Trusting people–a choice
Chris Corrigan was writing about two contrary ways of looking at people: some people say you cannot trust people, and some say you can: people are either essentially bad or essentially good. If you say they are bad and cannot be trusted (Original Sin) then you have the need of control and laws and punishing gods.
But then you cannot trust your own judgment on this matter, and so you cannot be sure if you can or cannot trust people. But if you say you can trust people, then you can trust your own judgment in this regard and life works.
Still it seems to me that the answer is both/and: you can trust most of the people, but there are some you cannot. The question then is what your rule of living is: to not trust anybody until proven otherwise; or to trust everybody until proven otherwise. It seems to me the latter is a more life-giving way to live. It is a choice we have, so I think it is a stance I want to adopt consciously.
:- Doug.
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