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I voted good because I recently read that a good person returns their grocery cart and I almost always do. That's a joke, the real reason is that I care about people other than myself. I have no money to give, but have time and advice and some skills like sewing that I'm pleased to offer up if needed. I try to be encouraging to younger people I work with when they ask questions, I try to be positive when other people are down. I adopt shelter animals and feed and vet them out of my meager earnings. I try to be kind. I, like a lot of people, have been on the receiving end of those who aren't good or kind and I know that's not the kind of person I want to be.
I can be both. This fact led me to fall back on two rules in order to protect myself from others and to protect others from me. The first rule is to keep my body and objects to myself and others should do the same. Because we are social creatures and we like to hug and be physical in other ways and give gifts, the next rule I rely on is "no means no". A person doesn't have to be so explicit either. They can communicate "no" in other ways.
Like most people, I'm an evolving work in progress. As a Christian, I believe I was born again at age 20 and have been experiencing a transformation by the Holy Spirit, in fits and starts, ever since. Before I was 20, I was almost entirely selfish; I did things for which I could have gone to prison if discovered. At age 71, I've had people tell me I'm the most generous person they've ever met (hold your applause, please). As I look back, I don't even resemble the person I was at 20, 30 or 40. The transformation has been gradual and subtle and even quite mysterious to me - but all in the direction of the "good." That being said, I'm far from what anyone would call a saint - I'm not an entirely different person than I was at 20, and people who encounter the worst side of me on a bad day would probably be surprised to learn I was a Christian at all.
The Christian notion that all are sinners and fall short of the glory of God is often misunderstood. It doesn't mean that all are essentially "bad" or "evil." It means that human nature is fundamentally flawed in some mysterious way and does have a propensity to evil without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (and even then, to a lesser extent). It means that all fall short of God's holiness. Falling short of God's holiness may be quite different from being "bad" or "evil."
Like many psychologists and psychiatrists - oh, yes, many more than you might think - I don't believe the human propensity toward evil can be fully explained in secular terms. I believe there is an ontological reality to the Christian explanation.
I would say I’m leaning towards bad but reside in the middle.
- Being considered a good person is not important to me. I consider it more important to be a consistent person and to live by the letter of my truth, even if it ain’t the friendliest.
- I don’t believe in forgiveness and I tend to be vindictive. If you do me wrong, I’m finished with you and if an easy opportunity exists for revenge without much cost to me, I will take it.
- People consider me an honest person who can be tactful. I won’t blow smoke up your backside to protect your feelings but I’ll give you my two cents blunt but not insultingly.
- I’m a very protective person of myself and friends.
- Standing up for myself means more to me than getting along.
This guy gets it! Repped!
I'm all these things, with a few extra bullet points.
- I'm not a rule-follower. If I know something if being withheld from me just because, or if a rule is being implemented for the wrong reasons, I WILL find a way around it if I can't break it outright, or just blatantly violate the rule. And I will use any resources available to me, including the dark web, to achieve that.
- I'm clever. My critical thinking is great. I can smell a rat from a mile away. My ability to uncover actual facts, not "facts" , is also good. If someone is lying to my face, be they a private citizen or a government entity, I will know from day one.
- I'm politicized, and stand for my beliefs. There are situations where I will bite my tongue and/or pretend not to care about politics, like at work, with specific family members, or in certain online forums. But if asked outright, I will tell the honest truth about who I voted for and how I feel about Covid.
All in all, I self-identify as a "fair" person. I don't treat people "good" or "bad"; I treat them fairly, and expect the same in return. That is, treat them the way they treated me. I call it the "Silver Rule": Treat others as they have treated you. Similarly, if I inadvertently do something hurtful to a someone, I will understand if they do something in anger in reaction or stop talking to me.
If I had to pick a side from the two in the post, I'd say I'm a "bad" person. If pushed to my tolerance limits, I will not hesitate to curse someone out, kick them out of my life, or retaliate against them by leveraging any resources available to me.
