Yuyitsu, 'sin' is a man-made notion thought up by ancient old men who wanted to keep the masses under their control.

What better way to do that than tell the rabble that everyone sins, and that only these 'special' old men can assist the 'sinners' to get to a place called heaven.

They lost me a long time ago when they asked me to pray for sinner babies who dared to die before they were Christened. They were doomed to spend eternity in pergatory apparently.
I would wonder what sins newborn babies could actually commit?

In my job, I have seen plenty of cancer sufferers die peacefully with never a mention of any God.

Suseonline,
You are apparently ignorant of your capacity to do wrong to others? To claim there is no such thing as sin is ignorance - what is the courts and the police force doing, if not attempting to put wrong right? They are dealing with things at the extreme end of sin. Neglect to do good is sin.

As far as your experience of religion; it is pagan and not what Christ taught, "suffer the little children to come unto me for of such is the kingdom of heaven". Purity, guilt free and innocence is the state of heaven. A state of reconciliation to a pure and holy life of loving others as you would want others to love you is the relationship of heaven.

I had a dream the earth was red
Its charred remains cried out and bled
Nothing was living on its face
What happened to the human race?

This darkening vision pronounced life gone
In its place the embers shone
A crimson red like the setting sun
Flames extinguishing one by one

Every night this dream returns
Its dying flame ignites and burns
And with the flame the same quiet fear
There's nothing living on this sphere

A desolate place the earth appears
Its shadow grows as the darkness nears
Suddenly, I wake in fright
Having dreamt this vanquishing dread all night

'What is this dream?' I shudder and cry
What I should really ask is, 'Why?'
Why does it haunt me every day?
Is it my future tenement of clay?

As I lie dreaming and can't rise
Am I foreseeing my own demise?
And then to simply ward off these blues
I go and read the daily news ...

Beautiful Foxy. Is it yours?

Are you referring to Easter Island where their devotion to their religion of raising stone monuments to their gods denuded their island of vegetation?

Josephus, I never said humans can do no wrong did I?
You certainly twisted my words.
Where do you stand on the sinning newborns then?

Many people find comfort in imagining there are gods, but that is just a personal belief.

I am just saying that one doesn't have to believe in a holy book or in the existence of gods to have a life filled with good deeds for others, or to find peace in their existence.
I have seen that truth many times in my work with the dying.