[Mr. Silverback]

The story of the garden is about the perlis of being dependant on others for a living. When Adam and Eve were in the garden they were wholy dependant on God like children are to their parents or welfare recipients are to the government. When they learned enough for themselves, by eating the fruit of knowledge, God kicked them out of the garden for their own good because they were able to take care of themselves. To have them stay in the garden would be like these modern day children who never leave home and end up living their parent’s basement, it is not good for them.

Um, no. Not even close.

Here's what God's word says:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” --Genesis 1:26-28

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. --Genesis 2:15

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” --Genesis 2:18 (What was she helping him with if he was a welfare case?)

They had work they were expected to do. They were not dependent on God in a "welfare" sense, they were dependent on Him spiritually as we all should be, and in a close relationship with Him.

To turn the account of the Fall of Man into a parable about kids piling up the pizza boxes in Mom's basement is a pretty serious case of mishandling God's word. It's about the beginning of human evil, not some spoiled kids with a lack of motivation.

[GraceG]

[ It’s about the beginning of human evil, not some spoiled kids with a lack of motivation. ]

Evil is started by spoiled kids or adults with childish tendancies, and helped by people with serious lack of motivation of doing their own work, as evil is fed on a diet of complacancy and spoiled kids.

[Kirkwood]

GraceG’s comments are actually quite insightful if you spent more time thinking about them. Why do you think God is even called the Father? Jesus prayed to God the Father. Are you arguing that God is not man's (nor your) spiritual Father because Adam already did not need God even before the fall? You argue that Adam was already a worker in the Garden and somehow that in itself made him complete. However, many children work on farms (I did), but they are not complete in their intellectual and emotional growth. So the ability to work has nothing to to do with the intellectual and emotional ability to achieve independence from ones parent or from the Father.