“He sees you when you’re sleeping, he sees you when you’re awake, he knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!” Besides being a little creepy, this lyric to a kids’ Christmas tune is

supposed to remind little boys and girls to be good. But what is it about being good? Why is it so important? Why is it so hard? Why should we worry about it at all? And who decides what is good anyway?