Q) What is the nature of human beings, good, evil, or both?

Personally I believe human beings are good and evil. Who’s to say who is “evil” or not? There is no evil-o-meter to determine who we are. To be “evil” one would need to do something drastic. But I don’t even think makes a person “evil.” I asked my mom about this question, and her response was “I believe there are truly evil people out there” (Kerri Hagen). I love my mother, but I don’t agree with that. Saying “you’re an evil person” is like saying you were born evil. I believe that there are people who do incredibly evil things, but they aren’t evil. What if they wanted to change after they committed a terrible crime? If you already characterized that person as evil, what are they going to do now? I think everybody has the potential to bring out the “good side” in them. It’s whether or not society is willing to give that person another chance when that person is truthfully remorseful about their past actions. I feel like it’s just unfair to label someone as “Evil” for the rest of their lives because of one evil thing they did.

I saw this quote, and immediately thought of the Harry Potter series. One of the main conflicts in the later books is Harry trying to determine what kind of wizard he is, good or evil. But then, Sirius Black says something to Harry that not only got him thinking, but me as well. Sirius Black said “The world is not split into two sides, good and evil. We all have light and dark inside us. It just matters what we choose to act upon.” This quote practically sums up what I feel inside. The terrible things you are characterized by isn’t what makes you evil, it’s just the darkness inside you getting the better of you. But you always have that good side ready to pull you back. I suppose you can say an evil person would be one who hasn’t any “good” side in them, but is that really possible? Everyone has the light and dark inside of them. No single person is literally evil.