Are all people Honorable and Good

[ChristineES]

According to my faith: "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak". (That won't mean anything to those who don't follow my faith, however.) I like to believe that most people have good intentions. My husband tells me I look at the world through "rose-colored glasses", however.
Most people I have known were good in one way or another.

 

[JRMcC]

No one is born pure bad, or born pure good IMHO. In fact I tend to think at birth we are as close to equal as we will ever get!!

And so our morality changes as we get older, which would suggest that it's environment that shapes it, right?

 

[Lyndon]

Some people get worse with age, some people get better with age, all at once or gradually, some people are stable and stay the same through thick and thin, I'd hardly use environment as an excuse for good and bad decisions you make, I hold the person more responsible, but give allowances for worse behaviour because of upbringing or environment. People are always trying to blame people and events for their maladies, when half the time at least , its their own fault. I vote for personal responsibility, not blame shifting. Not absolutely sure though, I haven't given it a great amount of thought, in fact I don't remember contemplating this before, its a good topic by the OP.

For instance I would never blame a starving person for stealing food, at least I wouldn't call it immoral.

 

[George-ananda]

I think it is the complex interplay of all three; heredity, environment and soul level.

 

[Nietzsche]

According to my faith: "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak". (That won't mean anything to those who don't follow my faith, however.)

That means entirely different, far more enjoyable things to me, though!

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Sorry, I have to say environment. A child growing up in a bad environment may grow into adulthood and see it as bad. So, his morals and ethics of his upbringing will reflect how he sees the world. Likewise, if that same child or say teen, rather, does not have clear-cut morals..she may be finding herself... and she moves to a better environment where people appreciate her well-being, her ethics will reflect her social relationships.

It can't be because of DNA. Our morals aren't shaped until we start understanding the role we have in life growing from toddler to child and so on. In other words, if you put two children who have had no outside social interaction, in a room, and they play among each other, the only morals they may develop is pain and pleasure.

It can't be soul. First, it depends on how you define a soul. If it is a religious definition, then no because not everyone has a religious perspective of their inner self. If our morals and ethics come from the soul, we universally, need to know it exists for us to analyze what it is and the psychology of it. Until then, its not objective..therefore, all humans morals can't be generalized to one person's belief in a soul.

What makes one person good and the other bad ?

I don't think the environment has an effect since we can see bad and good in the one same family, many good people are poor and living in bad condition whereas we can see bad rich people living in good condition.

Is it a DNA issue or a soul one ?

 

[columbus]

What makes one person good and the other bad ?

I don't think the environment has an effect since we can see bad and good in the one same family, many good people are poor and living in bad condition whereas we can see bad rich people living in good condition.

Is it a DNA issue or a soul one ?

I voted environment, although I am sure genetics plays a role.
We are what we learn. And we learn in a vast and complicated way, I don't mean just what people intend to teach. Human behavior is a chaotic system with many subtle influences. Small things, especially when we are young can have huge effects over time.
I see genetics as the source of most of our worst tendencies. Murder, rape and theft come very naturally to us. Because if there is a God, He keeps making us very similar to animals. We learn(sometimes) to live better lives. But we only learn that from people.

Tom

 

[Kolibri]

Do you mean God in a metaphorical sense or a literal sense? If the latter, why?

In the literal sense. But this is not a morbid fear, or it should not need to be. The book of Proverbs links the "fear of Jehovah" to "the beginning of knowledge" and the "a training in wisdom." (Prov 1:7; 15:33) and it says "knowledge of the Most Holy One is understanding." (Prov 9:10)

And when it said "the fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge" it follows up with "Only fools despise wisdom and discipline."

When we lived at home with parents we had house rules, we obeyed them, mostly. And when we did not, we were disciplined or trained how to be. Paul followed up this idea with a family comparison.

"Furthermore, our human fathers used to discipline us, and we gave them respect. Should we not more readily submit ourselves to the Father of our spiritual life and live? For they disciplined us for a short time according to what seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit so that we may partake of his holiness. True, no discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but it is painful; yet afterward, it yields peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." - Hebrews 12:9-11

No matter what our environmental or genetic background, true humility and a reverential fear of God will help us be better.

 

[roger1440]

What makes one person good and the other bad ?

I don't think the environment has an effect since we can see bad and good in the one same family, many good people are poor and living in bad condition whereas we can see bad rich people living in good condition.

Is it a DNA issue or a soul one ?

"All fall short of the glory of God."

 

[McBell]

"All fall short of the glory of God."

Well that certainly clears it all up.

Guess everyone can pack it up and go home, this thread has been answered.





Yes, that was sarcasm

 

[FearGod]

I can't vote because I say it's a function of both DNA & environment.

If it's a DNA then the bad will be always bad and the good will be always good, but don't you think that in real life some bad people may become good and vice versa at one point of time.

 

[Laika]

Voted Environment, but only as the biggest factor.

I think everyone is born hedonistic as animals and we are social animals and so are innately "good" in some sense. But what is good for an individual out of a hedonistic impulse and good for society can work in opposite directions; the way we live as individuals and in our society conditions us to behave in certain ways as 'moral'.

The concepts of "good" and "bad" are mainly down to society and our limits to change our own natural circumstances rather than being innate ideas arising from the soul/genetics, so the hedonistic impulse can be warped into really perverted stuff that we would generally consider 'bad'. Our moral concepts do not consciously reflect our actual behavior or motivations as we still don't really understand human beings that well, so sometimes apparently "bad people" do good things and "good people" do bad things and it can get really messy.

The most obvious examples are sado-masochistic, when people appear to derive pleasure from inflicting or enduring pain; we would generally consider them evil when they happen on an indivdiual level, but on a societal level- like wars, dictatorships, etc, our conditioned sense of 'morality' often intervenes from seeing the evil these things really are because we are bound by our social nature to make sacrifices that are not in our individual interests as hedonistic animals.

 

[Revoltingest]

If it's a DNA then the bad will be always bad and the good will be always good, but don't you think that in real life some bad people may become good and vice versa at one point of time.

That's pretty much the reason that the only option I'd vote for would be <both DNA & environment>.

 

[Jumi]

If it's a DNA then the bad will be always bad and the good will be always good, but don't you think that in real life some bad people may become good and vice versa at one point of time.

You misread. He didn't say it was just DNA but also environment. I've never heard anyone say it was just DNA, that sounds crazy.

People can change with effort, if they see a reason for it. I know I have changed and it was both environment that changed me and also choosing to be accepting of people.

 

[FearGod]

You misread. He didn't say it was just DNA but also environment. I've never heard anyone say it was just DNA, that sounds crazy.

People can change with effort, if they see a reason for it. I know I have changed and it was both environment that changed me and also choosing to be accepting of people.

Do you think the environment caused the death of Chris Farley ?

 

[Jumi]

Do you think the environment caused the death of Chris Farley ?

Who was he and what killed him?

 

[Lyndon]

Comedian, drugs. (bad choices IMHO)

 

[Jumi]

People overdose on drugs because of bad environment and bad choices.

 

[McBell]

Do you think the environment caused the death of Chris Farley ?

Yes I do.

Why do you ask?
Do you think it was DNA that Killed him?