The Good in Everyone

Is it wrong to see the potential for good in everyone? I will admit that many people do unspeakably evil things, and I admit that many people who do bad things will choose not to repent; however, that being said, I still think it's a choice that they can make, and it's certainly a choice that should be encouraged. I don't believe that anyone should be demonised or dehumanised. People aren't monsters, even if they've done monstrous things. They're still human, and there's still a potential for good in them.

Besides, those who do bad things usually have understandable reasons for that. Some people are desperate. Some people don't know what they're doing. Some people have different beliefs or value systems. Some people haven't learned how to deal with strong emotions. Some people have mental health challenges. Regardless of their specific circumstances, what many of these people need is help, not punishment.

Granted, those who do evil cannot be allowed to continue. I accept that. There should be detention centers and correction facilities for people who do bad things. But the ultimate goals of those facilities shouldn't be just to punish bad people. Punishment for the sake of punishment seems pointlessly cruel to me. Naturally, ones actions should carry consequences, but those consequences should steer one toward a better course of action, not just punish them for taking the wrong course.

My problem is that this seems to be an unpopular position to take. Acknowledging the humanity of those who do bad things can get one called a "sympathizer," as if having sympathy is some kind of flaw. I acknowledge that sympathy, along with all other virtues, can become a vice if taken too far, but I don't think that acknowledging the humanity of an evil-doer is an example of too much sympathy, especially when one also acknowledges that they must not be allowed to continue doing evil. We can correct people while still acknowledging their humanity, and we can acknowledge both people's humanity and their need for correction. People can be wrong and do wrong without becoming inhuman.

I believe that all human beings have some good in them, even if that good is just the potential to change for the better and become good. I believe that all human beings chose the side of good before they were born and that they can choose good again. No human being is irredeemable. No human being is or can become inhuman. There is a potential for good inside everyone. And if believing that makes me a "sympathizer," so be it. Sympathy is a virtue.