6. Basic Human Nature

A human being is neither fully evil nor fully good, but like a seed with the potential to grow. Our mental growth and development is similar to the trees and plants out there. Just like a seed grows to become a huge tree full of fruit, each human being has the potential to grow to become a very fruitful person. Just like a tree grows to have numerous branches, a human being grows with its numerous branches such as being active, tender, loving, humble, creative, intelligent, independent, etc.

Well then, how can we explain the negative aspects in us? Why is there, hatred, violence, robbery, rape, greed, and murder? The negative aspects are actually the absence of positive aspects. Darkness is actually the absence of light. Imagine a seed trying to grow. It sprouts, and slowly makes an attempt to get water and sunlight. Various factors can hinder its growth to its full potential. If there is not enough water, or sunlight, it can’t grow very well. If there is a stone right on top of the seed, it will grow crooked. Similarly, various factors prevent us from growing to our full potential and maturity. The absence of the positive aspects or the crookedness in our growth will be explained as evil. As children we were taught that certain emotions are wrong or bad; thus we did not develop in those aspects. We suppressed certain feelings, and they came out in undesirable ways.

In short, if someone behaves bad, it is not because he/she is basically bad, but because he/she did not have the opportunity to grow to his/her full potential as a human being. In fact, no human being we see around has grown to the full potential.

Our thoughts, words, and deeds are based on our knowledge. They can be in error simply because our knowledge is limited. We affirm that God alone is holy, which means that God is the only one who commits no mistakes at all, for God is the only one who knows everything about everything. Human beings, on the other hand, have only limited knowledge, which makes them prone to errors. In other words, it is human to err. If someone does a mistake, it is because he/she is a human being. This awareness helps us to admit our own mistakes. It also helps us to forgive others when they commit mistakes.  

We also affirm that God alone is almighty, which means that no human being has all the possible abilities. We all have varying abilities, just like the organs in a body have varying abilities. Our eyes have the ability to see, but they don’t have any other abilities. We are just like that. We all have limited abilities, and we live together as the organs in a body, supporting one another.

Men and women have slightly different abilities. Men mostly have single-tasking brain, whereas women mostly have multitasking brain. Men are more visual than auditory, but women are more auditory than visual. Women are generally more capable of expressing their feelings than men. A man and a woman can complement each other in a family setting with their varying skills. They are not supposed to compete with each other, but they have to cooperate with each other.

People with varying skills work together in the workplace. They are also supposed to work together like the organs of a body supporting one another. It is usually called team work.   

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