I’ve just heard it again… the idea that locked doors cause robbers.

Yes, the fact that some have acquired more than others and must greedily withhold their spoils from the rest is the reason why we have theft in our community. It is all the fault of those who have more. After all, if we allowed each other to take whatever each other needed (isn’t wanted more likely the word?) then there would be no such thing as robbery and crime. Along with the expression of this sentiment was given the example of the early Christians, written about in the New Testament where it is said they sold all their possessions and gave to the poor, and shared everything so that none among them went without. Instead, these days, people hoard their belongings and keep them locked away from others who are needy. Therefore we have crime - needy people stealing to get what should be given to them instead.

Sometimes I just don’t know where to start when it comes to responding to these ill-founded ideas. Often they are a rendition of so-called Christian values built on a skewed unChristian premise and combine naivety, Marxism, a false sense of entitlement, and resentment stirred together with a very large measure of self-interest.

One of the ideas about human nature that I am often encountering is that people, generally and on the whole, are basically good. There is lots of evidence for that idea. People are often willing and generous - just look at how so many responded to meet the needs of those suffering from the effects of recent natural disasters! And if I ask for directions in a strange city when I am lost, they are readily provided with best wishes for a safe journey as well. Neighbours will look out for neighbours, and keep a protective eye on each other’s houses. Some will even mow your lawns while you are away, or collect and dump the junk mail for you. We are surrounded by good people, ones without ill intent, ordinary decent types who are basically honest and caring.

If we are, generally and on the whole, such basically good folk then why doesn’t it work, this idea of not locking doors and… well… all the rest? Oh no, surely you are not going to say that most are good and decent, but just a few are not. You and I are fine, but the other guy… he’s not to be trusted?

I know it can be hard to swallow, but how about the idea that exactly none of us is basically (intrinsically) good? Even although we are helpful, willing and generous, can be honest and caring and kind, go out of our way and put others first, want to please and protect, aspire to high ideals and behave with courage and integrity… still not one of us is basically good. Do you believe that?

The first time I read William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” I was captivated. This literary classic is not only rich in symbols, but the allegorical content set me thinking along paths I had not travelled before. I am very sorry that youngsters attending schools in Toronto will not be allowed to savour this masterpiece since their School Board has banned it under the mantle of racism (it contains the word “niggers”) as that aside, it is a marvellous adventure into the nature of our beings. Just as natural human goodness, order and leadership, are represented by a couple of main characters, so too are the more base of our instincts - essentially self gratification at the expense of the wellbeing of others - acted out by the savage boys from whom the veneer of “successful socialization” has very quickly worn away. The notion that we are all like that underneath our better selves is certainly consistent with the Biblical message that none of us is righteous and “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. Of course, if we compare ourselves with other people we can always be pleased with our own goodness, but what about those hidden character flaws that have us less than perfect… selfishness, small dishonesties, little white lies, a touch of greediness, laziness, can’t be bothered-ness, envy, covetness, bad temper, hatefulness, meanness, pride and self importance, plus a myriad other horrid little things? Maybe we are not quite so basically good after all.

Yesterday I was home on my own when the handle of my locked front door was tried. Whoever was turning it back and forth repeatedly had to be trying to get in. What if my door had been unlocked? I might not have lost just some of my material possessions, but a lot more besides. And what I would have been left with in exchange is unlikely to have been the kind of “sharing” in which the early Christians engaged among themselves. On the other hand, my locked door prevented a crime, not caused it. Until such time that all of us are truly regenerate beings, have had our basic natures thoroughly cleaned up, there is still a strong case in favour of locked doors staying locked and the key being used with discretion.