Good People are Created not Born
Every child is born neutral. Each child is born with a genetic makeup that might determine the child’s future. But, even so, good people aren’t born that way, they’re taught that way.
According to the UN, 385,000 children are born every single day. Isn’t it a bit presumptuous to think that all those three-hundred-eighty-five-thousand children are good? What about those who grow up to become criminals or fugitives?
“Criminal Minds”
I’ve personally become rather obsessed with the CBS hit TV show, “Criminal Minds”. (And yes, I know I’m late to the show.) Although the show makes me a bit…paranoid at times, it does reveal quite a bit of the psychology of a human being.
In the show, every criminal has a stressor and a trigger. Let’s go into the background of it a bit. According to MayoClinic, stressors are “events or conditions in your surroundings that may trigger stress.” But, triggers are slightly different. Triggers have to do with something that is directly involved with the stressor. Some event or something that directly reminds the mind of the stressor. It’s very similar to how PTSS (Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome) works. Every criminal that even starts to commit a crime has something in his or her background. Something that causes them to be stressed later on in life. But, that can be anyone, right?
According to MayoClinic, stressors are “events or conditions in your surroundings that may trigger stress.”
Some people are born into the mindset of ‘being bad’. They live for the thrill. They want to be the way they are. And they don’t care about the consequences. They don’t have stressors or even triggers. These people show signs at an early age. But, the rest of the population that turns out to be criminals go through very interesting backgrounds. Some go through religious backgrounds with extreme values (not all people who go through this turn out to be serial killers or serial anything). Some go through horrible parenting, (again, not all people who go through it turn out to be criminals). But, these backgrounds can be influential on a person’s mindset.
Let’s have an example. A person who has a very extreme religious parent and is very harsh with punishments and punishes at the smallest thing. A person with that kind of background could be triggered later on by seeing another child go through such treatment. It could trigger something inside them, most likely anger. That anger, that rage could turn into something more violent. It’s not something everyone would understand, yet it would be something someone could go through. Now, that person could start punishing parents or anyone who ‘abuses’ a child in such a way. That would be the trigger and the consequence.
So, by saying that good children are born, we’re equally saying that bad children are born. Where earlier I did say that. That is not always the case.
Teachings
Earlier, I mentioned how children with strict religious backgrounds could affect some children.
But, teachings aren’t just religious. They’re of morality and spirituality. You need to be spiritual to be religious, but it’s not an exclusive relationship. You don’t need to be religious to be spiritual. You don’t need religion to grow your children to be great adults.
As an adult, I know my rights from my wrongs. I know not to lie, not to harm, and not to hurt another. But, that isn’t because that’s what religion taught me. It’s my morals. My morals were taught to me, not only from my religious upbringing but by TV shows and movies that I watched, and books I read. Morals are lessons and teachings you learn over time. A moral of mine is to take it steady rather than rush through something. That’s something I learned from “Tortoise and the Hare”. I’m sure you have as well. Or another moral I have is to always tell the truth, that’s something that was ingrained into me as religious teaching. “Truth saves, falsehood destroys.”
TV Shows and Movies showed me who my real friends are. That I don’t need to pretend to be anyone else but be myself. As no one else could be a better me, than me. I was taught to love everyone with a big heart, not because I would personally get anything out of it, but because that’s a better life to live than a bitter one. I was taught that my friends would be those that helped me when I needed help, not only be there for me in good times. In movies, in shows, in books, you learn about the world in many different ways. They show you morals and lessons that you take with you everywhere you go.
The biggest lessons of them all are, “Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover” and “Deeds are Judged by Motives”. One taught at school, another in a book of sayings of a religious figure. Both true to what makes me a good person. You never know when a good looking person can turn out to be a bad person. And you can never judge another person’s actions without understanding their intentions.
But, unlike many people, my religious upbringing doesn’t make me who I am. I am an open-minded person. I am a good person regardless. I don’t see myself as religious but as spiritual. I look to learn about morals and lessons that life can teach me. Rather than religious books and such. To live in the world today, you need to pay attention to the world today.
Religion and Childhood
In an article, Katy Perry had mentioned how a strict Christian upbringing had kept her from having a real childhood. I can relate. Having a Muslim upbringing kept me from having a real childhood in some ways. I was never allowed to go over to someone’s house and spend the night, even if that someone was one of my best friends. Why? Because men could be around. I was never allowed to join the rest of my chorus (team?) when they were having a show. Why? Because it could “teach” me to sing for money and not for pleasure. After the age of nine or ten, I wasn’t allowed to go trick-or-treating with friends because of Halloween’s history, although that is not what Halloween is today.
Robbing a child of their childhood, by trying to teach them or ingrain religious teachings into them, may not be the greatest way to teach them to be the way you are. Religion and faith is between a person and their God(s). It’s not meant to be about the person and their parent and their God(s). By forcing religion on children, it could have the opposite effect, where the child only swims further away rather than closer. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the child is a bad child or a good child. The child is just a child. Teach them something worthy and valuable. Teach them the good parts of the world. The bad parts as well. Teach them positivity instead of negativity.
Create.
Good People are created when Bad things are still around. They are good because of the bad. Not in spite of the bad. The world is filled with good and bad. Don’t fear the bad, just learn how to cope with it. Every good person has a bit of darkness in them. Every ‘bad’ person has a bit of light in them. Buried deep within. Show every child, every adult, the light. Show them how to bring the light to others. And eventually, they’ll be as good as they can be.
Create light amongst everyone else. Rather than fear and doubt. Bring smiles and laughter among the people. Rather than fear and doubt.
