I learned that as a parent that it is natural if I tell my kids not to do something that they will try it (forbidden fruit)
This is part of my point that the fall is God's fault and not man's. If any parent knows what Wil knows, why didn't God, who's supposed to be all-knowing?
Where was God when Eve was being tempted by the snake? He literally arrives afterward to find his creation has gone terribly wrong. He even asks, "Did you eat the apple?" So where did God go at this crucial time? A mother knows that a newborn needs constant supervision and attention. Why doesn't God know what most every mother knows?
Why does God tell Eve that she will "die" if she eats the fruit? Is this a lie? I suppose the answer is, well, she died "in a way," but why didn't God simply tell her the truth, "If you eat the fruit, I will be very angry, and you'll be banished from this garden." Why did God lie?
Why didn't God just follow through with his original threat and kill A&E? He doesn't seem hesitant about wiping the Earth of every living creature when humans disappoint Him. It would have been the smart thing to just start over with two new humans. God's poor decision-making comes to fruition when just one generation later Cain slays Abel. He has to send a flood to kill (nearly) all of humanity. Even then he (supposedly) has to send Jesus to die for our sins. It's pretty evident that the creation that God thought was "good" turned out to be only "fair" and in need of constant maintenance.
And through this all we never question God and His ability to manage His creation. That's part of that confuses me the most. The myth clearly indicates that the Creator is to blame for these failures. How is it that God's is viewed as all-powerful, all-knowing, all-pervasive and yet these qualities aren't in evidence in Genesis?
Now it's easy for me to explain this contradiction: Genesis is a fable, a weakly concocted myth that should not be taken any more seriously than the other
creation myths spun by cultures around the globe.
Africa
Bakuba - In the Bakuba account of demiurge, the Earth was originally nothing but water and darkness, ruled by the giant Mbombo. This giant, after feeling an intense pain in his stomach one day, vomited up the sun, moon, and stars.
Maasai - The Maasai of Kenya in their creation narrative recount the origin of humanity to be fashioned by the Creator deity from a single tree or leg which split into three pieces.
Voodoo - Damballah (Sky-serpent loa and wise and loving Father archetype) created all the waters of the earth. In the form of a serpent, the movement of his 7,000 coils formed hills and valleys on earth and brought forth stars and planets in the cosmos. He forged metals from heat and sent forth lightning bolts to form the sacred rocks and stones.
Asia
Ainu - The Ainu people of Hokkaidō recount the demiurge with a cosmology consisting of six heavens and six hells where gods, demons, and animals lived. Demons lived in the lower heavens. Amongst the stars and the clouds lived the lesser gods. In highest heaven lived Kamui, the creator god, and his servants. His realm was surrounded by a mighty metal wall and the only entrance was through a great iron gate.
Hmong - According to Hmong tradition, a long time ago the rivers and ocean covered the Earth. A brother and sister were locked in a yellow wooden drum. The Sky People looked out and saw the Earth. Everything was dead. Only the yellow wooden drum was left on the water.
Korea - A bear and a tiger wished to become humans. They prayed to the Supreme Being, Hwan-ung, and he gave them 20 cloves of garlic and a handful of mugwort, and told them to live in a dark cave for 100 days. The bear was patient enough to withstand the hardship of the cave and the starvation from eating only garlic and mugwort, but the tiger failed at the last minute and ran out of the cave.
Shinto - The god Izanagi and goddess Izanami churned the ocean with a spear to make a small island of curdled salt. Two deities went down to the island, mixed there, and bore main islands, deities, and forefathers of Japan.
Chinese - There was something featureless yet complete, born before heaven and earth; Silent – amorphous – it stood alone and unchanging. We may regard it as the mother of heaven and earth. Not knowing its name, I style it the "Way."
The Way gave birth to unity, Unity gave birth to duality, Duality gave birth to trinity, Trinity gave birth to the myriad creatures. The myriad creatures bear yin on their back and embrace yang in their bosoms. They neutralize these vapors and thereby achieve harmony.
North America
Kiowa Apache - In the beginning nothing existed, only darkness was everywhere. Suddenly from the darkness emerged a thin disc, one side yellow and the other side white, appearing suspended in midair. Within the disc sat a small bearded man, Creator, the One Who Lives Above.
Aztec - The Aztec narrative describing creation proceeds with an Earth mother, "Coatlique", the Lady of the Skirt of Snakes. She was decorated with skulls, snakes, and lacerated hands. At first she was whole without cracks in her body—a perfect monolith (a totality of intensity and self-containment, yet her features were square and decapitated).
Cherokee - In the beginning, there was just water. All the animals lived above it and the sky was overcrowded. They were all curious about what was beneath the water and one day Dayuni'si, the water beetle, volunteered to explore it. He explored the surface but could not find any solid ground. He explored below the surface to the bottom and all he found was mud which he brought back to the surface. After collecting the mud, it began to grow in size and spread outwards until it became the Earth as we know it.
Creek - The Creek believe that the world was originally entirely underwater. The only land was a hill, called Nunne Chaha, and on the hill was a house, wherein lived Esaugetuh Emissee ("master of breath"). After thousands upon thousands of years he got lonely and decided he would create humanity out of clay.
