A Dragon in the Daffodils

Philosophers want to understand the meaning of life-to prevent useless pursuits and to make sure our limited time on earth is well spent. They desire to strip back the layers of reality to reveal the essence and core of existence. Despite their best intentions and excavations, empirical evidence cannot provide an adequate foundation for thought. As a result, every philosopher, every theorist, relies on presuppositions. Flaky, unprovable theories that undergird some of the most powerful arguments raging in the forums of contemporary society.

A dominant humanist anthropological presupposition is that human beings are inherently virtuous. It is a contagious optimism about the nature of people that argues that the deviant or criminal behaviour that ruins our societies is as a result of circumstantial pressures on an innocent human disposition. This theory disregards the account of the disobedience and resultant corruption of the human nature of our progenitors in Eden.

According to humanism, people do wrong when they are subject to poverty, poor parenting, hunger, disease, lack of recognition or lack of opportunities to thrive. Social saviors set about remedying these ills and believe for the possibility of a perfect earth in which all these evils are gone.

This theory has had a huge impact on the philosophy of education. Rather than leading a child to redemption, educating them into a biblical worldview, all while catering for the sinful nature through discipline, the humanist view believes in the innate goodness within a child. Each child is seen as a seed in the garden of goodness, simply needing the right conditions to grow. The seed is pure, so every child is encouraged to express themselves with only socially acceptable behavior as a limiting guide.

Unfortunately this garden of human virtue has a terrible occupant. The daffodils are being trampled and chewed on by an untamed dragon called the "sinful nature". It is present in every child, even in the majority that manage social acceptability. On the other hand, the delinquents present a curious challenge to humanism While humanists struggle to categorize and remedy "bad seeds" their failure to acknowledge the dragon in the daffodils will guarantee the failure of any humanistic effort to create a new world.