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Original Sin

Original sin is the doctrine that man is born evil. The term comes from Christianity's belief that Adam, the first human created by their god, ate an apple from the tree of knowledge, and forever after, all humans have been born guilty of the crime that Adam committed. Original sin refers not just to this particular belief, but to all beliefs that man is born evil.

This belief is based on the fallacious view that value is intrinsic. It doesn't claim that man is capable of performing evil, or even that man can be evil. It insists that man is evil independent of his thoughts, actions, or person. The claim is made without reason. It insists that evil can exist as a characteristic of an entity, without reference to a standard of value. Why is it evil? There is no reason. What is evil? There is no definition. It just is.

Original sin is not just misguided. It is fundamentally evil. It is an inversion of morality. A proper, objective morality requires man's life to be his moral guide. Original sin claims that his life is an affront to good. That his own life is not the standard of good, but the standard of evil. To the degree that a man tries to live, he must think of himself as evil. To the degree to which he destroys his life, he is praised as good. If accepted, this doctrine will cause unearned guilt. If practiced, it will cause death.