As someone who has written on the Internet for a few years, I've found that so often - in my online travels - I run into people, of one religion or another, who seem to spend their lives telling other people how evil or ignorant they are. Well, after over and over again seeing how many people of any number of religions in this world imply (or out-and-out say) that people like me (which is essentially anyone who doesn't belong to anyone else's particular religion, or any religion at all) are "evil".

Now, on the one hand, I don't care what anyone thinks of me. On the other, however, I've become pretty sick of people saying that someone like me (or "all people") are "evil sinners" who can't possibly be redeemed unless they follow one religious belief or another.

I haven't put all this "pondering" down in writing in order to defend myself (or anyone similar to me) to people who are religious and guilty of presuming to know what God thinks or doesn't think. I've put together this Hub as a way of saying my piece to some people, with regard to the fact that human beings are not, by nature, "evil". To the contrary, when people haven't been damaged by other people (often as children) there is a wonderful and kind goodness in the hearts of most people. Babies and children certainly aren't evil by nature, and a lot of us grow up without ever becoming evil along the way. What a sad thing that so many religions teach how "evil" we (who are supposed to be God's creations) are by nature. That's what all the ponderings below are about. For the record, I'm not someone who is "searching". I found my way to my own beliefs a long time ago, and I'm quite set in my certainty that what I believe works for me (and my family).

There are far more words here than any Hub should have, but I had to say what wanted to say in retaliation for years' worth of hearing how "evil" some religions would say I am. I don't care who reads this or doesn't read it. Also, I've removed the comments capsule because I am not open to receiving comments on this particular Hub. This Hub is a "one-way" Hub only. I've had more than my share of other people's religious beliefs flung in my direction over the last few years (and previously, as well); and the whole point of aiming to get "the last word" is to get the last word.

So, here it is - my verbally indulgent, self-righteous, accusatory, Hub about religion, lack of it, and the genuine goodness of so many human beings. (Just a note: People who believe in God often say we have been created "in His image and likeness". So, even without getting farther into my self-righteous discussion, how "evil" can most us, human beings, be?)

It's very common for Internet writers to vow to stay away from the subject of religion. It's the third-rail of Internet discussions, and discussing religion will attract anger and vitriol the way a piece of candy on the sidewalk will attract ants. I've pretty much always been one of those writers. Here or there in all my writing someone may find the occasional remark that will lead him to believe I am believer. Generally, I think that if there is a God people's relationship with Him is one of the most personal relationships anyone can have and that it should be kept between them and their God. After all, most of us wouldn't share our most private thoughts and feelings about any other important relationship.

When my children were little I built them a little "children's library" in the family room. With the very nice range of reading on those bookshelves I included a children's Bible. References to Bible stories are often made even in non-religious circles, so I thought it wouldn't hurt if the children had the chance to get a rough idea about what some of those stories were. I saw it as educational. Somewhere in the book I saw a list of things people were told to do. I didn't pay attention to who wrote it or was supposed to have said. What caught my eye was a statement that people should "worship in their rooms" and "not in the streets and synagogues". As a non-church-goer, that seemed right to me. I never looked more into who was supposed to have said it or what they really meant. It went with my belief that if people truly believe in God they will their relationship as sacred and private.

Although we didn't attend church, my children just kind of seemed to come by a sense of spirituality naturally. I guess it wasn't really all that "naturally". It was just that I let them know about the concept of God without teaching them rules of any church. My daughter was three when she got up one Christmas morning, stood in awe in front of toys under the tree, and said, "We have to tell God to tell Santa 'thank you'." I was impressed that at three she had a sense of God. At three, she apparently associated anyone we can't see with being "all in the same place". Of course, some would point out that Santa is make-believe. My only point is that a three-year-old had that sense of awe and associated it with someone/something we can't see.

