Original Sin is Not So Original

Did you know that there are more than 5 million Mormons in the US and more than 5 million believers in Voodoo in Haiti? And the voodoo believers do not wear magic underwear.
Just a thought.
Today, following up on last week's epiphany, I would like to discuss the curious concept of original sin. Original sin has been controversial over the ages; are we all sinners because of the transgressions of Eve and Adam, or are we merely tainted by their caving in to temptation? Either way, it's not a good thing for us. And isn't it odd that we even worry about stuff like this? I mean, what about the rent and medical bills, not to mention what to make for dinner tonight?
But (getting to my point) what if there was a misinterpretation? Maybe it's not too late to go back and look at the evidence and come to a different conclusion.
First, the relevant quotes from the Bible itself.
(Of course I use the King James version... duh?)

Genesis 2
16: And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Lots of "thous" and "mayests", but you get the point, right?
If you eat the fruit, you will know good and evil and surely die.
The rest of the story is familiar, isn't it?
The serpent slithers down out of the tree and tempts naive Eve into eating the fruit. She in turn persuades Adam to take a bite, and the rest is serious history. God gets really ticked off and kicks them out of the Garden of Eden and also does not go kindly on the serpent either.
But let's look at the details.
What was the fruit they were forbidden to eat?
'Tweren't an apple.
It says right there in the Bible that it was the fruit from "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil".
What simple conclusion can we draw from this statement in the Bible?
Clearly Adam and Eve did not know right from wrong, good from evil UNTIL they ate the fruit.
Which means that God (in "his" wisdom) might have been a little hasty in penalizing the couple for their indiscretion.
Let's consider a modern parallel.
You get a puppy from the dog pound.
Isn't he cute?
You raise him up in your house, but don't really pay much attention to actual training.
This happens.
You tell the puppy, "You can do whatever you want, but don't pee on the sofa, OK? If you do, I will be very angry, OK?"
Then one day (dark clouds scud low across the sky in the heavy wind, and lightning strikes in the distance), you come home and... DAMN... the puppy has peed on the sofa.
So... what do you do?
You shoot him, of course.
This is a dramatic parallel but true to form.
Adam and Eve clearly (the Bible SAYS so) didn't know right from wrong until they ate the fruit. In other words, they didn't know it was wrong to "disobey" God until they had committed the act.
God punished them anyway, rather severely.
The moral to the story is that you might be a sinner, but none of it is original; it is all your own.
So go and be a sinner but don't blame Adam and Eve.
. . . . . . . . . .

If you want to read the rest of Adam and Eve's adventure (annotated by yours truly), see below.

Genesis 3
4: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
(Only the gods (notice the plural there?!) know the difference between good and evil.)
6: And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes,...
(All she knew was it looked good and might be good to eat, totally innocent)
...and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
. . . . . .
11: And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12: And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
(Wimp!)
13: And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
(She was honest anyway.)
14: And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
(Dust? Yuck!)
15: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
(Yeah serpent... take THAT! But "his" in reference to the woman? Gender identity crisis in Genesis!)
16: Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
(Nice guy, eh? I didn't train you well, but it's your fault anyway! And for good measure, Mr. Wimp will rule over you.)
17: And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18: Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
(And while you're at it, you will have to watch a lot of football on TV and eat at McDonald's too. Doesn't this passage make you want to say, "Lighten up, God!")
. . . . . .
24: So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
(In short, "Bad boy!")