Evil is when we lay blame where it does not belong.
People try to say that we are born with evil inside of us because of Original Sin. Let's rehash that story, shall we?
Adam and Eve were told that they could eat anything in the Garden of Eden except for the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Sounds easy enough. Satan came in the form of a serpent and convinced Eve that she can and should eat the forbidden fruit. Once she did, she told Adam to, as well. Then God cast them out and declared that they would suffer for their sins.
So now women have to suffer through childbirth and centuries of sexism because Eve was gullible. And men "have to struggle to grow enough food" because Adam listened to his wife (Genesis 3:17). The thing is, though, we're neither Adam nor Eve. So why are we still getting punished?
Interesting tie into Adam and Eve and the ways that women must suffer! There certainly is a sexism apparent in the Puritanical times, where a woman like Hester must be severely punished, and even demonized for her submission to pleasure. Even if she had revealed Dimmesdale as the father, he would not have undergone the same public scrutiny that Hester underwent; in fact, it's likely that the community would have pitied him for being so cajoled by the devilish Hester. This idea of original sin is an interesting one...it's like we keep making atonement for something we never did but somehow seem inextricably linked. I have heard similar arguments for retribution to African-Americans for slavery. However, although we have not ourselves perpetuated slavery, somewhere within the history of our minds, there is that evidence that once our ancestors subjugated people to enslavement. Likewise, we still hear comments about the fall of Adam and Eve because, somewhere in our subconscious, our society buys into the fall of man and we keep relieving the story.
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