The Fall as Allegorical Fiction.

[Mudhammam]

I think it's a great allegory for the reasons you mentioned and also because I think it can be broadened to include the entire genesis of conscious reflection itself; that is, there certainly seems to be a crude innocence, if you will, in other animals that most human beings do not share. It's almost as if the Garden of Eden story was an attempt to capture the all too familiar saying, "We're too evolved for our own good." (To eat from "the tree of knowledge").

To answer your questions:

How did you find yourself cast out of the garden of your father and forced to toil or bear?

It was a slow gradual process that probably first began when I bought George Smith's "Atheism: The Case Against God" as a thirteen year Christian, thinking I could easily bring down you internet atheists if only I studied what you actually thought. My parents reacted by taking the book away and telling me I could only read material that was written from a Christian perspective. Now I clearly see why.

What effect does your desire for your partner have upon you, what is your experience of providing for your family?

Hmmm... I live with my girlfriend, we both share responsibility for paying the bills and I don't have a family to provide for, nor do I have much interest in starting one any time soon. Not sure exactly how to relate to the effects that my "desire for [my] partner" has upon me given that she often complains that I don't spend enough time with her (actually, she said I'm always on "that atheist forum"), and it usually drives me to want to spend less time with her...

How profound was the change from adolescence, through puberty, and into adulthood - how pronounced was your shame during that period - especially with regards to being caught?

Damn... lots of shame as an adolescent. My parents made such a stupidly big deal every time I got caught looking at porn, I had so much sexual repression until a much older woman came into my life...probably all I should say about that.

How many of you had a serpent for a friend, telling you that your parents might be fibbing just a little bit with regards to your innocence and the consequences of it's loss?

Can't really think of any.

How relevant does this narrative seem to you, under a reading like this one? Is it surprising that a story like this would survive so long?

The story has a great deal of relevancy for me in terms of losing childhood innocence, really searching deeply and asking those "big questions" until I felt the ground shake beneath me, realizing that my entire belief system and that of the adults around me for the first decade and a half of my life were completely built upon fabrications. My deconversion, which took a few years, was tough, and I definitely relate to eating the apple in that I find myself in a reality not AT ALL like the one I used to think existed.

And no, it's not surprising that the story is still immensely popular considering the history of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.