I was reading an interesting blurb yesterday from Fred Smith's Breakfast with Fred -- about how our life views and even basic beliefs are shaped by whether we believe that people in general are essentially good or essentially evil. His point was that if we believe that people are essentially good, then we adopt a liberal political philosophy and believe that if we provide education and a lift up, then everything will be okay. Conversely, if we believe people are prone to be evil, then we will adopt a conservative political philosophy focusing on regulation and maintaining order.
While I think his point is interesting, I'm sure it is too simplistic, and probably not universal.
But I found myself today wondering out loud how Bart Whittaker, who is on trial for orchestrating the murder of his mother, brother, and father so that he could inherit one million dollars got to the point of being able to even think of doing that. It just seems so unnatural, so evil, so opposite of what I would expect from anyone. Maybe there's more to what Fred had to say that I wanted to accept.
So maybe I do believe that everyone is basically good rather than evil. That doesn't make me a liberal, but it does probably make me a moderate rather than a conservative.
And in today's political environment, since I don't seem attracted to those labeled either liberal or conservative, that's okay with me.
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2 comments:
It is not as much about seeing people as basically good rather than evil as it is about being a realist verses an idealist.
What is intresting is that we know the world if far from ideal, but we know how it was meant to be. God created the world as an ideal place, everything was "good" when He created it, therefor we yearn in our haerts for it to be this way once again.
The conservitives(realist) believe the world is flawed and evil exist. They believe evil should be stopped and destroyed as quickly as possible. They believe people should take care of themseleves not the government.
The liberals(idealist) beleive they can win over their enemy with peace and kindness. They think the government exist to rule the people and give them what they need.
The Church knows that evil is in the world and knows that it must fight back, but it does this in a Biblical way. It seeks peace and loves its neighbor as itself, but it also will not stand by when evil tries to overtake it. The Church beleives people should work for what they get, but also help those in need.
The world has the conservitives on one side and the liberals on the other, and the Church in the middle.
It is not as much about seeing people as basically good rather than evil as it is about being a realist verses an idealist.
What is intresting is that we know the world if far from ideal, but we know how it was meant to be. God created the world as an ideal place, everything was "good" when He created it, therefor we yearn in our haerts for it to be this way once again.
The conservitives(realist) believe the world is flawed and evil exist. They believe evil should be stopped and destroyed as quickly as possible. They believe people should take care of themseleves not the government.
The liberals(idealist) beleive they can win over their enemy with peace and kindness. They think the government exist to rule the people and give them what they need.
The Church knows that evil is in the world and knows that it must fight back, but it does this in a Biblical way. It seeks peace and loves its neighbor as itself, but it also will not stand by when evil tries to overtake it. The Church beleives people should work for what they get, but also help those in need.
The world has the conservitives on one side and the liberals on the other, and the Church in the middle.
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