Good (Intentions)

I wrote a dialog, a while back actually, involving two characters who have rather different opinions of the world. The one that I felt I related to the most had more of an optimistic view about people. Before you say, "yea right- you, an optimist?!" let must just go ahead and stop you. You are right. The point is, as my life has changed, I have begun to realize the truth of what the more pessimistic of the two said.

I will summarize their conversation here. It is a discussion between two Priests, though that information is pointless in this context:

"He is a good man."
"A good man? Before you trust anyone, my friend, you must first realize that no man is a good man. There are men who have good intentions, but even the best intentions are loaded with desires of self advancement. No, I'm afraid he is simply a man riddled with good intentions, and it is our job to ensure that his good intentions do not become our worst disasters."
"I disagree. Are we not all the product of perfection? Are we not all created from a being who is completely flawless in every conceivable way? Why can we not follow in her footsteps and be good people?"
"Because we are put on this planet to test our limits. From the second we are born, we are bombarded with evil. The world manipulates us, bends us, until the path to what is right is completely ripped up from underneath us. Everyone sins, my friend, everyone, and yet almost none of those sinners repent. But for some reason, almost every single one of them believes they are going to ascend to a better existence after death. Why is this? Because they have good intentions! Intentions lead to fallacy, fallacy leads to sin. Therefor, people are not good. They are good intentioned."

I remember writing this (or something close to this- what I have written is just a paraphrase of a longer conversation) and agreeing almost entirely with the second speaker- the one who believes people are fundamentally good. I would have said "I know many good people, and I do all I can to be one of them."

But you know what? I have changed my mind. I think it's rather childish to believe everyone is good. As I look back on everything I have done in my life, everything I have ever said, almost all of it has been with good intentions. But was it really good? We strut around every day making decisions based on what we believe to be the right choice when really all we are doing is acting on a good intention. What really makes our good intention good? There is so much conflict in the world today, so much disagreement, that your good intention may in fact be someone else's greatest fear. I have slipped up too many times around those that I love with my "good intentions" to believe that people are fundamentally good.

We are at best good intentioned; but I'd say even that is questionable.