Are most people good at heart?

My answer to this question would tend to be "yes." At least for those who are truly Christians. I guess it's just difficult for me to believe that anyone who is a Christian would have intentions other than for good toward another Christian. Maybe that's why I tend to answer in this way.

Think about the mass atrocities associated with the tsunami: How many people from how many countries around the world have pledged and donated their support, both physically and monitarily? Millions! I'm not saying that everyone is like that, but it does show that people are naturally concerned about the human condition, no matter where the problem lies.

I also know that a number of religions stress service to others as a means of salvation, so maybe those people have alterior motives for helping people: they want their salvation even if they could care less about helping someone else.

Of course, there are some people who just have nasty attitudes in their dealings with others. There was one time at work (and I've only been there since Nov. 2) when I was figuring up how much a lady owed for her announcement, and she thought I was taking too long, so she took the paper away from me and did it herself. There was another lady who tried to manipulate me into placing her announcement onto a page that was already very tightly packed by saying a prayer over my counter! When she finished, she said, "Okay, now it's a done deal. It has to go in now!" I was wondering who made her capable of forcing the hand of God!

Regardless, I believe that these people had good intentions to begin with. The first lady was probably in a hurry, and I don't figure numbers very quickly in my head. The second one was under the (false) impression that if she picked up a form two weeks before she wanted to have her announcement run that she could come in on the day I was preparing to print the pages to negatives, and she could still get it on the page. I told her I didn't have room for it, and that's when she did her little "O Lordy" thing.

There was a discussion at our church last night about the difference between power and authority. Power often arises out of ignorance: people wanting something so badly that they'll stop at nothing to get it, even if it means mass murder (Hitler and the haulocaust, for example). Authority is earned, and put in place to keep peace and order. It has a system by which to enforce rules made for the greater good of a group of people. Power often despises authority.

Aparently, there was recently a famous football player who walked off the field at a time when his teammates could have really used his skill. Two seconds remained in the game and there was a slim possibility, but still a possibility, that his team could win. He had power, but he used it in the wrong way. He could have used it to help his team win the game, but he turned his back on them, despising his coach who had authority over him at the same time. (I didn't see this, myself, because I can't stand to watch most sporting events, especially football. I only watch the Superbowl for the commercials and performances during the breaks in action.)

Some people make it really difficult for me to defend my position. If you know anything about how vicious high school girls can be, even to adults, you'd know what I was talking about just that much better. (And I still get confused for a kid sometimes because I'm only 5 feet tall. It's only when I start talking that people realize I'm much older.)

So what do you think? Are most people good at heart? How do you respond to those who appear not to be? Do you show them what being a Christian means, or do you return evil for evil? I prefer to do the former. And don't ask "What would Jesus do?" because we're not Jesus, and we can't tell a non-fruit-bearing tree to shrivel up and die, or the lame to walk or the sick to be well or the demons to go out of a man and into a heard of wild pigs. Ask what you should do as a Christian. And most of all, pray for people, including yourself.