Can a human be born evil? Or are all humans born good?

1. 68

   Stickyponyposted 12 years ago

   Can a human be born evil? Or are all humans born good?

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2. 86

   gmwilliamsposted 12 years ago

   No child is born evil.  Children learn to be evil and otherwise negative through their familial and other other sociocultural environments.   In other words, children eventually become what is present in their immediate and extended society.

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3. 70

   dashingscorpioposted 12 years ago

   No child is born evil, racist, or sexist. Children are affected by what they are taught and what happens to them during their formative years. A newborn's brain is like an empty hard drive.

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      lone77starposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Well said. That takes care of the physical component, but the spiritual adds a wrinkle to that description. The story of Jacob and Esau shows how levels of ego and righteousness can be different even in their mother's womb.

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4. 33

   edhanposted 12 years ago

   A child is born pure.
   
   It is the exposure of the environment and the teaching that makes him/her good or bad.

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5. 74

   lone77starposted 12 years ago

   All children are "pure."
   
   But nearly all children are born in sin. I've always wondered what this meant. It merely means that they were born separate from God (except for Yehoshua of Nazareth, and perhaps a few others unknown to history).
   
   All are born with ego and the excess baggage (karma) of prior lives. How else can Christ's statement of "dying by the sword" be true, unless those who lived by the sword in one life fall victim to it in the next? This is what Numbers 14:18 was trying to tell us.
   
   Why was Jacob loved by God in his mother's womb, but Esau hated? Esau was the elder by seconds, but yet he deserved to have his "birthright" taken from him. Why? Perhaps because he took someone else's birthright in a prior life.
   
   The bodies are born with passengers -- invisible, immortal true selves (souls, Holy Ghosts, children of God), within. Their decision to cling to physical methods of perception and control is what makes them vulnerable and thus evil.
   
   They contain the potential to be good, and activate that good by deciding to let go of the physical -- the sense of self-righteousness, self-importance, scarcity, vulnerability and the like. When they assume perfect humility, but perfect confidence (faith), then they regain that viewpoint of walking in the Light of spiritual perception. I was there for several moments in 1971. Forty-one years later, I finally understand what happened.
   
   The spiritual counseling I was receiving had me consider helping others. During those thoughts, I gave up the ego and found myself outside, hovering 15' in the air, looking at the details of the world around me without human eyes. When I became self-conscious of light passing right through "me," I lost my few moments of bliss and returned to the dark and evil of ego.

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      dashingscorpioposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Ecclesiastes 7:20 (KJV) "For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not." Having said that I would argue there is a difference between being a "sinner" and being "evil" I suppose it depends on the sin. :-)

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6. 89

   ChitrangadaSharanposted 12 years ago

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   1. 89

      ChitrangadaSharanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      No child is born evil. It is also true that parents do not teach their children to learn bad things.
      Poverty, environment and atmosphere in the family plays a major role in shaping a child's character.

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7. 61

   manofmystery24posted 12 years ago

   I don't believe so. I new born baby hasn't developed any kind of habits, skills, and it can't even think for itself just yet. When that baby is born, it is born pure. The next 5-7 years are crucial because that baby's subconscious mind is wide open. The subconscious mind can't reject, it can only accept. whether that baby is going to be good or bad depends on the environment it's going to be around during it's childhood.

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8. 78

   James-wolveposted 12 years ago

   No one is born with sin, you are born with the potential to sin.Read Ezekiel 18. The son does not carry the sin of the father, nor does the father carry the sin of the son; the sinner dies for his OWN sins. Nevertheless, God does not desire the death of the sinner, but that the sinner turn away from sin and live.
   1) Babies ARE, however born with the ABILITY to sin, and the ability to do that which is lawful and right (also known as free will). They are also born with an inclination or desire to sin and and inclination or desire to do that which is lawful and right. The struggle between these two inclinations is what life entails, and the Torah explains how to walk in the path of righteousness.
   2) It IS possible for a man to be righteous and to conquer his inclination to sin. See Genesis, where God tells as much to Cain before Cain killed his brother, Abel. God also told Israel that His Law is not too hard to keep. Whoever it was in the NT who claimed that keeping the Law was impossible was (a) not a Jew, and (b) lying. The uninformed or disingenuous sometimes cite Psalms where king David supposedly says he was conceived in sin, but that is a misreading and/or misrepresentation of the text. (See the chapter of Ezekiel I referenced above).

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      dashingscorpioposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think there is a difference between "sin" and "evil". A shoplifter that steals a loaf of bread is a "sinner" but I wouldn't say he or she is "evil". Ecclesiastes 7:20 (KJV) "For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

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      James-wolveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      But both of them carry negative connotation.

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   ahorsebackposted 12 years ago

   I believe I have to disagree , I have seen kids who were born of a father they never knew , yet are the same in personality , character and the amount of "evil "that might be from within . Personality traits from one to his or her off spring isn't unusual .!  Never say never I guess .

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