Human Nature vs Human Behavior

Your concern is essentially the concentration of the study of morality in general.

Naturally, I'd recommend Nietzsche's On the Geneology of Morals as an interesting place to start.

I think it's a mistake to think that "human nature is evil". That statement is psychologically devastating. It's almost implying that we are inevitably evil. The thing is though, that we are not. Are you disgusted by cruelties? I think you are, and I think most people in this world do hate cruelties; heck, even criminals often hate themselves for what they did.
Our nature is among the most sympathetic of all creatures, and I think that as people develop, we develop an objective view of morality (at least most of us do).

I agree with you on this Ray.

To me, the assumption that we are evil says more about the assumer, than it does about the assumee.

Ray
You caught me in an error.......I did not mean exactly what I said and I apologize for the mistake. What I meant to say was this: I believe there to be a tendency toward both good and evil in each of us with the evil being kept in check by the code of conduct within each society. When any particular individual finds power in his grasp, the observer will be able to determine what percentage of evil that individual possesses. The power will release it. An example of a rare exception in the opposite direction would that of the benevolent dictator who rules with firmness but also with compassion and fairness. On the other hand there are hundreds of examples of those who executed their enemies with ruthless abandon and laughed as threw away a life on a whim. The ugly aspects of human nature are responsible for all wars IMO. There is an old saying: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. If human nature could be changed by society we would eventually do away with war and this saying would not be valid.

These are my beliefs and I'm asking someone to change my mind because I don't want it to be true.