i speak with no knowledge of christianity...but i believe...a person is not born evil....ppl and circumstances make him evil....although exceptions do occur

yeh...ive seen ppl badmouth hitler...but if u see..hitler wasnt a born bad man...his peers and circumstances made him a dictator.

If we define evil as being opposed to love of people and God, and good as one who expresses love of other people and God, then I do believe that some children are born with evil tendencies.

From my perspective, the soul vibrates at a certain frequency which corresponds to the level of love that soul has attained.  There is a gradual progression of most souls toward love and God, however, some people in "hells" and lower focus levels (in Monroe/Moen speak) are caught up in ego-based nonloving behaviour. 

It seems to me that earth is a unique system in which people of all spiritual levels may incarnate.  As such, it is logical to me that some souls which would be in a lower astral plane or spiritual level may incarnate and be born into a child.

There are many variables once the child is born, but since I believe in the pre-existence of the soul, then I suppose I believe some spiritual beings who are unloving can be born into babies. 

It sounds bizarre, but I guess I do believe in evil babies or bad seeds.   I also believe in their ability to change, and become more loving - a wonderful thing when you see it happen on earth. 

M

Guess in my (eastern influenced) current view the cycle of death and rebirth doesn't somehow magically change the person's ego/basic tendencies/karma - that's down to life experience/circumstances, self work and intention.

If an individual is very strongly controlled by egotistically driven behaviours in this life, then it's also going to be the case through the afterlife, and into the next life.

The big variable is probably life circumstances - given the that karma (some teach) manifests unpredictably the individual may be born into a situation that more or less causes underlying egotistical tendencies to manifest.

Over a longer picture/multiple cycles the negative karma resulting from this will presumably result in a tendency towards rebirth in less advantageous circumstances - and the deeper one gets enmeshed in karma the harder it seems to get to summon the will to work towards release.

This view essentially holds that there is no objectively existing independent evil - only degrees of entrapment by ego. Which in turn obscures our ability to see from the higher view (we instead perceive them from a low level that casts them as evil and hence fearful individuals undeserving of love) the oneness and lovable/love deserving nature of all - and hence makes it more or less difficult to choose love as the basis of our life.

The other perspective that's important in my book is that karma and tendencies to ego/evil are not the result of some external cosmic system of reward or punishment. They are rather the result of our own beliefs, the creation of our mind.

This is in fact the way mirage of ego sustains itself - we draw on our perhaps heavily suppressed knowledge of what is good to set a standard by which we judge ourselves. The resulting guilt combined with an imagined vengeful God (seen as another self to be feared, rather than an all loving power of which we are a part, one that will not punish and  which anyway sees what we perceive as evil as non-existent) causes us to instinctively retreat from love, and hence further into ego driven beliefs and behaviours that result in 'evil'. This becomes a negative spiral driving us away from God/love/our higher nature.

This is why ACIM for example teaches that forgiveness is the solution (Buddhism teaches the development of compassion, wisdom and equanimity by similar means, most especially compassion towards self) - realisation that this whole belief system is just that, and not real; and therefore capable of being dropped instantly.

The problem is of course to find our way to doing this - ego beliefs make our guilt and fear and all the other perceptions that strengthen ego and thus make self forgiveness very difficult.

It's taught that it's not possible except with the help of higher mind/the Holy Spirit and right intention....

When I first saw the topic I thought maybe you were going to talk about hot tattoed Babes with, uh, cartoon figures out on the prowl...

Born evil and born in sin might not be equivalent....

one of Sylvia Brown's books discusses people who reincarnate without an interim period of reflection. Some of the descriptions of these people sound to me like they fall toward the evil category. They keep repeating because they refuse to reflect in between lives.

One book I read years ago and was written decades ago, so had a slightly different perspective, included a statement from a woman who claimed she could tell the character of a baby right after it was born Something was  stamped on the face. This something seemed to fade away after a day or two or something like that. I think in order to see that sort of thing, she must have been like a midwife in what we would call a small town in a time when babies were born at home. Still, I thought it was an interesting statement.

Sin is often defined as separation from God. How is evil defined? Some people do seem to have the intent to have power over others  and to do harm.

I had something happen to me that made me feel like the people involved were evil. Of course, I was very enraged and not everyone would agree with tme that this was evil. But I found that I wanted to say they were evil  because what happened to me brought me to a place of great darkness and despair. My definition of evil at that point was not based in words but in the experience itself. I still have trouble finding the words to describe "evil."

But maybe I kid myself when I think I understand what is meant by "separation from God." If evil has such a particular feel, then what does 'not separated from God' feel like?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_disabilities

If you read through the complete article it will explain why a human (and animals) are born evil.  Read the whole thing--- cat

The link is informative, cat.

In my mind, mental disability is one thing...and 'evil' is another. I don't use the word 'evil' because, from my perspective, its use could be interpreted to demean others, so, to me, it is an overly open term. I hear it as a verbally abusive term, when applied to a living being, and there are many other terms which I consider verbally abusive.

Now, I do not accuse anyone here of verbally abusing anyone else. I simply continue to point at the word 'evil' to express my discomfort. I must be careful to distinguish between actions or events which I consider harmful -- and human beings. The actions may be in error, -- in which case, the causes of pain and suffering can be identified, and better understood, but even the use of words such as 'insane' can be misapplied, from my perspective.

I do not make these remarks with the intention of denying or minimising the effects of the kinds of differences that exist in this world, the tragedies, the difficulties, but simply as a caution. If I use a term such as 'evil' it is likely that my mind will attach negative emotions to that term. That, in itself, attaches a burden to my interpretation of a given situation.

Do I need that emotional burden attached to a given situation? I choose what I carry with me, so I say no to that burden.

However, there may be a person who has a real need to use such a term from time to time, simply to vent, to express an enormous frustration with events beyond his/her control. From time to time I believe people can have a need to express frustration, to give themselves permission to use emotionally laden words. I won't judge that, and it's not my place to do so. In such a case, I might choose to leave that particular room briefly, if it is in my presence.