My sons were similar. One son is like is his mother when it comes to not usually being very verbal about some personal beliefs. The other little guy was always announcing, "That's God", when he'd see the sun shine through dark clouds in a particular way. In fact, he pretty much talked about God far more often than most little kids do. He was a quiet little boy, so one day when his kindergarten class gave out candied apples he missed out. At the time, he would get off the kindergarten bus at my mother's house a few days a week because I worked. That day when he got to Nana's house it turned out she had made candy apples. My five-year-old said, "God must have known that I didn't get one at school." While all of my children are reason enough for me to believe in God or at least to want to, this one son (my first child and an adopted one), who was born into a hard-to-believe situation and who somehow ended up with me through the most peculiar set of circumstances, is one reason I haven't eliminated the idea that God exists.

Then again, I've had enough things go on in my life that really make me wonder.

I'm not saying that I don't believe in God; although I'll say I rejected the Catholic faith in which I was raised. This was based on the fact that a priest stood on the alter and announced how anyone who wasn't Catholic was going to Hell. I was six years old. My mother and her whole family were Protestant. I thought, "I don't really have anything against you people" (the priests and nuns), "but you can't possibly know what you're talking about. My mother, grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins are all Protestant. They're good people. God wouldn't send them to Hell. And I know there is such a thing as Jewish people, and I don't think God would send all of them to Hell either." At six years old I decided to politely "go with the program" (I didn't use those words in my head, but that's what I was doing) until I could stop attending church. I was disappointed that the priest, dressed in all his fancy garments, knew so little about who would get to Heaven.

Like my children, I seemed to just kind of come by a belief in God naturally when I was a small child. I guess I come from a family where young children are just kind of exposed to the concept of God without being told rules of any religion. I recall being a very little kid, playing on the sidewalk in front of our house, and noticing that the sky was particularly blue or the clouds were particularly fluffy. I'd think about how God was "up there". Sometimes when I'd feel the heat of the sun on my hair I'm think about how God was letting me know He was there, taking care of me.

As someone fortunate enough to have had the kindest, most loving, most peaceful, parents anyone can have; I always felt blessed (even as a very young child). My parents often spoke about how lucky my siblings and I were to have been born healthy. They (and I) watched my aunt worry about her child, who had been born with a congenital problem that meant she would need multiple surgeries if she were to stand a chance of ever walking. My parents were always telling us that we were "beautiful" and "smart" and "loved". Apparently, it paid off because I felt like the most fortunate kid in the world. I thought, "For some reason, God decided to be really good to me when He isn't always as good to other children."

I had a big sister I loved, a baby brother I loved (at least until he got old enough to tease the heck out of me), a peaceful home, two grandfathers, and lots of aunts and uncles who were all great. My parents were always helping other people far more than a lot of people do. They never talked about feeling they "should" do it, or were expected to do it by God. They just naturally made sure that if someone needed help and they could help, they would.

Our family had its troubles, but they were troubles caused by things like health - not dysfunction. I guess, as a kid, I didn't associate things like my mother's tuberculosis or my grandfather's being hit by a bus and killed as "being sent by God". I guess my parents had created the impression that God gives us x amount of good and/or bad stuff to start out with, and there are no guarantees about what "the world" will give us along the way. I saw my mother's illness as caused by a germ that's in the world, and my grandfather's death as being caused by a careless bus driver. The point is I continued to grow up feeling very blessed.

Before tying all this together and making my point about religion (or lack of it or belief in God), I'm going to do what is very uncomfortable for me to do; and that is to make a few statements about whether I see myself as a good person. I'm a modest person and not the least bit self-righteous, but I have to make the following remarks to make a point about how some religions tell people that we are all essentially "evil". Well, I don't know about anybody else; but I don't have an evil cell in me. Have I ever done things I shouldn't have done (particularly as a result of being a kid and thinking some things "are a good idea at the time")? Sure - but have I ever been "evil"? Absolutely not, and that's one reason many religions lose me. Do I think there are evil people in the world? Absolutely - but do I think that's most people? No.

Here's where I'm going to step into my "God-leaning" frame-of-mind, whisper a prayer that God will understand why I'm about to seem less than humble, and make a few remarks that I've wanted to make to a lot of religious people for ages:

From as far back as I can remember (which is generally three years old, although I can recall a few things earlier), I've been a kind, thoughtful, person. I haven't only worried about other people in this world. I've worried about animals and how they're treated, and even insects. I've always done my best to take care of, or help, anyone or anything that seems to need taking care of or help. That includes tree and flowers as well as people and creatures. When something comes on the news about mistreatment of animals, like a child I'll block my ears and make noises in order not to hear it because I can't do anything about it and will be so haunted and disturbed by the story forever. Again, I don't mean to be self-righteous; but when it comes to be kind and caring and thoughtful, I'm pretty confident that I don't have any "black marks" on my soul.

