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.
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