Ask a Catholic

[Randy Carson]

Okay. And for the next topic:

YOUR PICK!

I chose the first two...you choose the next one.  

Alrighty

1. That we're born broken, sinful and sick and need to be saved.

What I'm receding to specifically is the idea of original sin and baptism.

I'm not so much interested in technicalities, but:

~the contradiction between 'god created us' and 'we need to be saved'.

If we are a failed creation, the only one we can blame is the failed creator. The very fact that humans are imperfect speaks against god's alleged perfection.

Is he not capable of creating species that would not sin if he doesn't want us to sin?

~god set Adam up

Furthermore, if god is omniscient, he already knew Adam would sin. He knew beforehand exactly how it would play out.

What about the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Why was it in clear sight, in the center of the garden? Why was it there at all? God not only knew Adam would sin, he must've WANTED him to.

If you say it was meant as a test - god is omniscient. He doesn't need a test. He already knew the result.

Also....tree of knowledge of good and evil.

If going against god is evil, they could not have known that BEFORE eating from the tree. They had no concept of morality before then and they could not understand what sin is.

~The idea of group responsibility

Because of the original sin, we need baptism to be forgiven for something we did not do and could not have done - as well as something that was apparently meant to happen all along.

God is not forgiving or merciful or even good if he holds the actions of two human beings against all their alleged descendants, who had no part in the crime.

But, considering the catholic church did not drop charges of decide against all Jews until fairly recently, it should not be surprising.

~created sick and commanded to be well

If humans were created as prone to sin, commanding them to go against their nature on pain of eternal torment is not only immoral, it's cruel and sick and denies all notions of benevolence and god's love.

He could have easily created species that didn't feel the urge to sin without denying them free will.

~the moral implications

Mythology aside, let's consider the real world consequences of the idea that we are born sick.

It's a hurtful notion that implies there is something deeply and fundamentally wrong with each and every one of us and that it is our own fault. It teaches that we need to be fixed. It's a psychologically damaging, sick, immoral, baseless idea.



Ok. That's it for now. I'll let you know if I get pissed.

Okay. Outstanding topic...and I'll have some work to do to answer it well.

I'm off to work in a few minutes, so I won't be able to respond until later this evening at the earliest.

See ya then.