All Men Are Created Equal Evil?
Part of this boils down to me really disliking having to consider everyone innately evil by default. In the past I actually liked this because it allowed me to feel smug to a degree, but now that I’ve matured into a lot more empathy, I have a very hard time holding this line of thinking. People are complicated and have to deal with many things in life; to make the fundamental assertion that all men are fallen / evil feels bad. It would be easy enough for an objector to just say “Tough, that’s just reality.” (something my father might say), but I reject that as an argument and here are a few reasons why:
- Logically: That assertion requires universal knowledge of mankind which no one has. There is a difference between the claim that all men have fallen short of godhood/perfection and that all people are fundamentally bad.
- Emotionally: There seems to be an inherent cruelty / misanthropy in the claim. You do not have to assert that people are fundamentally good, but to see a stranger, a baby, or a kind person, and to make the assertion in your mind or your subconscious that they are wretched just feels bad.