Every night before we retire, my wife checks all the four doors of our home for one reason: Is each door locked, or have I or one of the kids left it open...again?
A recent poll result reported by Salem News Network shows that Americans were asked whether people are basically good or basically bad? A whopping 75% of respondents said people are basically good, while a small minority of respondents, 25%, said people are basically bad.
Will somebody please contact my wife and let her know that our neighbors are basically good, and there is really no need to lock our doors at night, or when we are out of the house? And will someone else please inform our neighbors that we are a pretty good family just like everyone of their families, and that there is really no need for them to lock their doors? Can I get one good person to make the call?
Now, for those completely convinced that my wife suffers from paranoia or xenophobia, try answering some questions. "If people are basically good, why do we..." Get used to seeing that line, because you'll be reading it a lot in the following bullet points.
The Good-People, Bad-People Reality Check:
If people are basically good, why do we build houses and homes with locks on them, and some with walls around them?
If people are basically good, why do we need and build jails, prisons and detention centers?
If people are basically good, why do we have the military to protect our land from attacks by people of other lands?
If people are basically good, why do we have law enforcement officers (the police) to patrol our streets?
If people are basically good, why do we see people, businesses and government hire security guards?
If people are basically good, why do we have security devices and security systems for our homes, banks, stores, and so forth? Example: ADT
If people are basically good, why do we need to teach our kids to do right, and why do kids do wrong naturally, without parents giving a lesson on how to talk back, lie, steal, cover up, etc?
If people are basically good, why do we set up spouse abuse centers, where women, afflicted by violence, can seek shelter? (Perhaps it's women that are basically good and men are basically bad?)
If people are basically good, why do we have 860 million plus hungry people in our world, where there is more than enough food to feed every hungry mouth?
If people are basically good, why do churches and other charities have to constantly ask for donations, even from their own members? And why does the Red Cross put out desperate pleas for blood donations? Why do so many people have to get paid before they can donate blood?
If people are basically good, why do we have so many laws? Why do our lawmakers keep writing new laws to keep people, including themselves, in check?
If people are basically good, why do we need stop signs, traffic lights, and street markings to keep drivers in their lanes? And why do we have locks on our vehicles, and why do we lock our cars when we are not driving them (if we are privileged to own cars)?
If people are basically good, why do we have so many divorces, dysfunctional families, not to mention neglected and abused children?
If people are basically good, why do we have religions to remind us to be good and do good, and why do we have priests, pastors, and ministers make their living from teaching people, often more than once a week, to do right?
If people are basically good, why do we need incentives for people to get up and go to work? And why do companies use supervisors to make sure other workers do their jobs and do them right? Why do companies use sign-in sheets or clock-in systems to track each employee's attendance record?
If people are basically good, why do we not pick up all strangers along the way to give them rides, and why do we teach our children not to talk to or walk into the arms of strangers?
If people are basically good, why do banks and businesses hire Brinks Security to move their cash from one location to the other?
If people are basically good, why has the human race seen and perpetrated so many civil wars, international wars, and genocides?
If people are basically good, how do we explain acts of terrorism and war atrocities that entire societies sometimes approve of?
If people are basically good, why do we have ethics committees, checks and balance in the branches of government, and so many agencies and departments of government charged with looking over the shoulders of other people?
Let's conclude this diatribe by quoting Rich Deem, who argues, If you examine the atrocities perpetrated by people within the last century, you find a huge number of murders. Adolph Hitler killed 6 million Jews prior to and during the second World War. Joseph Stalin killed 20 million Soviet citizens between 1929 and 1939 because they were not politically correct. Mao Tse-tung killed 34 to 62 million Chinese during the Chinese civil war of the 1930s and 1940s. Pol Pot, the leader of the Marxist regime in Cambodia, Kampuchea, in the 1970's killed over 1.7 million of his own people. These do not include all the people killed in "legitimate" wars.
Mr. Deem contends, Many would object to this analysis, since they could claim that these atrocities were perpetrated by only a few individuals. However, these individuals could not have done anything if they were not backed by others, who agreed with their "values." The vast majority of Germans willingly followed Adolph Hitler and gave their consent to his policy to get rid of the "Jewish problem."
Might it be true that the primary reason most don't commit crimes or do evil to harm others is for fear of being caught or punished? Remove that fear or threat of punishment, and we could well be left with a true jungle of people swarming the planet. But then again, 75% of Americans disagree...
So, what do you think?
