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Originally Posted by Toaster126
Everything a human being does, assuming they are sane, is selfish if you break it down far enough.
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I disagree, but even if this is true, I'm not sure how it applies to a conception of oneself as a good or bad, which is something that is at a much higher level. If you break it down far enough, the English language is composed of between 32 and 44 sounds made of 26 letters. This doesn't tell us if a poem is good or bad, which requires qualitative judgments.
As for carrying guilt, I don't see that as a bad thing. Guilt is how my emotions tell me I've done wrong, how I know that an action is something that hurt someone and shouldn't be repeated. Keeping track of past wrongs likewise seems like a way of ensuring that in the future I don't hurt others. Without this, I could easily do things without regard for others, because once they were done, I could just decide I was a good person and from now on would do good. It's ok that I stiffed that waitress, because that's five minutes in the past and I've decided that I'm now a good person and will move on from here. It's ok that I humiliated a student in class yesterday because I'm a good person and don't plan to do so in the future. It's ok that I said something cruel and hurtful to my sister because that was ten seconds ago and I don't plan to do that again. I'm going to be a good person from now on, and not beat myself up with guilt over things that are in the past.
On the other hand, if I start with a realistic picture of the effect I've had on others, if I recognize that on balance that I've done far more to harm myself and others than I have to make things better, it provides a motivator to do good in the future. If I were to start thinking of myself as a good person, it would be far too easy for me to excuse past wrongs, and by extension, future ones, and excusing those future wrongs would make it easier to commit them. If I fail to acknowledge and attempt to atone for my past wrongs, there is no reason to think I wouldn't repeat them.
Note, I'm not applying this reasoning to anybody but myself. Also, because I failed to note this in my OP, today being the start of Rosh Hashana was what got me to thinking about atonement. I'm obviously not Jewish or celebrating, given that I'm posting right now, but my maternal Grandfather was, and I like to honor him by using this time each year to look at my past and try to find some way to make up for all the wrong I've done.
Sometimes I see myself fine, sometimes I need a witness
And I like the whole truth
But there are nights I only need forgiveness
Sometimes they say I don't know who you are
But let me walk with you some
And I say I am alone, that's all
You can't save me from all the wrong I've done.
But they're waiting just the same
With their flashlights and their semaphores
And I'll act like I have faith and like that faith never ends
But I really just have friends
~Dar Williams
Gilda