All Christians, as well as many non-Christians, are aware of the story of Adam and Eve. You know, the one where they're the only two people and they're hanging out in some garden in Eden, and the groundskeeper told them not to steal any apples? Right? Right.
Let's adapt the same story to a different template: Adam is a teenager in an American household. His parents put a roof over his head and food in his belly thrice daily. Life is good. Then, because Adam's a teenager and although he knows better, he sees his dad's wallet on the kitchen counter with two hundred dollar bills visibly sticking out. This is a big dilemma that must be resolved immediately, as his dad is napping in the other room. First of all, Adam's never had $200 all at once-- allowance only pays $10 a weekend and it's impossible to save much when a new chapter of Spider-man's life is delivered to the comic book store several times a month and Johnny Depp keeps putting out pirate movies. And $200! Man, that would swing the pendulum of power clearly in Adam's direction. The only problem would be an alibi. The whole wallet could disappear and the old man himself could be to blame, or maybe a few pieces of the bills could be torn off and arranged around the dog's bed in a convincing scene.
Adam, hastily, takes the money and runs (literally). He knows he's disobeyed his father but he also knows that a man makes his own decisions and "I'm 15, damn it! I can make my own decisions!"
Like the apple, $200 is, in the long-term, an inconsequential amount to its owner. It's the self-liberation that's important here: in both cases, Adam decided he was old enough to live out of harmony with the one in charge (be it his father, his god, or mother nature). So, does The Fall the story of some original sin, or is it the story of man deciding to be his own god?
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