the power of free will

Humans have always done and will always do bad things. We all know this. We’ve all seen this in our everyday lives in different degrees. My answer for why this happens lies in my faith and my education in the church. I’ve always been taught that God gives us free will. The right to choose between right and wrong. I believe that people do bad things because of their want for happiness and therefore give into temptations. Everyone longs to be content and happy. It’s what people work towards their whole lives. They make decisions based around what they think will make them happy. Money, power, possession, etc. People are blinded and make decisions without really considering all aspects of what their choice entails. They don’t look outside of themselves and their own benefit or they just simply don’t care. Now I’m going to be completely honest and just say that I have no idea what the solution for this could be. No matter how much we tell people or put laws in place to stop crime, they still have the will to do what they feel is necessary for their personal gain. There is no way to “control” human nature. We do have a functioning civilization. Now, the question of how well it is functioning is up for debate. A utopia is not attainable in my opinion. Not one where everyone is truly happy. You can’t take away people’s free will. The only way to work towards a better world is through teaching what true happiness is and the right ways to work towards it. To constantly show love and compassion to others, no matter how annoyed or indignant you get. Part of life is going through hard experiences and learning from them. You have to be able to see the beauty in others, not just their faults. In the end, the only thing you can do is use your own free will make the right choices and shine light on the dark parts of human nature.