It's not so much about ability as it is about willingness, although after a while our consciences become seared.
When Adam and Eve were told not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they already knew what was good and what was evil. Their definition was, "What G-d pronounces good = good" and "What G-d pronounces evil = evil." If you know anything about imagery (and I'm not claiming that the story of Genesis 2 is only imagery) then you know that, "the fruit of," is an image for, "the result of," as in, "the fruit of his folly was poverty."
The "fruit of the tree" was the belief that Adam and Eve were sufficiently reasonable and knowledgeable to make up their own minds about what is good and what is evil without needing any help from G-d.
Just like OWK et. al.
But, in order to think that, you really have to have an overinflated opinion of your own ability to reason and your own storehouse of knowledge.
Had Adam and Eve simply been satisfied to receive the Wisdom that comes from G-d the world would not have fallen.
On a related note, if my 18-year-old son would be satisfied to receive the wisdom of my 41 years, he would not have to suffer the results of so many stupid mistakes. G-d's wisdom and experience are much farther above any man's than mine are above my son's, but the analogy is fitting.
Shalom.
Makes one wonder as to the goodness of philosophy.
Just like OWK et. al.
Ahh, now I see your problem. You can not seperate the political philosophy of governance with personal, individual spirituality or religious beliefs. Your continual references to OWK, who wishes not to push any religious or spiritual views on anyone, shows this. He proclaims to be an atheist - I proclaim to believe in God. However, other than our personal religious beliefs, we agree on a great deal of things, one of which is that the government has no legitimate business making laws to advance any religious beliefs or to persecute any religious beliefs. This includes allowing adults to make whatever choices and decisions they want, as long as they do not initiate force or fraud against another.
We speak of what the government's business is in all of this, not what you or I should believe in our personal lives, or be forced to accept at the barrel of a gun.