Ch 3 ABSOLUTE ABSOLUTION - The Forgiveness of Original Sin By Ministers of Government Schooling by John Taylor Gatto

Somewhere around 1905 our schools were charged for the first time with the challenge of forgiving Original Sin. Obviously no directive said that literally, but school procedures and personnel, places and curriculum, began to be shaped to guide the new institution in that direction. To see what I mean, the time has come to discuss what Original Sin's legacy was to Western civilization. For eating from the Tree of Knowledge (of Good and Evil) Adam and Eve were sentenced to pass to their descendants:

 

l) A knowledge of Good and Evil. Every behavior would offer a free will choice of one or the other, every action would have to be evaluated. What a headache this constant judgment would be!

2) Labor. Now people would have to labor for their bread, to become productive beings instead of God's guests. What a backache work would be!

3) An emotional nature. Human beings would be subjected to desires from which would come pain and suffering. Without self-control passions would bring continual heartache!

4) Death. Men and women would return to dust when life was done and everyday would bring them one step closer.

 

It's not hard to see, of course, that each of these obligations, willingly shouldered, are the making of a good, strong, productive, and quite wonderful life; but it's equally easy to see that every one also poses a strong temptation to whine, lament and cheat destiny. The Christian vision, naturally, would be that to cheat God out of His punishment would in the end lead nowhere because Death, itself, could not be cheated or long delayed.

The orthodox Christian view before the Reformation was that human nature is good and equal to the burdens. That through cheerful acceptance of them a human creature, however weak, could win Redemption from Original Sin. It was a spectacular motivation for private action, and since Heaven was the same for the poor as for the rich, it is easy to see the psychological strength such a contract bestows on its covenanters. Human nature through hard work is perfectible, the doctrine of sin and redemption carries within it the seeds of a self-activating curriculum which, even for non-believers influenced by it, gives meaning and direction to life. The religious aspect aside, this is a basic, matter-of-fact set of practical guidelines, street lamps for the village of your life.

There are other "lighting" systems as I pointed out earlier, but none with a record of staying power like this one.