is mankind inherently good or evil? what is your opinion?
2007-12-09 11:06:33 · 23 answers · asked by Lindsay 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Mankind is mankind. Good and evil are cultural concepts.
2007-12-09 11:12:27 · answer #1 · answered by Jakero Evigh 5 · 1⤊ 5⤋
Mankind is neither. Mankind is basically lazy. For example, the Christmas season brings out the "good" in people. This is when volunteer groups receive the most donations. Knowing this, advertisement hits the public hard with sad stories to encourage the public to give. Why do the same people not give during the year?
I believe people are lazy and procrastinate doing good. They know the Food Bank requires donations all year long. Yet, they do not make the effort to donate. Does this make them a bad person? People are passive.
This is why Jesus refers to "keeping my commandments." Love is not a passive word, but an active word. There are people who believe, but take no action. Are they bad people? No, they are lazy.
Don't misunderstand me. Lazy is not a good thing, but it does not translate to a person being evil. Evil is also an active word. We can sin by being lazy. But, sinning does not make a person an evil person. An evil person is a sinner who does not repent and desires to continue to sin and encourage others to sin.
Definition of repentance: First, a person must realize his mistakes. Second, he/she must make restitution to the person(s) they have sinned against. Third, they must seek forgiveness. And, forth, and this is very important, he/she must turn away from that sin. A person can not fully repent if they continue in that sin.
2007-12-10 01:51:17 · answer #2 · answered by jack-copeland@sbcglobal.net 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, the morlocs are pretty much evil, and the elois are good....
Oh, you were serious? No, mankind is not inherently anything. Good and bad are human concepts. There are some behaviours that are hardcoded into our DNA, the same as most mammals.
The basics; caring for your children, avoiding dead members of your species, avoidance of sexual attraction to close familymembers... aversion for cannbalism...
Apart from those, there's no limit to human behaviour. Good and bad are social contracts, they're not "real". Here's the thing; There are things that are considered "good" that might be actually "bad" in some situations, and vice versa....
Thats my opinion at least.
2007-12-09 12:01:04 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I agree with Brother Michael and the others who gave biblical answers. God's word clearly states humans are inherently evil.
Genesis 6:5
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
2007-12-09 12:03:45 · answer #4 · answered by Hope 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
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In the Judeo-Christian Ethic, mankind has inherited sin, and it can only be cleansed by the Blood of Christ. So.... Yes, mankind is inherently evil, until washed by the Blood of Jesus. And it must be done on an individual basis. I Cr 13;8a
2016-04-04 06:16:35 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Show me one person who has never done wrong to another. If we are good then there should be most all people who are always good and if we are neutral than there should be at least half the people always good and there should be cases of many people who are always good yet although we may put up a front of good, can you name one person who when you got to really know them did not have evil in them? We see it in our moms and dads, siblings, best friends, preachers, etc, everywhere we look there are good people but they are sinners. If there is not one person in the world who has never sinned at all then its obvious we are inherently evil.
2007-12-09 22:53:39 · answer #6 · answered by beek 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
RE:
Is mankind inherently good or evil?
is mankind inherently good or evil? what is your opinion?
2015-08-04 06:42:32 · answer #7 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
TIME Magazine just had a fascinating cover story on this very topic - man unique among all creation; capable of great acts of nobility and incredible savagery at the same time.
My hunch is exactly that - we are inherently good AND evil - it is not an either or proposition.
2007-12-09 11:12:52 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Man's nature is evil, from the beginning.
A mother comes into the living room and asks little Johnny how the lamp got broken. Johnny tells her the dog did it. Mother's reply is inevitably, "Are you lying to me?"
Even mothers know that kids inherently know how to lie but have to be taught how to be truthful.
2007-12-09 11:15:38 · answer #9 · answered by DoneWithThisPlace 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well according to what I've been told my whole life, we are born sinners, whether that means evil I'm not entirely sure. The end result without God is death because the wages of sin are death and that means permanent death. At this point though I believe that there are good and bad people that believe various things.
2007-12-09 11:15:00 · answer #10 · answered by sweetnfoxychick 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think both are in us. And life is a balance of both of them. I don't subscribe to the idea that people would just go crazy killing, stealing etc if there wasn't such a thing as jail or divine accountability. Although I do think these things moderate these behaviours some.
2007-12-09 11:15:15 · answer #11 · answered by LG 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