Do you think that man is born good and society corrupts him?

Answer 1

There are different thoughts on this. Here are some from our contributors:

• No. Man is born evil because of the sin of our ancestors. Romans 5:12 and Psalm 51:5 should give you better insight on this.
• Yes. The only wrong that was ever done to me was by society! You can trust a human, but you can't trust humanity. There are no inherent sins, just "needs" that have been dubbed by the church as impure. We know with modern day psychology that biological needs such as sex have been reduced to some sort of sick desire. But truth is, we need it!
• I don't think that man was born good or bad. We are born innocent, which is without influence. Then we are pulled in different directions by different things. God doesn't control us, but he helps us stay on the path to good, if we follow his example.
• Since society invented the institution of religion, I would have to say yes. I've been to the Vatican City. There's not much to see there besides a bunch of greedy people hording the world's sympathy money. Don't listen to those who speak of sin--they must have a guilty conscious themselves. They have already accepted they are evil.
• Yes and No. I think that man is born good, but that we all also have desires both for good and bad things. Just like we shouldn't give in to our desires to harm others, we also have to control our desires for immediate gratification in order to find a happier ending. That's the only way a friendship, a marriage, or even a society can last. We can't just give in to whatever we want, whenever we want it. Society influences us, but it doesn't control us. We become good or bad through our own choices: whether we choose the easy way or the hard way. The hard way is hard, given, but it is also usually the way to the most happiness.