Posted by jim in Blog | 3 Comments
Debunking Pop Psychology Myths: #1 Humans are basically good
by Jim Ricci, Counseling Pastor
Myth 1: Human beings are basically good.
The first myth I would like to look at is the belief that people are basically good. Melody Beattie, author of the best-seller Codependent No More, says that we “suffer from that vague but penetrating affliction, low self-worth.” She suggests we stop torturing ourselves and try to raise our view of ourselves. How do we do that? She says: “Right now, we can give ourselves a big emotional and mental hug. We are okay. It’s wonderful to be who we are. Our thoughts are okay. Our feelings are appropriate. We’re right where we’re supposed to be today, this moment. There is nothing wrong with us. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with us.”
In other words, Beattie is saying that we are basically good. There is nothing wrong with us. At least there is nothing fundamentally wrong with us. There isn’t any flaw that needs to be corrected.
Peter McWilliams, in his best-seller Life 101, actually addresses this issue head-on. This is what he says in the brief section entitled, “Are human beings fundamentally good or fundamentally evil?”
My answer: good. My proof? I could quote philosophers, psychologists, and poets, but then those who believe humans are fundamentally evil can quote just as many philosophers, psychologists, and poets. My proof, such as it is, is a simple one. It returns to the source of human life: an infant. When you look into the eyes of an infant, what do you see? I’ve looked into a few, and I have yet to see fundamental evil radiating from a baby’s eyes. There seems to be purity, joy, brightness, splendor, sparkle, marvel, happiness–you know: good.
Before we see what the Bible says about the human condition, let me make one comment about Peter McWilliams’s proof. While an infant may seem innocent to our eyes, any parent would admit that a baby is an example of the ultimate in selfishness. A baby comes into the world totally centered on his own needs and oblivious to any others. These selfish needs increase with the growth of the child, unless there is parental intervention and moral guidelines.
When we look to the Bible, we get a picture radically different from that espoused by pop psychologists. Adam and Eve committed the first sin, and the human race has been born morally corrupt ever since. According to the Bible, even a seemingly innocent infant is born with a sin nature. David says in Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” The newborn baby already has a sin nature and begins to demonstrate that sin nature early in life. Romans 3:23 tells us that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We are not good as the pop psychologists teach, and we are not gods as the new age theologians teach. We are sinful and cut off from God.
In my next post, I will tackle the myth that we need more self-esteem and self-worth.
Many times people don’t act as if people are basically good. They lock their homes and cars and have security devices for banks and money. To do otherwise would be naive.
Often what people mean when they say “people are basically good” is “I try to look for the good in people” or “I hope that things will turn out for the best.” This is more of a wishful and fanciful statement than one based on the evidence all around us.
“Why do you call me good? No one is good, except God alone.” Only God is *basically* good; we are only good when we imitate him.
People lock their homes and cars and have security devices for banks and money because they would say, “These people are basically good, they just got a bad deal in growing up. That is why they are now out of control and we have to protect ourselves from them. That is Freudian Psychology. Remember the Id, Ego and Super-ego concept? Paul explains it best in Romans 7:15-25. Here he admits, “The things I do I don’t understand… then it is followed by the reason he does wrong. It is sin living inside him.” People say people are born good by are corrupted by their upbringing and society period! We as Christians need to teach people the doctrine of Total Depravity. That is the point of my article as opposed to the New Age Pop Psychologists tapping around for the good inside the person and all will be well. Yet, statistic show that even some of the best and brightest young people brought up in the best of families sin and commit awful crimes. God calls us “wretched” not “good.”
Okay, so you think human beings are essentially good? That’s laughable, first off look up the Milgram experiment, we are weak beings, who obey the bigger person, this experiment was redone about 2 years ago and reproduced exactly the same results. On the persons quote about the baby, the reason most babies survive is because they kill, that’s right KILL, their brothers and sisters who are with us in the womb, if the nutrition is insufficient. Another point, we are essentially hairless animals, programmed by our upbringing to believe that we are good. If you were to leave someone alone for 30 years, with no human contact and no stimulation, they would be no better than an animal. So here’s the thing, human’s are not basically good, we are INFLUENCED by our upbringing to believe that we are good. There’s also evidence that we are genetically pre-disposed to violence. Essentially we are weak and violent. Religion is a very good example of this, we follow a powerful figurehead, need i say more?