Original Sin

Ah, yes, what better way for a Christian to spend Sunday morning than thinking about sin? :-)

Actually, I was thinking about Original Sin which - at my Unitarian Universalist church - is even more objectionable a doctrine than sin in general.

But it seems to me that sin is putting our own interests first, with the interests of others being somewhere between "second" and "nowhere".

Original sin says that this characteristic attitude is universal - that is, none escape it.

The doctrine of Total Depravity doesn't mean we're all raving sex maniacs or something. It simply means that there is NO ASPECT of human experience that escapes this tendency to sin.

Considered this way, Total Depravity is a useful warning against the idea that SOME aspects of creation (usually some aspects that are near and dear to our hearts, like our church or our nation) are immune from the effects of our fallen nature.

Total Depravity is a good doctrine to remember when President Bush states that America (not Christ) is the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it (as he did on 9/11/2002 in a speech at the Statue of Liberty).