Like most people, I'm an evolving work in progress. As a Christian, I believe I was born again at age 20 and have been experiencing a transformation by the Holy Spirit, in fits and starts, ever since. Before I was 20, I was almost entirely selfish; I did things for which I could have gone to prison if discovered. At age 71, I've had people tell me I'm the most generous person they've ever met (hold your applause, please). As I look back, I don't even resemble the person I was at 20, 30 or 40. The transformation has been gradual and subtle and even quite mysterious to me - but all in the direction of the "good." That being said, I'm far from what anyone would call a saint - I'm not an entirely different person than I was at 20, and people who encounter the worst side of me on a bad day would probably be surprised to learn I was a Christian at all.
The Christian notion that all are sinners and fall short of the glory of God is often misunderstood. It doesn't mean that all are essentially "bad" or "evil." It means that human nature is fundamentally flawed in some mysterious way and does have a propensity to evil without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (and even then, to a lesser extent). It means that all fall short of God's holiness. Falling short of God's holiness may be quite different from being "bad" or "evil."
Like many psychologists and psychiatrists - oh, yes, many more than you might think - I don't believe the human propensity toward evil can be fully explained in secular terms. I believe there is an ontological reality to the Christian explanation.
You explain well about being good and bad even without couching it in Christian terms. There is definitely that "voice" within each of us striving to keep us from the bad side. The psychologist would explain that away as the conscience, a factory-installed feature that comes with every physical brain.
We all fall short of being the best we can be. Human excellence is definitely "godlike" when people put themselves at risk to rescue others from danger. Such things do happen and oftentimes the heroes cannot explain what drive them to do it.
Regardless of our worldviews - Christian or not - there is much about our human nature that we do not know. For most of us, a belief in and surrender to a goodness beyond all human understanding is the option; especially, in times of the dark night of of our "souls".
I was good yesterday. Costco overpaid me $600 when they gave me cash from my reward certificate, and I returned it. Points on the angel shoulder for me!
Like most people, I'm an evolving work in progress. As a Christian, I believe I was born again at age 20 and have been experiencing a transformation by the Holy Spirit, in fits and starts, ever since. Before I was 20, I was almost entirely selfish; I did things for which I could have gone to prison if discovered. At age 71, I've had people tell me I'm the most generous person they've ever met (hold your applause, please). As I look back, I don't even resemble the person I was at 20, 30 or 40. The transformation has been gradual and subtle and even quite mysterious to me - but all in the direction of the "good." That being said, I'm far from what anyone would call a saint - I'm not an entirely different person than I was at 20, and people who encounter the worst side of me on a bad day would probably be surprised to learn I was a Christian at all.
The Christian notion that all are sinners and fall short of the glory of God is often misunderstood. It doesn't mean that all are essentially "bad" or "evil." It means that human nature is fundamentally flawed in some mysterious way and does have a propensity to evil without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (and even then, to a lesser extent). It means that all fall short of God's holiness. Falling short of God's holiness may be quite different from being "bad" or "evil."
Like many psychologists and psychiatrists - oh, yes, many more than you might think - I don't believe the human propensity toward evil can be fully explained in secular terms. I believe there is an ontological reality to the Christian explanation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chenping
You explain well about being good and bad even without couching it in Christian terms. There is definitely that "voice" within each of us striving to keep us from the bad side. The psychologist would explain that away as the conscience, a factory-installed feature that comes with every physical brain.
We all fall short of being the best we can be. Human excellence is definitely "godlike" when people put themselves at risk to rescue others from danger. Such things do happen and oftentimes the heroes cannot explain what drive them to do it.
Regardless of our worldviews - Christian or not - there is much about our human nature that we do not know. For most of us, a belief in and surrender to a goodness beyond all human understanding is the option; especially, in times of the dark night of of our "souls".
We are all given free will and self control and it's how and whether you choose to exercise these options that separates the good from the bad. We all fail to some extent as younger people, but learn as we go and even to learn to identify the difference between selfishness and selflessness is a choice we make.
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, is also good. If someone is lying to my face, be they a private citizen or a government entity, I will know from day one.
