"Let's be really fucking polite to everyone!" - Book of Mormon, The Musical
DISCLAIMER: Though I am a firm supporter of the theory of evolution, I believe that there is definitely a higher power/energy/being at work in this ol' universe.
I was listening to musical soundtracks on my iPod, as I often do, and had a thought while listening to the Off-Broadway cult favorite, Children of Eden. Children of Eden is the story of Adam & Eve and Noah with the strong themes of parents, children, and the ups and downs when said parties interact. At one point in the soundtrack, Eve asks "Father" (God is always referred to as "Father" throughout the show) in reference to the Tree of Knowledge, "But Father, if the tree isn't good for us, then why did you put it here?"
Good question, Eve! You're much more insightful than your insect-alphabetizing counterpart, Adam! It's cuz he's a guy. God's perfect, right? Eden's perfect, right? All the fruit-bearing trees in Eden are perfect for eating, right? So what's the deal with this one tree you can't go near? How is this tree not perfect if God's perfect? Hmmm..... That got me to thinkin'.
But "Father" laid down the law and said, "Guys, stay the frak away from that tree. Don't ask why, just go play naked someplace else and name some animals. And that worked great for about five minutes. Some bored, ambitious little serpent decided to convince the nudists that it's all good and they should check out the forbidden goods (Sidenote: other than notoriety for deception, what did the snake ever get out of all this? Usually one tempts others for some sort of personal gain, so what's his story? Maybe God bet him to see if he could get Adam or Eve to go first.)
Here's what I think: That tree was totally, no doubt, supposed to be there and we (humanity) were totally supposed to find it. If you're perfect, you create perfect. So I believe that the tree was perfectly placed for perfectly curious humans to find; to graduate from blissful ignorance and discover knowledge.
But if that's the case, why were we given paradise in the first place? You may say that God gave us the choice to stay ignorant and naked in a perfect garden, but we chose free will instead. Or maybe God intended for us to stay his children forever and we were punished for our disobedience. Well I see it differently. I think the Garden of Eden was never meant to be a permanent gift to humanity. I think it was more of a orientation to life/baby shower-ish gift.
Just as kids mature and graduate from baby food and training toilets, humanity matured from perfect, constant leisure into a world of intellect and responsibility. I think we (collectively) can only handle everything being fed to us for a certain amount of time before we start to develop our own thoughts and wants and feelings.
Sure, it would be nice to be spoon fed and have our ass wiped and have every problem or thought solved for us by some almighty deity, but isn't it nicer to choose what you want to eat or where you shit or have an opinion of your own? So I believe that that garden was, in a nutshell, the infancy and childhood of humanity. It was our gift of simplicity and innocence before we would eventually have to grow up, leave our safe little nest, and explore the world and ourselves. Think about it (and the fact that you can think for yourself rests my case), what loving parent or "Father" would want their child to be a dependent automaton? So yeah, it's our nature: we're born, we grow, we learn, we develop, we make mistakes, we think. Thought and free will is probably our biggest pain in the ass as well as our greatest gift. So thanks, God!
...Either that or that tree is where he kept his porn.
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