The Fall From Grace

Thanks to my friend, Chuck, for bringing this to my attention!

Since most Christians (i.e., all of them except for the Literal Fundamentalists) take the book of Genesis as a metaphorical and poetic account, I think it makes complete sense to also consider the so-called "fall from grace" or "original sin" as a metaphor. Just as God didn't really create the universe in 6 days, and just as Eve didn't really come from a rib, and just as a serpent didn't really make them eat an actual piece of fruit, there was probably no literal fall from grace (i.e., a falling out with god). And even if there were, I don't accept that I inherit a sin one of my ancestors committed - that's not how things work. You might inherit their hair color or nose shape, but not their sins (unless some new discovery in genetics shows how that gets passed between generations).

Given that, there is nothing to be saved from. Religion created a false problem (original sin), and then gives a solution to the problem (salvation through religion). According to the story, Adam and Eve disobeyed god by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Good for them - I'm glad I know good from evil. Clearly, most people feel the same way. We all like being able to make that distinction. There are a couple of terms we use to describe those who don't know good from evil - "insane sociopath" is one, "mentally handicapped" is another. Insanity and incompetence to stand trial are a common defenses in court: the defense lawyer tries to show that the defendant did not have the "ability to determine right from wrong". If god wanted us to remain ignorant, insane, or "mentally challenged", then I have no time for a god like that.

OK, I recognize that it isn't such an easy open and shut case as that. If you listen to what the Christians are really saying about being saved, it is mostly about saving you from a separation from god, and from sin, and when pressed, they kind of gloss over the original sin part. Obviously, when the Genesis reason fell through due to its glaring factual flaws and inherent implausibility, Christians had to fabricate some other reasons to remain relevant. So, we are being saved from sin. I don't quite see how that works. I know lots of Christians, and they are sinning right along with the rest of us - if by sinning you include envy, bragging, coveting, having sex, thinking about sex, looking at pictures of people having sex, lying, cheating, perversion, physical cruelty, psychological cruelty, laziness, anger, stealing, irresponsibility, passing the buck, fraud, neglect, greed, procrastination, abuse, disrespect, gossiping, slander, and all the other naughty behaviors. Being baptized doesn't suddenly stop people from being human and doing that stuff. So, if salvation is such a powerful thing, it is not very obvious by looking at Christians. They are about the same as any other demographic when it comes to the sin dimension.

And as for separation from god - who even knows what that means? On the surface, it seems to make sense. But I would first challenge Christians to come up with a single coherent definition of god that we can all agree to before I start trying to join up with him. If you wonder what I mean by a definition of god, then please go look at a few entries in my other blog, Conceptions of God