I do not believe that a the very root of humanity, we are all good with pure souls.  I also don't believe that we are all evil.  There is a fine line between being a good person and doing good things.  To me, being a good person involves trying to live your life well, and being the best you, that you can be.  Obviously, if what you like to do is kill people, then doing the best you can, in that scenario, would not make much of a difference, you still would most definitely not be a good person.

I find that most people do good things to get rewarded, which would mean that we do "good" for our own personal gain.  Is there really anyone out there that on some level does not want to get rewarded for their actions?  If that is the case, can there be a pure motive for being a good person?  Should there be?  Does the reason matter if the good deed gets done anyway, or is the good within the deed nullified because of the motivation behind it?  I know these are not unique questions, nor will I come up with unique answers.  I find myself pondering on it though as I think of what's going on in my own life and the excuse, "I was just following orders."

If someone you care about tells you to do something that you know is wrong, and possibly hurtful, do you do it anyway out of loyalty, or do you stand your ground and make your own decision based on what you feel to be right?  Which of these actions would make you a "good person?"  Should that even be a consideration?  Sine this is my blog, I suppose I should offer an answer to these questions, although honestly, there is no one right answer for me or for anybody else.  Nothing is cut and dry like that, and if you think it is, you're probably not especially intelligent.

My personal belief is that you should not do something purely out of loyalty.  You should consider the situation and make an informed decision based on all available facts.  Listen to both sides of the argument, and figure out what you believe to be right.  That's what I meant earlier by trying to be the best you, that you can be.  The decision that you make, might not be the same decision that your friend would make, or your mother would make, or your brother would make.  Does it matter?  To the universe, our individual decisions are probably not worth very much.  However, to our universe, our existence, each decision we make forms our personality and forms new realities with which we have to live.  There is a consequence to every action, and we have to be prepared for that.  Whatever the choices are, and whatever we decide, we must stay true to ourselves.  As long as we do that, the question of being a good person should not even come up.