Original Sin: Why We're Born Broken
The question
Why should I be blamed for something Adam did thousands of years before I existed?
Scripture · Romans 5:12
Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned.
A short answer
The objection feels like justice: I didn't eat the fruit, so why am I on the hook? But original sin isn't a courtroom verdict pinning Adam's personal guilt on you. It's more like inheriting a condition. Paul says in Romans 5:12 that through one man sin and death "spread to all." Something got broken at the source, and we're all born downstream of it — wounded, prone to selfishness, headed for death we didn't individually invent.
Look honestly and it's hard to deny. Nobody teaches a toddler to be selfish; we have to teach them to share. There's a tilt in human nature we all feel — wanting the good, doing the other thing. Paul names that ache too: "I do not do the good I want" (Romans 7:19). Original sin is just the Church's name for the crack that runs through everybody. It explains the world better than "people are basically fine" does.
And here's the part the objection misses — Romans 5 isn't mainly about Adam. It's about Jesus. "As one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to... life for all" (Romans 5:18). The whole point of inheriting Adam's brokenness is that we can inherit Christ's victory even more. The Catechism calls original sin a state we contract, not a personal act we commit (CCC 405). Baptism washes it away. So yes, we're born downstream of Adam — but the river now runs to Christ.