Synthetic-conventional/fundamentalist: “I am sinful and evil.” Ouch.

Individuative-Reflective/rational: “I have learned to be mindful of my tendency to sin.”

Conjunctive: “I see how my actions impact others and I am learning to be of service to my community.”

Mystic: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed,…”

The doctrine of original sin completely destroyed me as a child, adolescent, and young adult.

It took me many years, and more than one instance of suicide preparations, before I realized how false — and evil — the doctrine of original sin really is. In fact, not just original sin, but even the concept of sin is evil. The very definition of the word “sin” is “to miss the mark.” To miss who's mark, I ask???? One defined by some guy who wears a funny white hat and sits on a throne in Rome while pretending to speak for God? I think not.

I missed some of the best years of my life because I was repeatedly told, both explicitly and implicitly, that I was fundamentally flawed from before birth, and that being loved by God was conditional; i.e., I had to do what the man wearing a funny collar said or else God didn't love me and I would burn forever in hell.

Those days are behind me now. The painful memories, however, are not.

Dan

P.S. I had the pleasure of working with you at AMP a couple of years ago. That workshop marked the beginning of me finally being able to get on with my life. You played a role in that, and I am truly grateful for your assistance.

Just because a child makes a mistake once or a hundred times does not mean that they are evil or “bad.” You are making the classic mistake most folks make by not separating personhood from behavior. The child's inner state has not changed at all. Inside, they are just as lovable and “perfect” as before. But their behavior is in question. Most folks link the two together thus having the child believe that bad behavior = being bad, which is simply untrue. This child later in life will walk around thinking they are bad, rather than knowing they are amazing and that they made some “bad” mistakes. Make sense?

Great comments. I appreciate your understanding of original sin. Very helpful as are Matt's comments below. However, even in Catholicism “how” original sin is taught is a big issue. Fear and guilt are the primary forces used to motivated people toward being “good.”

I love what you said about being capable of the worst. Yes, that is human nature. I have within me the power to kills, rape, and destroy. But I don't walk around fearing that or feeling guilty if I have a hurtful thought. I just notice it as a play of the mind. Once again, self-awareness is the greatest tool a man can have. Rather than a set of teachings handed down by a book or another person. If I can become more aware of who I am and open my heart, it becomes virtually impossible to cause deep harm on another person.

However, while I agree with you, even “love conquers all” is BS unless it is experienced. To me, this is where the great teaching about “absolute” versus “relative” comes in….ah, another post to come…

And yes, sex is another huge area where lie after lie exists, particularly coming from religious groups and systems.
Thanks again.