Dear Amartano,How are you today, my friend? My friend. That’s a funny phrase. For as long as we’ve written I’ve wondered if we would get to the point where you would trust me enough to tell me your name. I must admit it was awkward calling you my friend until this moment.It’s good that we can finally address each other by name, because I was getting tired of calling you “X”.Amartano? What is the origin of that name? When I first read it, I thought your name might have been Italian, or even maybe Spanish. Oh well, I guess it really doesn’t matter at this moment. I’m just happy that you are starting to trust me through our correspondence.Anyway, I see now that you are right. When I look at what I wrote you last week it’s obvious to me now that I did not do a good job explaining the idea of a “depraved nature.” I’m sorry, I should not have assumed that you would automatically understand what I was talking about. If you remember, I said that our suffering was not caused by God’s lack of goodness or lack of power, but that it has been caused by our (when I say “our” I am referring to humanity as a whole) “depraved nature.”As I said last time a “depraved nature” is innate to all humans. The word depraved means, “corrupt, degenerate, deviant, or perverse.” Sounds kind of bleak, huh?Though this blanket statement about humanity seems harsh and judgmental, I don’t know if we can really deny it.Let me go back to the example of the child in a toy store. When a child desires something and that desire is denied, at that moment he/she becomes gets angry, even indignant. So, in naturally acting upon that feeling, they throw a tantrum in the middle of store for all to see. They kick, scream, cry and stomp around as if their world were falling down around them. All this because they did not get what they wanted.I am not mocking children in any way. Shoot, I can’t even tell you how many times I tried the “tantrum thing” in stores. I think I might have been the biggest brat when I was a kid. As I look back on those days now it makes me appreciate my parents all the more.Amartano, you know exactly what I am talking about. I am convinced that everyone tried or did something like that when they were growing up. So don’t try and say you weren’t like that.So the question I need to ask is, where did we as kids learn that response? I don’t think we “learn” it, I think it was part of us. Notice something with me about that natural response, my friend. Notice our response as an adult when we see that kind of display by children.We naturally just want to say, “somebody’s being a brat, and that parent needs to take control.” Why do we respond like that now 20 years later? Let me tell you why.In that instant all the innocence that we love about children seems to vanish. In that instant we see the part of our humanity we all hate so very much. In that instant we recognize how self- centered our nature can really be. It’s ironic to me how I recoil when I watch a child, who is supposed to represent all that is good and pure in the world, act in such a self-serving, almost depraved way. My friend, in that instant we realize nothing is this world can really be called pure.How do kids learn doing stuff like that is wrong? It’s simple, they have to be taught that selfishness is not a good thing.So when I look at the suffering of this world, I realize it comes from the fact that we are a depraved and self-seeking people. To blame God for our suffering would be wrong. It would be like blaming a doctor for the pain of a gunshot wound, while he is in the midst of treating it.I hope I cleared up some things from last week. You know if you have any questions, just ask.Oh yeah, my roommate is taking Greek, and he just informed that your name is the Greek word for “to miss the mark, to fail one’s purpose, or to be deprived of.” Thought you would like to know, if you didn’t already. Talk to you later.Your Friend.
Jason George is a senior majoring in journalism.