Sins

[Strongbad]

Speaking of “sin”, I did a little research into the origin of the concept “sin”. According to the (Christian) author of this article, we atheists like to blame Christians for inventing the term sin.

Then there is this ancient Mesopotamian prayer, which predates not only Christianity and Islam but also Judaism:
"O my god, who art angry, accept my prayer; O my goddess, who art angry, receive my supplication... Let my sins be forgiven, let my transgressions be blotted out. Let the ban be torn away, let the bonds be loosened... etc., etc., etc.

If one did not know, he could easily think that it came from one of the books of the Bible. A strong sense of the supplicant's sinfulness is palpably evident here. This is a very Christian sentiment indeed, but – as the above excerpt shows – it did not originate with Christianity. The prayer was written more than two thousand years before Christ began preaching on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/n...invention/

The author of this article fails to see that by proving that sin is not a Christian invention, he has weakened the validity of Christianity. The Jews stole the concept of sin and applied it to their religion, which the Christians further expounded upon with the myth of the resurrection, atonement, and salvation.

The concept of “sin” is simply a bastardization of the human emotion remorse. Because we are inherently compassionate and empathetic, we feel remorse for doing bad things to other people. Religion perverted the emotion as a means to control the flock.