posted on Jan, 17 2008 @ 04:19 AM
Well, I dont know if this belongs on this forum or not, but while it is here I find the subject interesting enough to add my two cents. Bear in mind
that I study religion and philosophy, but am not specifically tied to any one religion or philosophy. I like them all, and I think they all contain a
core message from the Divine to us that varies in specifics but not in essence. I am neither hostile to, nor "pro" Christian.
"Original Sin" is a "Sin" because it marks the beginning of duality in human thinking, but apparently is not reflective of Divine creation. So it
is a "sin" because it is inconsistent with Divine truth. So, duality was created as a condition of the human mind, and we began to judge. ie:
Splitting "What Is" into "What is Good/What is Evil." (Notice when God is creating he calls EVERYTHING "good." There is no contrast or
opposite.) If you consider this for a bit, you will see an answer to that age old question, "If God is loving and Good, how can he allow Evil?"
Well, the answer would be, he doesnt. Everything is Good to God. We created Suffering, Death, Evil, etc. with this change in human perception. They
are perceptual states, and not reflective of Divine reality.
So, in essence, the desire to KNOW created evil simply because the act of "knowing" requires contrast, if I know what is "Good" then something
must be "Not good." Creating Evil, clearly, is a Sin. And unfortunately, whatever the eating of that fruit represents, either some actual physical
event or some allegorical one, it is a heritable condition as all that followed are also "cursed" with minds that perceive dualistically.
(This/That) Of course this includes Life/Death which is why God warned them not to "eat" that fruit to begin with.
It is also, I believe, why Jesus was so adamant about refraining from judgment in the New Testament. He believed we could be redeemed. Prior to
Jesus, there is no path to redemption, no specific instruction. (In the Christian tradition that is, the Rig Veda dates to approx 2000 BC or
earlier)
All the major religions that I have studied have some tale about humanity's fall into dualistic thinking, and most also contain some hints about
getting back out of it. Maybe someday we will.