Sin: The Unjust Judgement

While to the rational observer this argument seems circular to a Christian it may pass as ample evidence for their belief in sin. After all, they might argue, what else could cause all the world's problems?

A sufficient argument would be to point out that diseases and death impact animals as well. The most fundamentalist Christians, however, will point out the downfall of man in Genesis as the basis for the curse of death and disease on animals.

It seems to be locked it pretty well. Man's sin causes animals to die too. Our sin causes flowers to wilt in winter and causes bees to die after stinging in protection of its hive.

The idea is so far-fetched, arrogant, and ludicrous that finding a place to begin is difficult. First off, there is no basis for believing in a literal Genesis account of how sin began. Nor does it adequately explain why God felt it was necessary to curse the whole of creation for the mistake of two people.

So this leads us to one unjust aspect of sin. The sin of man causes suffering for the whole of creation. It'd be akin to slaughtering all people in a village because a few don't follow the rules. Believe it or not, the Bible commands this.

The second problem with the "man's sins curse the world" view is the arrogance of centering the entire universe upon two people's mistakes. All the natural problems of the world and the misfortune that befalls man as a result is because sometimes Billy masturbates in the middle of the night.

The ludicrous nature of this naturally falls into place when you realize the scope that sin is blamed for. Meteors falling and killing people? Sin. A bear mauls some unfortunate park visitors? Sin. I imagine before the sin of Adam and Eve drowning, falling off a cliff, or having an elephant sit on you didn't result in death because, after all, death is product of sin.

So another aspect of sin that is unjust aside from the death itself (and all of us succumbing to death as a result of sin) is the punishment after death. Apparently living a good life and only making a few mistakes isn't good enough for God. Any shortcoming what so ever will result in everlasting burning and gnashing of teeth.

Out of all the unjustness of sin this is by far the most bothersome. It takes all personal responsibility and throws it out the window and takes a "one size fits all" approach to dealing with the shortcomings of man.

Would we view a court system that only dealt out life sentences for any crime as just? Imagine the pain of a mother as her ten year old son is thrown into jail for life because he stole some bubble gum. Imagine facing such a judgement for something as simple as jaywalking.

To Christians who fully believe in sin and its consequence this is the reality of sin. All sin is equal in God's eyes and they are all worthy of eternal punishment. Any rational person would see a major problem with this approach but we are so conveniently warned that we are in no place to question the judgement of God.

There is irony in Christians, who often tout that they are very patriotic and love the freedom America affords them, lend themselves to one of the most tyrannical theological views. The despotic nature of God makes Stalin and Hitler look like freedom fighters. There is something entirely bankrupt in the concept of sin and that is rationality.

The atheist perspective is that while there is no sin there is wrong and right and there are punishments that fit the crime. A ten year old stealing bubble gum isn't as wrong as someone who murders. There is a definite, though subjective, quality to punishment fitting the crime's committed.

As a result there is a strong sense of personal responsibility. One doesn't have to appeal to an external, divine punishment. A Christian may argue that man does not hold the authority of judgement. The answer is, of course, that people give that authority in good faith that it won't be abused. A sense of just judgement has developed entirely devoid of religious input.

An argument given in response to this seems to be that if a murderer gets away and dies before he is caught and put to justice this is somehow a problem with man's judgement and therefore there must be a God to delve out this punishment.

It is hard to find a place to begin with such a ludicrous argument. Punishment isn't something required of crimes and sin. The whole concept of salvation hinges on the belief that sins and crimes can be forgiven and dealt with in another manner.

History, regardless, will either forget those that escape their crimes or remember them in negative light. The crimes of those that are remembered are examples of how not to behave. They serve as a reminder of where bad behavior gets people.

Invoking the need for an external, all powerful, all knowing judge just seems to be grasping at straws in an attempt to require justice for every little thing. However, this requirement is entirely made up and doesn't have any bearing on the reality of that need of a judge like God. A fact of life is that some people get away with their crimes and move on.

Sin being inescapable is unjust. Sin being all encompassing is unjust. All of sin having the same punishment is unjust. The need for no wrongdoing, no matter what, to go unnoticed is unjust in a Big Brother way.

It is clear, with the above, that the concept of sin is unjust as a whole, and is something that should not be taken to heart. People need to take responsibility for their own actions and accept the consequences of their actions in this life. There is no need to invoke an external judge to handle the collective cases of humanity.

We do that on our own just fine, and in many cases, in spite of religion.