For the past couple of years, I have been juggling with the ideas “good vs. bad” and “evil vs. virtuous”. I had read a post that noted
Humans are the only creatures capable of evil – that is because we are the only ones who have the concept for it.
So, this makes me wonder, what makes someone evil? How do they get that title? If evil is defined as: "profoundly immoral and wicked" that would mean deep down they possess immoral beliefs and values; their core belief is wickedness.
What makes them that way? I have yet to hear of a child who thrives on wickedness. From what I know children want praise, approval and attention, and when they don’t get it, they start acting out. If they get attention while acting out it teaches them it is a good way to get attention. After all disapproving attention is better than no attention. If we see children as “good” there must be a point they would become “bad” so, my question is at what point (If ever) does a person wake up and think “How much pain, damage and suffering can I cause today?” I do not believe that there is a single person out there who deep down desires to cause pain, damage and suffering.
I truly believe that people who do things we label as bad are trying to survive and/or practicing activities that have helped them in the past, perhaps it has become a routine that they don’t think about anymore, but routines can be changed, and people can be helped/ redirected to new resources.
I think that when we look at the world this way, we can start to wonder how people got the way they did and start wondering why are they doing these actions? Ex. Why did they get into a gang? – Perhaps it was because they felt unsafe and found a form of security. Why did they start selling drugs? – Perhaps it was a way to make income when they lived in poverty for so long, or they were always told, that’s the only thing you’ll be able to do in your life. Why do they Fight? - perhaps it’s because so often in life they feel powerless, and they need to feel safe in their surroundings. Why are they trying to invade a neighbouring country? – perhaps it's with the thought of helping the people of their nation grow, and thrive, perhaps it is caused by greed [what caused the greed?] Why are they following orders of a corrupt politician? – Is it a fear of rebelling? A fear of disobedience? Is it the hope for a better tomorrow? If we begin to see actions as bad and not people, would we be able to start helping those who have made those actions? Would individuals be more open to receiving help? Would we be more willing to provide help to those who need it? If people continuously participate in bad actions- is it our fault as a society for failing that individual, for letting the individual not learn from the community and understand what they did was wrong and why?
I truly believe, we all have an “inner child” we are trying to protect and heal.
All of that being said, individuals must be held responsible for their actions.
Share your thoughts
Comments