Original Sin ... or ... Too Smart For Your Own Good
Posted: Tuesday, December 27, 2011
by Octavia Hansen
Octavia Hansen
Right after an iffy explanation of the universe, there's a story offering just as flimsy, yet still trying to justify, about the creation of mankind.
The story goes that the couple in the garden were told they could do anything but partake of the Tree of Knowledge. A snake gave them the hard sell, Eve bit, Adam bit and the trouble never stopped. Considering the Big Guy is supposed to be all-knowing and all-seeing, he had to ask what had happened. Strange, there are a few other incidents in the Good Book where he had to ask others, too. How all-knowing and all-seeing is this guy? Anyway, the deed was done, forgiveness was somehow impossible, considering it was their first and evidently only transgression (and committed before they knew right from wrong), they were punished, and everyone else who came after have been paying the price.
But going back to the command . . . do anything you want except one thing . . . Great, tell someone what they aren't supposed to do and that becomes their focal point. Tell little kids not to put M & Ms in their nose(they didn't even think about it until they were told) and then watch the multi-colored beans make their way in and eventually out (sometimes with professional help) of an incorrect orifice. Considering the two in the garden were new to the world and everything in it, they were set up for failure. They might as well been in a dark room with a loaded gun. Same thing. Same ending.
Oh, yea, and then there's this snake. What was that for? Again, the all-knowing all-seeing superior being either wasn't aware of this persuasive creature (which seems stupid considering the omnipotence) or he was very much aware and this science experiment had no other possible outcome than failure. Either explanation pokes holes in any kind of logic and success was out of the question.
Considering that Adam was the older of the two, though it was never determined how long he was alone before Eve appeared, surely he had a previous encounter with said serpent, if not a few conversations with the supreme being, and had some inkling of what was okay and what wasn't.
Perhaps it was actually Adam who was duped -- that he actually had the first bite, got some knowledge, knew it was wrong, then pretended he didn't know or at least said nothing. Even if he didn't convince Eve to take a bite, he did not stop her from sampling this forbidden fruit. This let him off the hook and forever was men's justification to abuse women. This is a plausible theory, if there is any logic to be had from this storied downfall.
This wouldn't be the first time that a woman paid the price for a man's pleasure, or at least his curiosity. There are numerous times throughout history that the woman would take the rap for her husband or boyfriend, thinking she was doing something good (if she knew the truth at all), trying to gain his love and/or respect. And we see how well that turns out.
So whoever bit first or second, they gain knowledge. It's not specific, mostly referred to them obtaining a sense of their own body. I like to think that's the last time a guy could look for free. This where the gal's education comes in -- Don't Give It Away!
Education should be so easy to gain as injesting a piece of fruit. Evidently this is where the trouble began . . . not with the snake and not with these two but the gaining of some thoughts. The snake was already smart -- could communicate, could persuade, hung around in a garden and took advantage of this new life and land. Sounds like the snake should have already been cast out. He was so smart, why was he still hanging around? A case of misery loves company? Was he already cursed since he was a snake? And why did these two innocents listen to a snake?
The message here is that when you get smart, you get thrown out. We've seen it in school and real life -- the brainiacs are a small group, sometimes only a lone wolf. There's something about being smart that makes everyone else feel bad, and since it takes work to improve a mind, it's easier to tear down the single smart person.
Hmmm, big guy feeling the pinch of logic? It was stated in the commandments he was insecure -- something about 'no gods before me.' Personally, I've always been one to shop around before I could make a gigantic decision, especially concerning my personal religious creed and possible afterlife. Shouldn't you sample everything in life, that only then you can make an intelligent decision? Free will isn't free if the only choices are light or damnation. In a court of law a decision made under duress is invalid. This is the same thing.
Gaining intellect and wisdom means there is no need for faith and belief. This shakes the foundation for any god. It means you won't be a follower any more, that you will ask questions. Any doubt will spread like wildfire and everyone else will be difficult to lead.
Religion is like smoke, it's there but it's only an image. Logic is an enemy to belief. Intellect is sharper than a serpent's tongue.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)I appreciate this, Octavia. I recently read some of the writings of one of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Paine. In an exchange with his cousin, who was a pastor, Paine told his cousin that he didn't believe in the doctrine of 'original sin'. His cousin replied, "but if there's no original sin, then there's no need for Christianity!"
Paine replied, "exactly."
Whether one is a religious person or not, it's only logical to acknowledge the important role original sin plays in Christianity.
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