Original Sin

A virus more devastating than weapons and disease.

Sin is a man made concept; it is a term derived from archery, which quite literally means to “miss the mark”.

For Christopher Columbus and the men who set sail for India, they had indeed missed the mark. Starving, desperate, and succumbing to madness, they found themselves on death’s doorstep before the winds of grace delivered them to solid ground.

What they encountered was astonishing, a tropical wonderland. Colors they had never seen, fruit they had never tasted, men and women adorned in gold, unashamed of their nakedness. They had their own language, their own customs, and their own gods.

For the native Tainos, every aspect of nature had a god and was honored. Etched in stone were gods of the sun and moon, gods of birth and death, and many other aspects of the natural world, all of whom were expressions of the one god, the Supreme Mother, Atabey.

Jesus was new to the Caribbean; he arrived with the priests who accompanied Columbus on his voyages. The priests were sent to spread the teachings of the bible and to civilize the “savages” who were already living and embodying the teachings of The Christ.

It’s estimated that over 7 million Taino died in the years following “The Discovery”. Most died from infection, but I contend that the virus that has been the most harmful to the human family is the notion that we are born into sin, wretches, who need to be redeemed by a judgmental god in the heavens. When I set my aim to live in harmony with natural law like the Tainos, I don’t need to fear punishment for my “sins”, only the natural consequences of missing the mark.

Footage from Crónicas del Caribe directed by Paco Lopez and Emilio Wantanabe