Last week, I wrote about being human.  But that was looking at mostly positive aspects of our nature, as my friend Kent reminded me in an email.


The issue of whether we are born good or evil is a huge one, which has puzzled the minds of many.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau and others claim the former, i.e. we are born naturally good and it's only conditioning and  repression that warp our natures and create evil.
The Christian religion claims the opposite, that we are born with 'original sin', i.e. evil, and that only parents, teachers and priests can set us on the path of goodness. 
"But what about serial killers, child murderers, rapists, Hitler, Saddam Hussein ?  Surely they are proof that our human nature is evil?" 
"But what about Martin Luther King Jnr., Gandhi and most people?  They're good people."


If you examine the childhoods of serious criminals, Hitler, Saddam, and other monsters of history, you will find childhoods of immense cruelty, hate and neglect.  But if you study the childhoods of basically good people, you will find loads of love, support and freedom.  As a teacher, I have seen living proof of this - all the children I taught reflected their parents and upbringing, from the best to the worst.


I don't believe that there has ever been a 'born criminal'.  For good or evil, our childhoods are vital in establishing who we are for the rest of our lives.  Which is the best argument I can think of for giving new life the best chance possible in life.