David Lahti asks “Why does religion keep telling us we’re bad?” At first this sounds like a childish question along the lines of “Why do we have to breathe?”
But as with many child-like questions, when you start unpacking the answer -- really unpacking the answer, not just blowing off the first thing that pops outta your Annoyed Snark Generator – there’s a whole lotta really deep, really meaningful sub-questions that arise.
It’s been written that all religions share one common belief: That something is wrong with humanity’s relationship with the divine.
(That’s self evident, folks; if that central belief didn’t exist, there would be no need for religion, all of us would be living in perfect peaceful spiritual bliss.)
From the monotheistic POV, Adam and Eve wanted to be God's equal, not merely God-like. They coveted God's position as Lord of Creation. They wanted something (God's status) that they were not entitled to (they were not the creators). They were like the slackers on any project who do none of the work but take all the credit. What could they have had with the knowledge of good and evil that they did not already possess?
Apparently this is what "naked" looks like to an LDS artist...
Cain said, "Am I my brother's keeper?"
Why, yes. Yes, you are. You are to look after your brother / sister as much as you look after yourself. You are to put your brother ahead of yourself.
This is what Christ was getting at: The first shall be last, the least shall be greatest. We are not entitled to be greater than others. As long as we act like / think that we are, we will never grow and rise.
Our selfish desire to be more than we are entitled to be is the obstacle to our being more Christ-like. We are not entitled to be more than our brothers and sisters. When we set ourselves above them (spiritually, financially, politically, militarily, etc.) we are blaspheming by creating a false god (i.e., us). When we eradicate this false "god", we open ourselves up to the blessing of service ("For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required").
God asks us to love, to give, and to forgive so that we may be more like Him.
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* And by “you” I mean the human race in its entirety, including yrs trly