Original Sin and an Unkind Heart

Here's something I have difficulty getting my head around...

The notion that the human heart is somehow *inherently* sinful in Christianity. That one never made sense to me, the whole thing with Original Sin leaving a black mark on everyone's heart, etc.

It's always bothered me. Someone (and you know who you are!) not long ago gave me a Chick Tract (in a joking spirit) titled "Heart Trouble" that goes on about this...as Chick tracts do...and I just re-found it in my laptop bag, which is what got me to thinking about this...

Also, at the Urbanna Oyster Festival, there was some frightened-looking young man street preaching, and the first thing I caught him saying was, "The human heart is WICKED!" And I had to check myself from turning around and saying, "I beg your pardon, it is NOT. God did not make us to be wicked." Funny, both my father and I had theological issue with that rather-scared and unhappy-looking guy, from different angles. We both confessed a desire to go argue with the guy. Then we decided that getting tag-teamed by the two of us would probably make the young man give up any kind of religion for good.

In Islam, no one bears the sin of another. We come into this world clean and innocent; it's the crap we latch onto in this world, the illusions and echoes, that leave sooty marks and gives us baggage.

A good explanation of such. The salient kind of summation is the bigger font near the bottom, if you want the short version.

And as for Eve being the problem...


Unfortunately, this concept has penetrated the beliefs of the conventional “Muslim” as well. This theory of “Adam and Eve” is invariably referred to prove the inferiority and wickedness of women.

The Quran has not even feeble affinity with this theory. It declared that men and women exist on their own right, and that both were created out of one single life cell. Both are responsible for their own actions and deeds. A woman is neither weak nor wicked simply because is she a woman. In Surah 2, Verse 36, it is stated that both men and women are equally susceptible to temptation.

It is very important to understand this in the interest of the future of women around the world. As long as the concept of Eve being created for man prevails, women can never be free in true sense of the word.

Word, in every sense of The Word.


n.b.: this is NOT to suggest that "If you're a Christian you're just WRONG!" Most of the Christians I know -- including my dear dogmatic dad -- don't much like this notion either as a literal thing. Christianity being a big arena, there is room for interpretation; i gather the real emphasis on this as being fundamental tends to be taken by the well, fundamentalist Protestants. I'm just explaining why I, personally, don't much get this.