Evil and Sin

Islam and Christianity both agree that the first sin of man was Adam and Eve's eating of the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. In Christianity, it is believed that this sin is then inherited through all future generations. Thus, when a baby is first born, he or she is born in sin. No man is without sin for any period and only through belief in Jesus and forgiveness through his sacrifice can one be saved.

Islam, on the other hand, does not believe that the Original Sin is passed on, but rather, children are born pure in a state of Islam and only with time do they go astray. This is definitely a happier outlook as you don't have the question of what happens to all the babies who died soon after birth before baptism. Most every Christian would like to think that a compassionate God would forgive them of the sin that was committed generations upon generations ago by their very first ancestor but there's a reason most congregations baptize as early as practical (excluding, of course, congregations like Baptists that perform baptisms much later in a child's life).

Supposing that Islam is correct and children are born devoid of sin, sin would enter one's life later through the willful breaking of God's commandments. Again, this seems like a much fairer assumption and I like to think that God is fair.

Let's play a little thought experiment for fun. Would a child born free of sin and raised in an environment free of sin then remain sinless? Suppose the child, immediately after birth, were stuck on a deserted island where he or she is fed and cared for by machines and never had any contact with other humans. Would that child, free from the influence of sinful humans, remain sinless?

I conjecture that the child, although possibly grown by this point, would still eventually sin even without the influence of sinful humans. I believe that sinful urges and desires would still take their toll; that they are not learned from others. However, I'm not going so far as to say that the child was born with the seed of sin implanted, waiting to sprout. That could be the case, as Christianity might state, or it could be that, even without the outside influence of other humans, the child is still vulnerable to the outside influence of Satan. Just as Adam and Eve were originally free from sin but still gave in to Satan's tempting whispers, our hypothetical child would be the same.

I have to admit that I like the Muslim belief better; I like the idea that children are born pure and free of the sins of their ancestors. However, as always, religion and truth aren't necessarily what's easiest or nicest.

What made me write about this subject is that I'm currently reading A Muslim and a Christian in Dialogue by Badru D. Kateregga and David W. Shenk and I recently read the chapter on sin. That got me thinking a little bit about the differences in belief about sin between Christianity and Islam. I'm not far enough into the book to really review it but so far it's pretty informative, interesting, and fair.

The Guts to Criticize and Do It Well

In today's khutbah, the speaker talked about proper Islamic dress in daily life but especially for the mosque. It wasn't anything very ground-breaking; he just reminded people that Muslims are supposed to dress respectfully and modestly. However, for some reason I was impressed at even this slight criticism. I guess I've gotten used to people being afraid of possibly offending anyone. I agree that you should avoid offending people if possible but when correcting someone and setting them straight, it's necessary to somehow show them the error of their ways.

I was impressed at how tactfully today's criticism was made. There was no finger pointing. The perpetrators themselves were hardly mentioned, for the most part the whole khutbah was about the reasons behind the dress code. Verses from the Quran and hadith were mentioned and explained. Everything was very tasteful and I don't believe anybody felt singled out or offended.

The point of this post, however, has nothing to do with Islamic dress. My point is that the speaker was not afraid to criticize. In today's world of personal rights and ultra-politeness (although that only seems to apply to not offending people but not to manners or common courtesy) most people are afraid to speak up about something being wrong. This timidity to speak up is what leads to cursing becoming a common part of regular speech, inappropriate dress everywhere, wide acceptance of sex and nudity, and other little problems that sum up to one big problem throughout society.

I know I've read either in the Quran or in hadith, possibly both, how to criticize others. It says to take them aside and tell them their error in private. There's no need to make it into a public embarrassment. If they still don't correct their ways, then do it again. Finally, if they continue to do wrong, then bring it to the attention of others. This shows a great deal of respect, consideration, and maturity, in my opinion and now I see that it's not just taught but also practiced this way.

I know in church we're often told to lead good lives and the goodness of Jesus, the prophets, and the saints are extolled but rarely are we actually criticized on any particular aspect of our lives. I do recall a priest one time at a university church giving a sermon on the evils of drunkenness (a problem on college campuses) and the virtues of moderation in all aspects of life. It was done just as tastefully and tactfully as today's khutbah but I don't recall any other real criticism. My experiences are also limited to only mainstream, moderate churches. I get the feeling that more fundamental, extreme churches might be more willing to criticize vocally based on my experiences debating some fundamentalists. However, in those situations, there is definitely an extreme lack of tact and compassion. As opposed to my "love the sinner, hate the sin" mantra, they seem to adopt a "hate the sinner and the sin" attitude, forgetting that they themselves are also sinners regardless of how hard they might try. I feel like there is always plenty of finger pointing and condemning when God is the only one capable of doing that.