Did I swipe a chocolate candy at the neighborhood store when I was five? I did. Five-year-olds sometime have trouble with impulse control. (Even the Catholic church doesn't hold anyone under seven responsible for misdeeds, as far as I know.) Did my nine-year-old girlfriends and I get a big hoot out of screaming into the library mail slot because we imagined how funny it was to disturb the quiet with bloodcurdling screams? Yup. We did that whenever we'd get bored. Was it evil? No. I don't pretend to know what God likes or doesn't like, but I can't help wonder if He may have a sense of humor when it comes to some stupid things kids think up to do. In fact, maybe God doesn't like silence all that well.

The elementary school I attended had a class for special needs children. In those days it was called "The Special Class". The child had serious developmental disabilities, and the teacher of the class was often heard being cruel to them (both physically and verbally). My sixth-grade sewing teacher asked for a volunteer to make a pair of face-cloth slippers for "the nice Mrs. D", and all the girls but I raised their hand. The sewing teacher asked to speak with me after class, and when she did she was disgusted when she asked why I wouldn't volunteer to make slippers for "that nice lady". I said, "Because she's mean to the kids in her class." The sewing teacher dismissed me without another word. My point is that sometimes it is being a little spirited that can come from feeling so blessed, and I'm not sure God wouldn't understand that in children, being spirited can also mean getting into a little relatively harmless mischief.

Before exiting the "non-humble, own-back-patting" portion of this writing, I'd just like to add that I've always believed that it was the love and kindness and sense-of-responsibility and sense of being blessed with which I was raised that resulted in my growing up to be a very good, kind, person. Does that mean I'm perfect? No. I know the mistakes I've made in my life, and I know that times I've unintentionally hurt someone. I can't put into words the sorrow and guilt with which I struggle over some of those times. Can I even forgive myself for some of those times, even knowing that I didn't intend to hurt someone? No. I just keep telling myself that it isn't quite as evil when we didn't intend it, and hoping I’ve over-estimated the impact of my own actions. (Leaving the non-humble, own-back--patting, portion of the writing now.)

The reason I brought up the previous things about myself is that, like most people, I base my views of what a lot of other people are on what I know I am. I can't possibly be the only person in the world who knows she isn't evil. I look at the miracle of new babies born and see perfection. Like me, those new babies won't remain perfect all their lives; but when all goes right, we humans are designed in a way that we aim to be good people and ache when we don't measure up to our own expectations. Some of us may have less difficulty than others at not being hateful or envious or hurtful. Those of us who grew up feeling blessed and having our needs met don't tend to have "evil" feelings toward other people. In fact, some very good and kind people have even come from less than loving homes. The human spirit, itself, can often seem like a miracle.

Then, too, I look at Nature. I'm awed at the beauty of it, whether it's the vast array of beautiful animals or the amazing sky at sunset. Just as I saw the bright blue sky and warmth of the sunlight as a sign of God's presence as a child, I'll still look at something like the glimmers of ice crystals on the bare trees in Winter and think about how this world can seem to have a little magic in sometimes the most ordinary ways.

People often bring Science into discussions of religion. To me, one of the most strikingly amazing scientific facts is the way a baby's brain connections will be affected by his mother's nurturing. It's a "scientific" process that involves brain chemistry, internal environment, and external environment; and things like how well a person's stress-response and immune-response systems work for the rest of their lives can be impacted by a mother's nurturing. Along with that "scientific fact", however, is the fact that mothers need no more than a maternal instinct, the ability to make their babies feel secure (their loving arms), and a willingness to use their voice to talk to their babies to do a pretty good job of raising a happy, bright, secure, child in the first four years of life. That first four years, however, often determines how happy and mentally strong a child will grow up to be. I can't say for sure whether a Creator designed the way electrical connections are formed in the brain or the fact that babies need only to feel loved and secure to grow pretty well, but scientific facts don't always rule out the idea of a Creator. Neither does understanding science enough to truly see how amazing Nature can be.

