Most Protestants believe that man inherits the nature of sin. They believe that before humans are even capable of making the distinction between right and wrong that they carry the burden of the original sin. This sin was born to the infamous deed of disobedience to God acted out by the original earth parents, Adam and Eve. This act is often referred to as the Fall of Man. That one sin created the base or the foundation of the world we live in today. This inherit nature of sin has been embedded within man in order for him to be forever in debt and dependent upon his creator.
To those who do not believe in religion this could all sound silly but it is true that millions of Americans believe this to be factual. Most conservatives believe this to be true. Regardless, to whether you believe this actual story or not is irrelevant to the fact that the sins of your parents usually follow you in some way. If your father squanders the family’s fortune, this action will affect your life. If your mother chooses to abuse you, this action will affect your life. Let’s face it and agree that your parents’ choices alter and shape your life. Everything from the location you live in, the schools you attend and the amount of attention and love you receive results in who you are to be in life or what obstacles you must overcome to be who you are in life. To ignore the birthright pattern would be disingenuous and simply ignorant in the act of examining the journey of life.
Barack Obama opened his speech last Tuesday with a quick peek into the window of history. He spoke of the Philadelphia convention of 1787 and the birthplace of the bible of this western social democratic experiment—the constitution. The document signed that day was a momentous and by all accounts unfinished. Obama acknowledged that this document we hold so dear was “stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery.” Those words struck me personally as I have believed in the idea or notion that we are all born into sin. To believe this creates a form of submission to the will of something or someone higher. To deem yourself unworthy of a gift but capable to take full advantage of that gift, challenges one to examine and self-diagnosis one’s personal shortcomings and mistakes.
