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but what is sin?
In the Eastern Tradition there are masters that do things that look very strange to the Westerners...
In India and such disciples will provoke their masters in such a way to receive a slap from them because they see this as the Master's blessing - and there are tales of the Master's slapping their disciples, but there are hidden meanings behind these things that Western viewers would view as "sinning" and Eastern viewers would view as "blessings"
posted by
Metta
on May 7, 2005 at 8:57 AM
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sin is something that is defined
without the law there is no sin.
a newborn infant has not sinned.
it's only medieval apologists that teach this -- "In Adam's fall, we sinned all."
the sin spoken about there is that which is defined.
the newborn has broken no law.
but -- as I've said, I sin every moment. I do not hold other people as sacred as I would want.
the natural human is selfish and self-centered, a survival mechanism.
so that then causes the human to harm others.
observe a child as it grows. watch as it develops a proclivity to harm others. observe the parents' reactions, if they allow or disallow harmful behavior.
the disallowing is the law. the reason for the law is to define sin. the reason for defining sin to to point the person away from the sin and toward the productive.
and then there is salvation -- no matter how much we sin, we are really sinless.
free of the guilt of sin. free to live productive lives without having that Sword of Damocles hanging over us.
we realize we sin. we forgive ourselves. we sin no more.
posted by
Xeno-x
on May 7, 2005 at 8:09 AM
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depends on your definition of sin
if you believe the religious version of sin, then there is no way. we are born into sin. we are born sinful people.
none of us walking the earth today took a bite from the forbidden fruit, (the apple) yest we are decendents of Adam who ate the fruit and we therefore are born into sin.
of course as we live life we are tempted by many things which make us sin, but it goes way deeper than that. we are born of sin., if you believe in GOD of course.
posted by
Frustrated
on May 7, 2005 at 7:12 AM
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Pappy -
You may be right. But then I think about the Dali Lama, picked at age two based on Tibetan tradition. Showing such presence and love at that young age . . . I don't know. It sure seems possible.
posted by
sannhet
on May 7, 2005 at 7:04 AM
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mandinka -
You're thinking along the lines I was. It seems like it must be possible.
posted by
sannhet
on May 7, 2005 at 6:58 AM
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I don't think so , sannhet
Not because of any great religious principle. It's because I never saw a four-year-old that picked up doing it right the first time. It takes hundreds or thousands of repetitions before they learn not to steal each other's toys. Even then, they know they should be doing something but they just don't want to. I don't think we ever completely outgrow that, but we learn to keep it in perspective of our own larger good. Even sin can sometimes be a matter of choice between a short term gain and what we hope will be a long term one.
posted by
pappy
on May 6, 2005 at 6:41 PM
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I think it is by all means possible
I personally know I am not capable of living a totally sin free life. I know of nobody personally who is capable of that. But just because neither I nor anybody I know is capable of that doesn't mean that it can not happen. I just had this discussion with my girlfriend a few weeks ago. She disagrees with me. I would like to think there is someone out there who lives sin free. OUt of 6 billion people on the planet who knows there could be one or two or a handful.
posted by
mandinka
on May 6, 2005 at 2:52 PM
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