God, Hell, Mankind, and Playrooms

God, Hell, Mankind, and Playrooms

A mental exercise to understand Genesis 1–3

So I decide I want to be a father, and eventually have a son and daughter. I set them up in a playroom with numerous toys: plush toys, blocks, crayons, and coloring books. I also make sure that this room always has their favorite snacks and drinks ready for them.

But because I don’t want to hamper their expression of free will I feel I can’t make it too safe for them, otherwise how will they ever learn? So I leave an open power outlet with a metal fork next to it on the floor and tell them repeatedly not to pick up that fork and put it in that outlet or it’ll hurt them, then I leave them unattended.

I go down the street and I find a shifty kid who I know always gets into trouble for shoplifting from the nearby minimart, he also has a juvenile record for spray painting graffiti on walls and general vandalizing of property. I bring him down to my house where I’ve left my children unattended with the fork and outlet and tell him my kids are in there in the safe playroom with lots of toys snacks and drinks, but that I did leave this one incredibly dangerous thing there for them that I’ve told them not to mess with. I ask him if he’d like to go in there and play with them while I leave the three of them there unattended. He quickly agrees and goes into the house to play with my kids.

This shifty kid is actually my child from a previous marriage, his willfulness has always bothered me, but eventually, he would’ve needed to know my current children anyways. His willfulness may serve my purposes in this scenario, to see if my children know how to listen.

From my yard I watch via cameras I have set up as the shifty child eventually decides to convince my kids to disobey me and push the fork into the outlet, after all, he is a rebellious sort. I had already cut the breaker to that outlet knowing how curious my kids are, so I knew it was safe, but that wasn’t the point!

The children disobeyed me so now they need to learn a lesson.

To teach them a lesson I came in yelling at them for breaking the rules I had set. I then proceeded to kick all three of them out of the playroom. I trash all of their toys and their beds and clothes, they won’t be needing those anymore where they’re going! I force them to live in the woods behind my house, it’s time for them to pull themselves up by their bootstraps!

There they will have to learn how to make it on their own if they plan to survive.

I set up a wide range of odd rules for them, things that will be hard for them to even remember let alone actually stick to, and if they ever break any of them they know I will punish them further! I proceed to warn them about the creepy shed I have prepared for them that is filled with poisonous spiders and snakes, and that I will lock them in there if they displease me too much!