Christians are taught that the reason for mankind's expulsion from Eden was the original sin of disobedience, i.e., engaging in evil practices along with engaging in good practices. Catholics believe that the entire human race is stained by the original sin of Adam and Eve, while Protestants modify the Catholic doctrine by claiming that the sins of each person replicates the original sin of Adam and Eve. Both original sin doctrines, whether Catholic or Protestant, are apparently based on the profound notion that sin is concerned with the actions of the Earth's ruling class, and not just the sins of the individual. Thus, Adam and Eve were expelled from the presence of God, i.e., Heaven, for an error which violated the universal theory of governance, i.e., that those who would rule the Earth must reflect the good impulses of mankind, and not just the baser instincts of mankind. David, the psalmist, wrote about the blessed nature of humans in which there is no guile, and Jesus praised Nathanael for lacking any guile. Thus, the paramount quality of any governmental entity, which would be a just government, is the absence of deceit and hypocrisy. The United States underwent a horrendous Civil War because, while it published documents which extolled the rights of every human being, the United States authorized slavery within its borders. The U.S. Civil War was the United States' application, to God, for re-entry into Eden through the abolition of slavery and the enactment of laws guaranteeing equality for all people, following decades of living beyond the Eden boundary.
That pending application, for readmission to Eden, is what the people, who support President Obama, hear when the President speaks of creating a "more perfect union" in the United States. The supporters of the President hear a governmental leader who advocates that every voice is uniquely qualified to offer suggestions on how that more perfect union should be created, and they hear a President who works to insure universal participation by instituting equitable student loan rates and fairness in taxation so that every individual will have a chance at being successful. Many criticize the President for his emphasis an leading-from-behind, a seemingly contradictory phrase. But such a process is the embodiment of Jesus' claim that a city on a hill cannot be hidden. Thus, it is the example which is important, and not just the acknowledged leader of a passing, and often, ephemeral parade. That is why the creation of Israel in 1948 held such promise. Surely, the people who became the custodians of the Torah would demonstrate, to the rest of the world, how to build a society based on justice and equality. Instead, the promise of 1948 has become a violent, unceasing nightmare which drains the world's time and resources. Who is at fault for the Middle East quagmire? The answer may be found in what some might call the original sin of Abraham. If Abraham had not acquiesced in Sarah's order that Ishmael and his mother be put out in the cold, and had reared Ishmael in the Abrahamic household along with Isaac, the modern wars between Ishmael's descendants and Isaac's descendants would not have taken place because the brothers would have each received their allotment of Abraham's legacy at the death of their father. Thus, the argument can be made that Abraham's maltreatment of Ishmael, in acceding to Sarah's wish, replicated the governance error made by Adam in acceding to the wish of Eve that Adam partake of evil. The international community, which is playing the dual roles of Adam and Abraham in this drama, cannot bring about peace in the Middle East if it does not address Ishmael's persistent claim that he is being left out in the cold. Therefore, the only long-term solution to the Ishmael-Isaac wars is the abolition of injustice and inequality. At present, all parties to the Middle East conundrum, including the international community, are standing outside of Eden's Boundary.