Most people both secular and religious have a misunderstanding
about the whole thing. The problem is not really sin the long list of
thou shalt nots, the problem is mans sinful nature, all of the
thou shalt nots are just a by product of that, the end result.
It's been the same sense the garden. If you read the story the devil
didn't tempt them with the old silly idea of come and follow me and I
will fulfill all of your desires, no they already had everything they could
want. The temptation was--Hey, look here, you can be your own boss,
the master of your own destiny, God is just holding out on you and
that's not right-- and they went for it.
Man has been doing the same thing ever sense, trying to be his own
master and failing miserable, just a little study of history is all it takes
to prove that.
Or just look at this board, everyone has their own opinion about
everything with most of the time the justification or credibility
for their opinion being--It's my opinion, that's what really counts--
Man has been trying to be his own master ever sense the fall.
( Hows that working out for you? )
Now I've gone and done it.
Originally Posted by bojulay
Assuming the Biblical story is literal truth and not a parable, Man's first sin was really a mirror image of Lucifer's first sin. Lucifer was originally an angel in Heaven. He was cast out of Heaven, just as Man was cast out out the Garden of Eden, because he refused to subordinate himself to God. For Man and Lucifer, pride was the first sin. God requires that his nature be acknowledged. He is infinite, we are not.
The Bible says that for a man to enter the kingdom of Heaven he must first become as a little child; this simply means we must acknowledge, that relative to God, we are essentially children.
I really think the core difference between the liberal world view and the conservative world view is the difference in their opinion of Man's nature.
Liberals view Man's nature as tabula rosa, or blank slate; they think humans can be programmed to be good little robots that are solely motivated by the common good.
Conservatives understand that Man is not a blank slate; we are selfish by nature. Concern for the common good is not easily programmed into us. Our natural instinct is to act based on self interest.
A political system that is based on a flawed view of Man's nature is a system that is doomed to fail.