Hey all ... Been a while, but I have a bit of time to come up for some air and decided to toss out an idea I have been thinking about.

So, the idea of original sin seems to be more than just religious, I won't say that I am the most up to date on psychology - hopefully others will chime in - but it seems that the idea of an original mistake permeates Western thought. That some where early on, something went wrong and we suffer for it ever since.

Is an alternative narrative available? why not work from place of original goodness? Any problems that may arise are temporary, shift the focus from identifying with some issue or "original mistake" and focus on dealing with the fundamental goodness.

You should understand original sin as an exercise in theodicy, an attempt to explain the existence of evil in the presence of God. So, the alternative narrative to original sin is one that offers a different explanation for the source of evil in the world.

Or, you may be looking for cosmodicy.

Well, isn't there some tension between the idea that there is a fundamental flaw and an idea there is a fundamental goodness?

There are those who might argue that we have both a fundamental flaw and a fundamental goodness that are at war with each other.

Let's assume this true (which I don't find obvious): isn't the easiest explanation that this was heavily influenced by the concept of original sin?

Yeah, that's kinda of the idea. This idea of an original sin is a subtext - there is some wrong in our past, some mistake that we are now suffering from, guilt or some wounded feeling persists.

We go about searching for and identifying with some past 'mistake' - I am this way because some event happened. I was just thinking that this idea seems to be some left over 'original sin.'