Seeing all the wonder in the world and universe doesn't mean not seeing any of the evil or troubles, but what bothers me about so many religions is that so many seem to disregard the wonder in the world, seem to disregard the significance of anyone or anything that isn't human, and tell the world that all humans are evil by nature. Some would have their members worship human beings as if they are God. Some believe that their leaders have some kind of "special connection" to God. Many tell everyone that all people of all other religions have the wrong religion (and may even be going to Hell, regardless of how "evil-free" they may be in reality). Some religions actually have some pretty good ideas about some behaviors. For example, those that are against doing things that are abuse our bodies are essentially saying, "If you're lucky enough to be healthy and want to stay that way, don't smoke, drink, take drugs, or eat what you shouldn't eat." There are other behaviors that, if we're honest, we have to admit are likely to lead to negative consequences here, in this life; regardless of whether or not we think God sends people to an afterlife Hell for engaging in them.

The trouble with a lot of religions is not only that they say they're "the only religion", but that don't encourage people to use the wonderful potential of the human mind to find answers. Instead, they make everyone learn the words in a book and then echo them for the rest of their lives. A hundred different religions can't all be the "one, true, religion". Ninety-nine of them think they are when they're not. In fact, maybe a hundred of them incorrectly think they are. There is a truth with regard to whether there is a Creator or not, and there are things on which many religions may agree with regard to how to be a good person. Still, there are a whole lot of rules and ideas being passed around out there, and I can't help but believe that even God would understand a little questioning. Many religions emphasize humility. It seems to me one part of humility is considering the possibility that the way we think could be incorrect. Many religions also emphasize not worshiping "false gods". It would seem to me that there's at least the chance that God would prefer we try to have our private relationship with Him (without any "middle-men") over taking the chance that we are following the words of someone who doesn't know what he's talking about.

I, personally, don't happen to believe that God would give any human beings any "special connection". I, personally, tend to think that "weeping and gnashing of teeth" that may go on if people do unhealthy things may occur in this life, rather than a "next life". Something else is that we don't have to go too far back in history to know how "barbaric" people in the past have been. (In fact, there are places in the world today said to "still be living in the dark ages".) In the days when Jesus was on Earth it was probably fairly unusual for a person to talk about being kind, loving, and peaceful. If Jesus said that most people are evil he may have be fairly accurate in those days. Anyone who has read "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" or even anything about the days of the US Revolutionary War knows that it's only in the fairly recent past that a whole lot of violence toward fellow human beings has been eliminated (at least to some degree). I, personally, am not sure that what someone said about what people are a couple of thousand years ago (or more in the case of non-Christian religions) would apply to people in developed countries today. That's partly why I made the assertion that I'm not the least bit evil. In the face of so many religions that teach how awful people are by nature, I'm sorry (and I'm not being a liar here), a whole lot of people I know just plain are not now, and never have been, evil.

Do all children do things that are wrong? Sure, but in most cases it's not because they're evil. It's because they not finished growing up. Do adults tell their bosses their car didn't start when the truth is they over-slept? Sure. Is a lie ever right? Generally, no (although some lies have kind intentions even if this one isn't one of them). Is that lie, though, as evil as the lie that someone who, say, exploits an elderly person's finances is? No. As far as I can tell, there's "not right" and then there's "evil". The guy who says his car didn't start will have to deal with the consequences of his lie even if the boss lets it slide. He'll feel rotten and stupid and wonder if the boss believed him. He may feel he isn't measuring up to the kind of person he wants to model for his children. The boss may think less of him and trust him just a little less. That's still a very different kind of lie than lying to the elderly person about his money. That's pure evil.

I don't think, though, that most people who are not sociopaths are capable of true evil.

