Evil is something that brings sorrow, distress or calamity. Is this human nature? Or is human nature to have moral excellence and to have virtues? I believe human nature is evil. I believe there are more acts of evil in the world than acts of goodness. Evil can start off very minor, but it can end up being a major act of sinfulness. Human nature is evil because most people have committed at least one act of being harmful or hurtful. Most people have committed the sin of being evil, even if it is one time or every day, an extreme act or minor act.
A personal experience I have had with a horrid act of evil occurred about four months ago on September 11, 2001. I was personally touched during this event when a close friend of my family, Mr. Jeffrey Coombs, who was also my neighbor, died on Flight 11. This act was beyond evil. I still wonder today, like many of my fellow humans, how could someone have the cruelty in their heart to do something like this? Osama bin Laden's goal was to hurt innocent people in the name of his god, and that is how you know his act is downright evil.
In late August of this past summer, a native of my town, Abington, Massachusetts, became a serial killer at large. Gary Sampson was in his late forties when he carjacked and murdered three people, one of which he tortured and left for dead in the woods near Sampson's childhood home. I believe these acts of horrid nature just touch the surface of people's evil qualities. The investigators of Sampson's case have found no real motive, which further supports my belief that people are evil by nature.
I am not saying that there is no such thing as good, because I live in a community of mostly good people, but the difference is they choose to be good. People have the choice of taking the road of good or evil. The people that choose good usually have good reasons, like they have had experiences with evil people and would rather not be like them. They would rather not be like them because evil people could have caused them pain.
I believe that everyone is evil in his or her own way. Whether you commit acts of evil on a large scale, like the madmen of September 11th, or on a small scale, like causing personal anguish on an individual. People are capable of evil and always will be. Is it something we are born with or is it a conscious decision? Human aggression is fueled by many things, such as anger, depression, and desperation. To be able to suppress that aggression is not always possible. Everyone is evil and it doesn't mean that you cannot choose to be good, the choice of being good is for the person's own sake. So in conclusion, I have thought about this question a lot and went back and forth on which side to stick with and I decided on evil based on my facts about people perpetrating the sin of evil.
Author (YOG)
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This essay was submitted to The National Kids Philosophy Slam. The question was "Is Human Nature Good or Evil?" Kaitlin's essay was selected as a finalist for 2002. The slam officially recognizes Abington High School as "The Most Philosophical School in America."
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