Do you think people are born evil, and taught to be good an kind? Or do you think people are born kind and good and taught to be evil and bad?

Personally I think that people are born evil, and through the kindness of others, and how they were raised are taught to be good, and caring. When you are a child or an infant, you care nothing of others needs. You cry when you want food, and don't stop until you get it, or throw a tantrum because you want something you can't have. You are merciless to your mother, regardless of how tired and upset she may be, until you get what you want.

Thoughts, comments?

I don't believe there is evil in people. I think that everyone is born basically good, but through a series of mistakes on their parts and the parts of the people around them they are corrupted, which is why the Earth is still cursed after the first sin of Adam and Eve. And no, I don't believe in an "original sin." In layman's terms, we are taught evil by the people around us. This is invariable, because sin is passed on like other characteristics, especially from our parents.

If you want me to quote the Bible, there is a passage in Matthew 15 which basically says "defilement comes from within."

DNG : Is right we are all born evil, if that were not the case we would not be screaming at top of our lungs, not sharing with others, not communicating with others cause of cooties, crying when they don't get their way etc...

Crawldragon : Until your old enough to have a conscious that means you are pure evil you don't know right from wrong yet. People are simply not born good you learn kindness in time. Violence is given to you at birth plain and simple

I vote neither. I have an 18 month old daughter and the insinuation that she is "pure evil" because she isn't old enough to have a conscience is load of crap.

I believe that people are influenced by their environment to be good or evil.

There's no real essence of good or evil; I mean, people can be considered evil based on their actions, but some people and cultures may consider some terrible actions to be norms. People aren't evil, but their actions can be. It's not a simple black-and-white sort of situation, where someone is definitely evil or definitely pure. We all do things we regret, but it doesn't mean our personalities are to be based upon an isolated series of events, or scattered events where we commit ill action.

We're not born bad or good, either. Our minds and personalities start off as a sort of putty that molds and shapes in certain ways, depending on one's upbringing, or what said individual has experienced, witnessed or a life-changing event at some period in their lives--all of these are factors in whether or not someone in our culture can be considered bad or good.

TL;DR...

I take a biblical view on the subject which is that we are born sinners, and sin is evil. So yes.

Hoochman : you think babies are evil? seriously? And how exactly does a baby sin?

Some people are born evil for no reason, even though their parents aren't evil.

Isn't that more of a Calvinistic view than a Biblical one?

Anywho, congrats, you've stumbled upon one of the oldest debates in human history. Honestly I am for the blank slate idea... meaning neither. However, if you want to read some really interesting arguments for both sides you should read some of the ancient authors like Thucydides.

I believe that we are all born good, but may be unfortunate enought to be taught how to be evil.

geeogree : Yes it is very biblical to say we are born evil. Because we are sinners. To deny that, Jesus himself calls anyone who denies that they have sin, a liar.

you didn't actually answer my question.... I would love for you to explain to me how a baby is a sinner....

I'm surprised that this thread is located in this section.

If we are looking at a Biblical view, the Bible makes it clear that we are born totally depraved. "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me" (Psalm 51:5)

By our nature we are sinful. "All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath." (Ephesians 2:3)

One might say: "well God knows the heart." Yes, God knows and sees the heart, and this is what the Bible said about the heart. "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)

This does not mean that man does not have a conscience or does not do good things. It means that in everything that we do or think, even the good things that we do, we are contaminated by sin. There is no one that is good. "As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God." (Romans 3:10–11)

Just think about it, do you have to teach a child how to lie? do you have to teach a child how to be selfish? They get that from their own. Of course, if you add in the environmental factors into this, and depending on the type of environment surrounding the person, people will have different manifestations of sin, but everyone still, by nature, are depraved in sin.

This is the doctrine of "total depravity" and "original sin"

Of course some might go with Augustine's view of original sin, who holds some of the Neo-Platonist view that there is no such thing as evil as a essence, and that evil is a choosing of a lower "Good," but that's dwelling more into philosophy. He still believes in Original Sin.

Dwelling more into Philosophy? The entire argument IS one of Philosophy! Like I said, the debate on whether human nature is inherently good or evil has been going on since the Bronze Age at least! We lack most of the early sources of course (damn you Linear A!) but you can see it in the writings of Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, Sallust, Polybius, Plutarch (oh gods can you see it in Plutarch!), Suetonius, Tacitus, Aristotle, Plato, Socrates and most of the other ancient historians, philosophers, biographers, and writers.

Elara : well, yeah, but before talking about Augustine (cuz Augustine does talk about philosophy a lot) but before that I was looking at it more at a theological standpoint.

Babies are sinful since they gain the sins from their parents. Is it not right to have a baby before being married? Good, cause you just narrowed down some of the evil. But what if you got married and had a child? Same rules apply, your born a sinner because your parents think they are right while others who don't get married are sinners. It's traits passed down to the baby in blood. It's a trick bag, no one is right whether your married or not your a sinner

Isn't the antichrist suppose to be born a sinner to You learn manors in time, babies don't know right from wrong so they will sin until they understand what they are doing that is right or wrong. If babies were born good they would not puke white milk, suck on their mommies titties & scream at top of lungs when they dont get what they want.

Interesting. It reminds me of the debate between Chinese philosophers as well. One (Li Si, I think?) believed that you needed a strict regime of laws to control people since they were born evil, and the only way you could prevent chaos was through controlling human kind. The other Daoism, believed that people are naturally good but may stray to the path of evil if they are not prepared.
It is pretty much an unanswerable question. Are babies aware that they keep their parents up all night when they cry? Are they being evil? Seriously? Can we even ask that question and expect an answer? It's one of those questions that we can't really answer now (possibly in the next life, if you believe in that)

This is the same as the age old Nature vs nurture,(Are humans born evil or corrupted by the society they live in?) my vote is 40% Nature 60% Nurture

we are born neither evil nor good....

Look, we are not born evil, because we don't know anything up to the point... A person is not necessarily considered evil till they can actually understand the meaning of doing the correct thing...

geeogree : I completely agree with you

If Glenn's statement is true, then, that a baby that dies in the first few weeks after birth should be condemned to hell, because they are "evil"... This itself cannot be true in the sense that the baby does not have any real conscience that guides it to help it know right and wrong...