Religions can serve a good purpose in communities. Whether or not I thought much about the "people running the show", I actually found it kind of nice to go to church with my father each Sunday, look around at the flowers and religious images, and think about God. The hymns were beautiful. Most of the time the talk (gospel) was about a lesson in life. In the Catholic Church, with all the "bones I have to pick" with it, the truth is most of the time the talk is about being a good, kind, person. At other times the gospels would be about the stories that led up to certain "holy days". There wasn't generally that ugly view that human nature is nothing but evil that some non-Catholic religions seem to have. The Sunday school nuns did tell us elementary-school-aged children that our souls had a gray spot on them that was "original sin" but that we could avoid any "big black marks" on our soul by not committing any "mortal sins". Apparently, "venial sins" would not remain as marks on our souls as long as we confessed them (to a human being). Here again, the Catholic Church lost me because I don't believe that confessing one's sins to a human being gets them forgiven by God. As far as I've always guessed, God sees what we do anyway and knows when we "sin". Confessing to God shouldn't be necessary. Asking for forgiveness may be worthwhile; although I, personally, think some evil will not be forgiven by God, no matter what people like to believe. Some people say "confessing is good for the soul". Maybe that's the idea behind the Catholic practice. I don't happen to think that confessing to a stranger who wasn't the victim of our evil is good for the soul - especially for little children and the kind of "evil" most of them commit.

Religion can serve a purpose for people who are "lost" in this life. Unfortunately, some religions and cults take advantage of those who are "lost". Still, established, reasonably reputable religions can be helpful to people who have lost control of their lives beyond what they can regain on their own. There are often jokes made about how prisoners "find Jesus". Joking aside, people who have no direction and have found themselves addicted to drugs or alcohol, people who didn't have the benefit of a loving, solid, family to give them self-confidence and inner strength, and any number of "lost souls" often find that religion gives them guidance in their darkness. (Even so, however, I am not in the market to be preached to by someone who was lost and has now become found, because the way I see it is that I have never been lost at all. I’m not interested in the preaching of former addicts and convicts who have “seen the light”. I’ve seen sadness in my light, but I don’t happen to be someone who has ever lived in darkness.)

People for whom anger and bitterness over a tough life or rough beginnings can create a sense of darkness can sometimes see some light in believing that someone somewhere is watching over them, caring about them, and wanting them to find their way. It may not be kind to think this way, but I think some people who have trouble resisting urges to "be evil" may be "kept in line" by the simple belief that God is watching. Conscience and empathy, two things that stop "non-evil" people from doing bad things, is formed in early childhood. People without well developed senses of conscience and empathy often need to have some other motivation for not committing "sins". What some religions don't recognize, though, is that there is such a thing as people with such well developed consciences and senses of empathy, they don't even have urges to do "evil" things in the first place. When some religious person tries to tell me that we are all evil by nature it's no different to me than if he said we are all red-heads. I know what I am - and it is neither evil nor red-haired. If that person's argument is that I'm evil because I've more than once told the boss my car didn't start, then I'm returning to my own Catholic roots, calling those little lies a "venial sin", confessing them, and calling my soul "in good shape".

One of my grown children met a friend who belonged to a small, very restrictive, religion. He was arrogant in his beliefs and his attempting to convert everyone he met (including me) to his "one and only" religion. I overlooked his religious zealotry, wondering what my child saw in him as a friend. One evening he was visiting for a while; and as he sat at my dining room table, out came all the horror stories of his troubled past. His parents had been horrible. He had lived been homeless with them, gotten in trouble with drugs, and been in jail (for some reason he never revealed). He had been in and out of mental health facilities. Eventually, he left his family as a teenager and ended up living with the people who belonged to his church. I was secretly horrified as his tales, but I was careful to be gracious and hide my shock. I wasn't at all pleased to have this person in my home or my child's life. It wasn't long before he ended the friendship with my child because he wasn't pleased with my child's "sinful behavior" in not following the rules of his church. (I'm using the word, "child", not to reveal whether it was one of my sons or my daughter.) I was relieved to know this clown was out of the picture, but I was disgusted to think he has "snubbed" my child, who is one of the kindest, most decent, people anyone could ever imagine. My teen was someone who had been through some difficult family tragedies WITHOUT ever becoming a drug addict or dealer. My child managed to stay strong through a lot of sadness WITHOUT ever ending up in jail or needing a cult to save the day. I was so disgusted that this arrogant, troubled, misguided, little punk thought he had something to teach my child (who had only befriended him out of sympathy when it comes down to it).