The author was born in Liberia, West Africa, and migrated to America in 1991. Mogama's educational background includes theology, computer technology, nonprofit organization, and business management. He
is a husband, father, spiritual leader, practical Bible teacher, public speaker, life coach, writer, and blogger. He is the author of "Color Marriage", which you can purchase at colormarriage.com.
Well, this article should get quite a few comments. I believe that people would basically like to be good; but good is a relative term. Sometimes, whether it be due to drugs or alcohol or extreme duress, they make bad decisions. Our next door neighbor was drunk when he came into our backyard (we have no fence or wall around our house) and shot our backdoor neighbor's dog and killed it. It had been barking all night and he wanted it to shut up.
I also believe that there are some people who are simply bad; incapable of making a humanitarian decision to save their lives. It could be that their brain chemistry needs major readjustment. Our neighbor just wanted what he wanted and didn't care who got hurt in the process. It could be the alcohol allowed him to behave that way.But then again, maybe he would have done that even if he were sober. No way to know.
Personally, I behave ethically because this is a decision I have made; not out of fear of reprisal. But the number of people who exceed the speed limit on our roads tells me this is not the case for the majority of people. They don't believe they will be caught so they do what they want.
When does a child become an adult? When does a human being become a person and not simply remain a human animal? For some reason, it seems that many people are refusing to "grow up." They constantly place what they want above all other considerations.
If they do no harm in their pursuit of their desires, well then that is good. If they cause harm, then that is bad. But is it the person or their actions we are judging?
I think the answer to your question is that people are always going to want what they want and that those wants will for sure be at odds with someone else's wants. Because the majority of us believe that theft is wrong and that those who do it are bad, the bulk of society judges thieves as bad. But are they intrinsically bad? Or is it just their actions? I don't know.
I get the feeling that possibly you are among the 25% who think that people are basically bad. Whether or not that is the case, wouldn't it be nicer to believe the best of people and take prudent precautions?
I find your comments very interesting, Dianne. I was smiling with delight as I read your words, because I could see you doing your best to wrap your mind around the issue. Like you said, it's often not easy to make the judgment call. Perhaps my own experience in a civil war makes it easier to see why I doubt the intrinsic goodness of human beings. We need so much help to get it right. For example, left on its own, without any training, which direction do you think a child will go? In the right way and doing the right things? Or in the wrong way and doing bad things? It seems like the latter would be the case, which means doing wrong is more natural to human nature than doing right. I have no doubt that without parental training, I would have definitely
gone bad! And even with training, it took at least 18 years before I
began to walk the right path in life. What's more, I could not even do that on my own; I had to make a decision to become a follower of Jesus Christ before I began to have the spiritual strength to do the right things I wanted to do. Until that time, I did a bad job at doing the right I knew in my heart. Thanks for helping the discussion, though; I appreciate your very intelligent input. ~mogama~ Respond to this comment
» left by Dianne Lehmann from Dewey, AZ (73 days 18 hours ago.)
Mogama, I think that you are right. That left to its own devices, a child would not grow up to fit well into polite society. There is so much that our parents teach us, not just right from wrong. How to delay gratification, consider others needs as well as our own and how to share. It's sad to think that doing wrong things might be more natural. But there you are right back at the point past which I have trouble figuring it out. What is right and what is wrong is so relative. To a child growing up "wild," taking what you want with no regard to whose it might actually be might seem perfectly okay.
Well, enough of that. I am glad that you have found your way. It is a wonderful thing to be able to say to yourself that you are a good person.
Yes, Dianne, it's a struggle when it comes to moral issues. The standard seems to be what the majority of one's society accepts and teach as the right way. For those of us who believe in the existence of a Creator, that God sets the ethical standard that should guide our way. But right or wrong is an ultimate issue, and, I agree with you, there is nothing easy about such issues. Thanks again for sharing your honest thoughts here. ~mogama~ Respond to this comment
» left by EvaMariaDolores from Sweden (73 days 8 hours ago.)
Dear Mogama. The fear we all have of one eachother is conteminating and polluting the earth. The securityindustry is increasing with billions every year, fear in homes and fear in the society as well as nationwide and globally. People are good, but we are not mentally or chemically ballanced. We are carryig an enherritage from 10.000 years, a way we look at ourself and eachother with rivalty and as the crown of the earth, with little respect for oneanother and for the planet. We fight wars on every plane. Men are to be manipulated and women are to be suduced... Ballance and harmony are not hot stuff in our human culture. We get what we aim for... If drama is what we want, that is what we will get...
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