - year old 13 years ago and watching her, I could tell that no kid was born bad. None. Now, I like jews and chrisians and muslims, but their religions have got to go.

Answer 7

Here is a demonstration of kid's sin nature. Give a 3 year old a gun. Hold a plate of fresh cookies. Tell the child he/she cannot have one. The kid will shoot you, so don't do that.

Demonstration 2. Build a tower of blocks. Tell the kid not to touch it. This one is safer to do and still demonstrates the point.

That's sin nature at work. Nobody has to teach a kid that stuff.

Answer 8

Love, cruelty, competition in a very basic sense is genetically motivated. We have evolved many ways to make ourselves stronger and a winner and many of these ways contradict one and other.

Competition; the need to win above all others is a very basis survival instinct. To compete fiercely with one and other makes one more likely able to survive tough situations. To win, at all costs, leads to cruelty. Not all people are born with the same intensity to win.

Parents must show love, caring and affection to encourage the loving side of our evolved person and to curtail the strong competitive side to some degree.

Some competitive arenas are physical and prone to violence in the extreme. Other people form groups and shun and harass other individuals and some of these groups become gangs (tribes).

Others learn to compete socially and others academically.

One of the reasons I protest abject patriotism is because of this group need to hate another group. The sames is true with many religious factions.

Answer 9

AM wife, we are basically primates of the variety of the Homo, superior in many ways of monkeys but with a certain instinct of wildness, thats why we have rules and religion, but if we don't have God and rules in our lives we are nothing but animals.

The Original sin a blasphemy on itself it would mean that kids who die before being baptise should be comdened, cause Jesus said in John 3:5 that anyone who is not bapthized shall not enter the kingdom of God, and in Acts 2:38 Peter said that the baptism is for the remision of sins, note that he used the plural form of the word, so baptism is for adults not for babies.

Answer 10

Because of the limited size and development of their brain, kids tend to be very instinctive. They follow their instincts. As they grow their brain grows and also with the teaching of their parents they learn to control their instincts and to use reason instead of just reacting to instincts. When a person gets into their twenties the brain is usually done growing and has learned to use correct reasoning . With some it seems that they never will.