Question.....Answers?

"Human nature is disposed to do good, just as water flows downward. There is no man that does not show the tendency to goodness." Mencius

A very interesting quote I think however it does raise a lot of questions. Babies don't start out in life as evil. They are babies who want to eat and have their diapers changed when they mess. They like to be held and sleep much of the time. Where does the change come that would turn an innocent baby into an adult killer?

The Bible talks about original sin. That would mean that man is as predisposed to evil as he is to good. What causes a man to decide to choose evil instead of good? Is it really as simplistic as the nature versus nurture argument? How can one family have all really good children and one turns out rotten? They are all raised in the same way why was the one "born bad?"

If a person knows they have a mental and emotional problem that medicine will keep under control and if they choose to go off their medicine should they be held responsible if they do something wrong while being of unsound mind because they aren’t on the medicine that would help them? If a person is mentally ill and you know they are ill and you leave your children in their care any way even though you fear they will come to harm at that person's hand don't you bear a part of the burden of guilt if they are killed? Where is your responsibility towards your children?

So many fanatics use God as an excuse for their actions yet the writings of the religion they claim to be following, be they the Bible or Koran, does not call for “holy wars” so are they doing the work of the devil instead?

At what point do you say enough is enough you are responsible for your actions, not society, not your parents, not your doctor, not your religious leader. You are responsible. If we do evil it is because we choose to do it. If we do good it is because we choose to do it.

If as the Bible says we are made in God’s image then we are made in the image of goodness. If we allow that goodness to be corrupted by evil then we need to do something to turn our lives around. Bad things don’t happen because God allows them to happen. Nature is volatile and that is not God’s fault. If someone decides to kill that is not God’s fault. The fault lies with the killer. We have free will and we are free to choose either the path of goodness or the path of evil. We lift our own feet to walk upon the path we choose. No one can do it for us.