Comments on: Are We All Good Inside?

By: Stefanie

Stefanie — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 18:12:57 +0000

Okay – let’s not start a holy-war or anything! Granted – Canada is a much less religeous country than the US, but I used to go to church and have studied it. I have heard Christians sound a lot like what Marty describes and those a lot like how Doug sounds. There isn’t only one way of thinking of them – both kinds exist – plus many more kinds as well.

By: M art Y

M art Y — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 17:00:09 +0000

Hi Douglas,
My statement regarding Christianity was in reference to the theology and doctrine of the church, which does emphasize that we are born into sin and want to do bad. We are redeemed by Jesus’ blood and through him have a way to be good again. I think it is a load of hogwash, but it is the doctrine of the church. I agree that it is not what you hear Jesus teaching however. He did teach love, compassion, mercy, kindness, and he did teach we should pursue freedom from dead religious rituals. Unfortunately the church long ago decided that the important thing to emphasize about Jesus as his divinity, his giving of the free ticket to heaven, instead of his humanity and his giving lessons on how to have heaven here on earth. I wish it were otherwise but history readily shows where the focus has been for 2,000 years.

Recognizing the good in everyone is a choice we make. We make a decision to see what they do in terms of bad motives or good, for example. Being wary and having a method by which to test people to see if they are trustworthy and are ‘good’ is not a bad thing in itself. What is bad is when you apply ‘bad’ to someone when there is no need for wariness or testing.

Sometimes what it takes is a deliberate thought process, thinking through what might be the good motivation in what a person just did instead of assuming a bad motivation. In the end it is about assuming the best of people and giving people the benefit of the doubt. And where do we end up if we practice that? We end back at the real teachings of Jesus concerning love, forgiveness, joy, compassion, giving and gratitude, a good place to be in my book. Happy ‘anyone can be resurrected if their goodness stays in your heart’ day.

By: Douglas Karr

Douglas Karr — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 09:42:20 +0000

I’m not sure if I agree with the comment from T on Christianity. With all respect, my belief is that God so loved us that he created us in his image, allowing us free will and sent His son to spread a message of goodness, love, respect, patience, forgiveness, etc. I don’t think Christ ever said we’re inclined to be bad. Unfortunately, over time His words have been twisted and used for hate rather than love. People state they are doing things in His name, but they are not following his teachings even closely.

Personally, I struggle to recognize good in everyone. Perhaps it’s a defense from being hurt in the past.

I read a book last year called “Psycopaths in Suits” and it was a little scary. There are psychopaths among us that lack the empathy of human beings.

The only reason why psycopaths don’t do wrong is because of the possible negative impact on themselves, not others. They have no respect or love for others… they are incapable of it. Isn’t that frightening?

By: M art Y

M art Y — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 08:25:54 +0000

I agree with your end comment. For me the question has always been answered by watching myself and my family, friends and humanity in general. What do I see? I see every person having in them both good and bad. Christianity teaches we have original sin and we are inclined to be bad because of it. Buddhism teaches somewhat the opposite, as you mentioned above. But neither one seems to reflect the reality that I see. And that reality says we are both.

By: T.

T. — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 18:02:28 +0000

Depends on what you mean by ‘good’.