Like most reasonable people, I have my own views on religion but don't expect anyone else to share them. Like most reasonable people, I can respect that people belong to a generally mainstream religion (one that wasn't founded by Sammy the Snake-Oil Salesman) and have their own beliefs. Like most people, I don't care who believes what as long as they leave me alone and don't expect me to believe what they do. I don't want to hear the "all-knowing" words of previously lost souls, and I REALLY don't want to hear the "all-knowing" words of people who have never been given the opportunity to explore ideas beyond those of their own religion.

When it comes down to it, I'm still that little girl who played on the sidewalk, felt the sun's warmth on her hair, and felt very blessed, loved, and - yes - good, not evil. Maybe the thing is when we humans are fortunate enough to be raised in goodness, love, and peace; the result is that our souls aren't plagued by evil urges, our minds aren't troubled by evil thoughts, and we generally feel as if our souls are full of light, rather than darkness. Maybe that's what people mean when they say, "God is love."

I look at what would be called "God's creations" in this world and see beauty and wonder. I don't believe that God creates evil, damaged, souls. People do. If someone is plagued by envy or jealousy it didn't come built into their nature. It came because someone (either their parents, the kids at school, or "the world") made them feel insecure about themselves or else made them need to be "Number 1" in all areas for some reason. If someone is aggressive it didn't come built into their nature. It came when their parents didn't know how to teach them not to be or else when life made them angry and mean. If someone is deceitful it's because they didn't grow up admiring someone with integrity and hearing how character counts. This applies to any number of things one may consider "evil". The more evil the deed, the more that do-er of that deed is damaged; but the majority of people don't commit the most horrible evil.

Damage isn't the only reason for evil. Sometimes people are too ignorant to realize what they do will hurt someone. Some people are mentally or emotionally too immature and don't have well developed consciences or reasoning ability. (We've all seen some of those brutal murderers who show up in the news and are clearly "just goons".) Then, too, even though it isn't someone's fault, sometimes it can seem as if evil come in the form of devastating storms or diseases that make life a hell on Earth for some people.

There's a lot of bad stuff and evil in this world, but I think refusing to see that human beings (supposedly God's creations) come into this world with such potential for goodness and capacity to love may, in its own way, be evil.

If I can return to my non-humble, own-back-patting, behavior for a moment; when someone approaches me and starts to tell me how I'm headed for Hell because I don't believe what they do, I imagine God watching all my actions and knowing all my thoughts from the time I was that little girl on the sidewalk. I think of how that same God may be looking down at the other person and thinking of all his/her actions and thoughts over the course of his/her life. As I said before, I don't mean to seem self-righteous (and I know I could be wrong), but I can't help but think God may not be too pleased with that other person. I may be painfully aware of all my imperfections and mistakes, but if there's one thing in which I have confidence it is that my own soul is a good and kind one.

I may be mistaken, but I can't help but think that if God is "out there" and passing judgment on everyone in the world, He'd probably be pleased with a former little girl who felt His presence in the sun's warmth, imagined His majesty in the wide blue sky, and refused to believe the words of a human who said her mother and so many other family members would be sent to Hell. I can't help but think He'd say, "You chose to find your own way, and you used the strength and mind I gave you to try to do that. I know how, for your whole life, your heart ached over the suffering and pain of my other creations in the world and how much you did your best to do what you could to help ease it. I know how you suffered with the guilt over hurts you didn't mean to cause. I know, too, that when others trusted their souls to other human beings, you trusted yours only to yourself and to me."

Then again, maybe God isn't a thinking, verbalizing, being. Instead, He may be a more "non-descript", sensing or feeling force (like the wind with powers of ESP, or something like that). Maybe God is Nature or else, as some say, love. Then, too, maybe God thinks and speaks but isn't interested in the smaller pictures of individual souls. Maybe He's more interested in the larger picture of life in general. Of course, too, there's the chance God may actually be more like Santa Claus, if you know what I mean.