A Word for Inherited Wrongs
Hereditary Sin • noun • (huh-reh-dih-teh-ree sin)
Definition: A sin that can be passed through generations
Origin: Danish (Søren Kierkegaard)
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This week I thought a lot about the generational impact of our actions. Every other day, we hear about another mass shooting. Stories are coming out about how COVID-19 has reshaped the lives of millions of young Americans, and we are unsure what the long-term psychological impacts will be. President Biden announced plans to remove American troops from Afghanistan, and this news reminded me that we have been at war for nearly two decades. There are children in America who do not remember a time when America was not at war.
Due to America’s discourse and news greatly emphasizing the present, our information is expressed in an ahistorical manner. Information becomes hard to understand because we lack a historical context. Without a clear understanding of the past, it becomes nearly impossible to prepare or anticipate the future.
We can struggle to grasp the impact of our actions in the present and condemn ourselves to repeat the same mistakes due to this ignorance. Our sins can pass onto the next generation because our ignorance of history makes us unaware that we are repeating mistakes.
I thought about this troubling dynamic as the news this past week consisted of retelling America’s same deadly problems without any legitimate capacity to diagnose and combat what imperils our society.
The news did not provide me with the language I needed for these tragic events, and the phrase I needed to articulate what I saw was coined by a Danish philosopher over 200 years ago. We are witnessing hereditary sin.
Hereditary Sin vs. Original Sin
When America talks about race and systemic racism, we often refer to America’s “original sin” of slavery. America describes slavery as our society’s first sin—completely ignoring the genocidal sin against Indigenous people—and this biblical reference makes us no closer to solving our racial problems.
Original sin derives from the Bible’s story of Adam and Eve being banished from the garden of Eden by God because they ate the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. According to Christian doctrine, all humans carry the original sin of Adam and Eve and therefore have a proclivity towards sin.
This biblical story is bizarre, and I find it incredibly troubling that sin was brought into the world once Adam and Eve attempted to obtain knowledge. Is this a story celebrating the bliss of ignorance? Does it proclaim that knowledge is sinful?
Despite these questions, original sin is problematic today because it professes an inevitability of sin. Regardless of one’s actions, Adam and Eve’s pursuit of knowledge has condemned those in the past, present, and future to be born sinners. Therefore, America’s “original sin” is both a tragic event in history and also an inevitable and unsolvable condition for all of us. According to original sin, we will remain sinners regardless of our actions. Regardless of one’s desire to champion equality, the language that America often employs strips people of their agency and condemns Americans to failure.
Danish existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard preferred using “hereditary sin” instead of “original sin” because the power resided with the people in the present, and not those from a biblical story. If Adam and Eve brought sin into the world, then future generations must inherit that sin, yet we have the power to do what we choose with our inheritance. The distinction between “original” and “hereditary” creates an empowering and revolutionary change.
Hereditary sin means that our actions both determine if people are or are not sinners, and if sin is what we will pass down to the next generation. Our actions can liberate us from a Christian condemnation to perpetuate sin.
Personally, I try to consume knowledge every day and I aspire to pass on this knowledge to future generations. I have never considered this act to be sinful. Yet the chaos that appears to increasingly consume America stems from the growth of a culture that celebrates an ignorant bliss.
Guns kill Americans every day because our society still professes that guns keep us safe. Far too many Americans died from COVID-19 because they did not believe that the science was real. Instead, they professed that it was a “hoax” and made our society less safe due to their ignorance. These problems, or “sins” (using Christian terminology), derive from the absence of knowledge.
Kierkegaard’s words, obviously, were not inspired by the unfortunate dynamics of modern-day America, but our knowledge of his philosophy can make us a more racially equitable and less sinful society today.
Hereditary Sin & Epigenetics
A handful of years ago, I learned about epigenetics. We all understand genetics, and the concept of race provides an easy way to distinguish between genetics and epigenetics.
A person will be Black, white, Asian, Indigenous, or a combination of races based on their genetics. We have very little influence over our genetics. We are condemned to look a certain way based upon the genes we were given. We have no choice in the matter, therefore it would be absurd to say that a person is good or bad due to their race.
Epigenes are not the same as our genes, but they are attributes that we inherit. Epigenes are essentially lived experiences that attach to our genes that we can then transfer to our children when they are born, and the impact of epigenetics can last for generations.
Our actions ranging from our diets to traumas we suffer and maybe even terror we inflict can attach to our genetic code and get passed onto our children and grandchildren. Our actions can epigenetically shape the next generation.
When I first learned about epigenetics, a friend of mine asked me if I thought that the generational trauma that impacts many communities of color in America could be attributed to epigenetics. I obviously did not have an answer, but I thought her logic was sound.
A couple of years later, SCL launched The Altars Festival and I began to wonder if our annual celebration to help people remember their history and ancestors, and cope with the trauma of loss could have a positive epigenetic impact on communities of color in America. The trauma of systemic racism in America has created a generational trauma, but if we empower the people, we could make this hereditary sin into a trauma that no longer afflicts future generations.
This week as I thought about American history and our violent present, I began to wonder if the lack of empathy and abundance of ignorance that has sustained America’s oppression and racial divisions could also be a hereditary sin manifesting in epigenetics that the ethnocider passes on to their children.
If one group passes on the trauma of terrorism, could not the other pass on the embrace of terrorism?
Science is proving that our words, actions, and experiences do not live in a vacuum, and can shape the future in previously unimaginable ways. This merging of philosophy and science reinforced the necessity of combating ethnocide and cultivating Eǔtopian practices so that we can build an equitable and sustainable future.
This week, think about the practices, beliefs, and words you want to pass on to the next generation, and also those of previous generations that you are work to sustain or transcend. The power for generational change resides within us.
