Original Virtue is the assumption that people are intrinsically good. It is in opposition to Christianity's original sin - that everyone is so evil that they deserve to be tortured forever in Hell. It amazes me that people actually believe that. It is also in contrast to Objectivism that takes the position that people are intrinsically selfish and that selfishness is good and selflessness is evil.
Realists consider ourselves intrinsically good. Christians consider themselves intrinsically evil. Could we both be right?
The Church of Reality recognizes that humanity evolved higher social functions in order to survive and thrive. Our evolution towards being "good people" allows us to function as a healthy society. We don't lay bullshit mind trips on people to make them artificially feel unworthy and guilty in order to manipulate them. We are good people who respect each other and are helpful good citizens who do as well as we can with what we have to work with. We are not selfish greedy people and we don't need fear of fake deities to scare us into good behavior.
Some people look back and think that humans are inherently evil, pointing out any number of atrocities in history as well as current events. And there is plenty of bad stuff to find. But if you look at all the good stuff and really think about it there are probably at least 100 good acts for every bad one. Much of that is culture driven and if we work to improve the culture then we will raise our children to be even better than we are. We should also look at original virtue as a goal for the future so that as we evolve forward, future generations will be better than today's.
Teaching children shame is fundamentally wrong.
Many religions teach children to be filled with shame and guilt. They are taught that people are evil and that people are bad. This is poisoning the minds of children and is just plain wrong. We urge all people to rethink these sort of myths for themselves and to reconsider if you want to poison your children the way a church poisoned you.
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