I think this has more to do with the way people develop societally (particularly in America), that any inherent or "natural" inclination toward evil. I only say that because kids are brought up with a lot of indiviual focus and attention given to them on many different levels, generally. They have a very limited and filtered life experience early on, and young children tend to be more reflexive and reactive in building societal relationships when civility and sharing are incorporated. Kind of the way it is. Kids learn about "me" first, and spend the rest of their lives learning about "we"... You are right though...some of us never figure it out
Empathy. Recognize that the person you hate had a life before you came into his/her life. Chances are their past decisions and actions in their earlier life had a significant impact on the person they are today. Someone you just so happen to hate. Would you have hated this person if you saw them when they were just a newborn infant? Or a toddler in diapers? Instead you probably see this person you hate as a full grown adult probably taking action that you don't find appropriate. However, it's not your place to judge that person or try to guide them to the "light." Let them be if they're not harming anyone and live your life. Unless they're affecting you personally, it's none of your damn business.
Maybe not stupid but certainly less intelligent than we are today. 2000 years ago, people thought the earth was flat and that we were the center of the universe. A lot has changed in over 2,000 years. It's reasonable to think that maybe books written at the time don't hold the same relevance to our current state of affairs. I mean jeez, if you read an astronomy book in the 90s, you'll still find outdated theories about our universe we know aren't true like the Steady State Theory which was the previous big theory about how our universe was created until astronomers compiled enough data to understand that the the universe is in fact accelerating. So they modified their theory around the correct data and came up with the Big Bang Theory which so far is working out quite nicely. So yes I think a really old book that is extremely outdated doesn't necessarily hold the same relevance to today's society like it did roughly 2000 years ago.
Kids can be meaner to people and each other but that isn't the same thing as hate. That has more to do with lack of emotional development and impulse control. Kid's generally don't start out hating each other because of who they are but react to actions such as one kid taking another's toy. Hate, especially for racial, sectarian or ideological reasons is something that is learned.
I think you are mixing up ignorance with intelligence. People 2000 years ago had far less information about the world than we do but that didn't mean that there weren't smart people. In regard to the human condition there is still a lot of relevance from ancient teachings. So while I wouldn't count on the Bible or the Vedics for science lessons they still offer good lessons regarding how we should treat others.
No, I'm not confusing myself. People were less intelligent back then. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect People are smarter now AND less ignorant. If you were never exposed to the Bible or Christianity or any religion, do you think you would all of a sudden not know that it's wrong to murder, steal or commit adultery? This is common sense. What lessons made a huge impact on you that you couldn't have figured out on your own with your real life experiences? I would love to hear a situation where you were personally confused over something, so you opened up the good book and found the right passage to correct the error of your ways. I was baptized 3 days after my birth. I've had four of the seven sacraments. I went to Catholic school all my life until college. I was never a happy Catholic. When I stopped being religious, I started being happy. That's just me though. The Bible didn't really teach me anything that I couldn't have figured out on my own already. Again, its great if it works for some people. I'm not anti-religious. It just didn't work out for me and I'm happier for it.
IQ tests are notorious for various bias and especially test from the 1930's. Intelligence isn't always quantifiable and since there is no one actually alive from 2,000 years ago there is no way to verify those. That said given we have a good record from then and I would contend that people like Kong Zi (Confucious), Archimedes, Aristotle and etc.. while lacking the knowledge we have here were probably as intelligent or more than most people alive today. There are more things about the human condition than just those. Actually that has happened to me a few times. There was a time when I was very depressed, I wont' go into details, but reading the teachings of The Buddha did help me to understand the nature of suffering and human existence. That helped to place what I was going to into better context and change my thinking. I am not surprised that you are an ex-Catholic and it seems like most of these debates tend to involve people's whose experience has been through Christianity or through especially dogmatic religious backgrounds. I went to Catholic school too and if that was the limit of my exposure to religion I might feel the same way too.
Hating people is b**** ****. Get over it. Unless a man killed your family or something like that, then you need to seriously try to forgive and clear your mind.
