The #1 Lesson We Must Learn: Man Is Naturally Evil

Recently, a young American couple (pictured above) decided to quit their jobs and bike across the world. The reason for this is, aside from Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan, the couple, believing their jobs were taking precious time away from their best years of their life, fundamentally believed that Man was naturally and inherently good. Unfortunately, the couple, along with a several other cyclists, were killed by ISIS-related terrorists in Tajikistan, close to ISIS territory.
 
Austin wrote on a blog named Simply Cycling, that: “You watch the news and you read the papers and you’re led to believe that the world is a big, scary place. People, their narrative goes, are not to be trusted. People are bad. People are evil. People are axe murderers and monsters and worse.”
 
“I don’t buy it,” he says. “Evil is a make-believe concept we’ve invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans holding values and beliefs and perspectives different than our own – it’s easier to dismiss an opinion as abhorrent than strive to understand it. Badness exists, sure, but even that’s quite rare. By and large, humans are kind. Self-interested sometimes, myopic sometimes, but kind. Generous and wonderful and kind. No greater revelation has come from our journey than this.”
 
Now, these being the words of a recently deceased person, I will hold off on any kind of judgment. Instead, I will simply point out the dangers of living with the belief that Man is naturally good.
 
Austin here mentioned the “axe murderers” and such. Presumably, he was referring to the countless times radical Islamic terrorists have wielded axes to kill and/or maim their victims. Here’s the thing: you cannot describe such an action as anything other than evil. Maybe insane, sure, but most certainly full of evil.
 
But even if you simply choose to call it insane, you still have to understand that, at that point, you see humanity’s evil nature.
 
We often call these radical Islamic terrorists as barbarians, savages, and such. That is because they live with old-world mentalities that believe murder is not only justifiable, but right in many occasions. That barbarism, that savagery, is Man’s own nature.
 
Now, I’m not saying we are all savages, but even the Left’s own theory of evolution proclaims that we were all savages at one point. Under such logic, it only makes sense to understand that we are evil by nature, even according to the Left’s ridiculous theories of our existence.
 
If you want to see the perfect example of Man’s evil nature, look no further than a baby. No, I’m not calling babies evil. I’m saying they illustrate Man in its most basic form.
 
A baby is selfish. They require a lot of attention and if it does not get the attention it desires, it gets cranky and cries. A baby does not care if its mother is tired or hasn’t slept well at all. A baby’s needs come first.
 
Now, do we blame the baby for acting this way? Of course not. Why? Because it’s in its NATURE to act this way.
 
It’s by nature that we are so self-centered. We tend to LEARN to be more considerate towards others over time, if we have good parents. Why else do you think people come up with “sharing is caring” to tell to their children? Because otherwise, the child will tend to be selfish. It’s in our nature to be that way, and we need to learn to be more caring towards other people.
 
Thus, it’s in our nature to be evil and we need to learn to be good.
 
When Austin says that “evil is a make-believe concept…”, he could not be more wrong. Again, I’m trying to withhold judgment out of respect of his passing, but this needs to be pointed out.
 
Evil is not a make-believe concept. It’s a real concept that has existed since before Lucifer fell from Heaven.
 
If you’re going to say that evil does not exist, then how else can we explain the Holocaust, or the horrors of Communism/Socialism racking up kills like it’s a video game? No one can honestly say that the Holocaust was not an evil act unless they are evil themselves. No one can say the systemic death of hundreds of millions of people is not an evil act unless they are evil themselves.
 
To ignore the evil of those two acts, and to ignore evil in general, is to ignore reality. Now, I’m not saying evil is the only reason evil things happen. Hitler did not cause the Holocaust simply because he was evil. He thought he was doing something good. He had his own reason for doing it. It was an evil reason, most certainly, but he tried to put reasoning behind it.
 
Planned Parenthood is responsible for over 60 million deaths in America. But they reason their way out of being labeled as evil by proclaiming to be doing something good and noble.
 
People don't tend to commit an evil act out of sheer evil. The very terrorists that killed the cyclists did not kill them out of simply being evil. Their reasoning behind it was to kill infidels, those who did not believe in Allah.
 
However, no matter how one tries to explain or reason an evil act, that doesn’t take away from the evil factor of the act.
 
Now, I’m not saying that there are no good people in this world. Obviously, there are good people in this world, otherwise this world would be far worse than it actually is. I believe myself to be a fairly good person. I believe Trump is a good person. I believe Reagan was a good person. I believe the Founding Fathers were good people.
 
With that said, that does not mean that we are not naturally evil anyway. Take away any one of their consciences, and you’ll see humanity’s evil nature.
 
Because a conscience is really what separates good and evil. A conscience given to us by God, who knew very well who would be good and who would be evil in this world, as He is the one who ordained it that way. God is not the author of evil - we are. He knows and allows us to be this way for His purpose. But it's our evil heart that's inclined to do evil by nature.
 
The Bible time and time again speaks about the evil nature of Man. Because here’s the thing: if we were naturally good, we would not require Jesus’s sacrifice at the cross. If Man were not born in sin, Christ would never have had to die for our sins. If we were naturally good, the world would be almost devoid of all evil, because at that point, one would have to TRY to be evil.
 
Matthew 15:19 says: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” Jeremiah 17:9 says: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Mark 7:21-23 says: “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
 
Evil comes from Man’s own heart. Evil comes from Man’s own natural instinct. If evil were a fake concept, and if Man was naturally good, that would render much, if not all, of the Bible utterly useless.
 
This is the way a Leftist thinks. That the Bible is garbage, erroneous and false and that Man is naturally good. All these things are false and incorrect.
 
Man is not naturally good. Again, if we were, the world would be a far better place. Man is naturally evil because we are apart from God’s own Spirit. The only being in existence who is naturally good is the Lord. In Him, there is no sin. In us, we are thoroughly born in sin.
 
It is for this reason that we need Him and it is for this reason that He sacrificed His only Son so that we may have salvation. We need Him precisely BECAUSE we are naturally evil.
 
Now, returning to the American couple, as well as the other cyclists killed by the terrorists, I offer my sincere condolences. But it should be a strong reminder that evil is a very real thing. A very dangerous thing. And that Man is an expert in evil things.
 
1 Corinthians 2:14
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”