mybike_yourface wrote:how is original sin your misdeed?
It's an observation that sets us apart from many other religions. There are many ways to look at children, but here are three of the most common:
1) Tabula Rasa: They are blank little slates ready for us to write our own ideas on them and they will perfectly and willingly swallow whatever we shove at them. (Check the "Should children be fed religion" thread and you'll see this idea among some)
2) Born innocent and corrupted by the world. The idea here is that people are okay at their core. Evil is a choice made by those capable of choosing. The underlying assumption here is that man can, by his own effort, reach (or reattain) some kind of perfection. People who ascribe to this tend to see a natural state as being good. The Romantics, in British Literature, in some ways exemplify this idea.
3) Born corrupt in a corrupt world. This is only the idea that people are not born good. They need assistance to learn good behaviors. I think this position is born out by observation. I've got three kids myself; I love them dearly, but I'm in no way convinced that they are perfect.
mybike_yourface wrote:oh course children should be cared for. that's not what i'm talking about.
Okay what are you talking about? I believe sincerely, as as parent, that it's my job to expose my kids to everything that is instructive and beneficial in my life. My religion is one of those things.
mybike_yourface wrote:why would my mother need to sacrifice a lamb after giving birth? why don't christians still do it?
I don't know (I believe it has to do with ritual uncleanliness). Probably because most of us don't know either, and we can ask forgiveness for our sins and ignorance and still get along ok. I don't burn witches, or stone homosexuals either; The New Testament lets us off the hook on a lot of that stuff.
