“Wait.  What?”

“I kicked them out of the garden.”

“And why?”

“They disobeyed.”

“By eating from the tree?”

“I told them not to.”

“The tree of knowledge.”

“Right.”

“Knowledge of good and evil.”

“Yes.  That tree.  I told them not to.”

“So you punished them.”

“Yes!  Why are you belaboring this?”

“Just want to be sure I understand.  You told two creatures with no knowledge of good and evil, two creatures with no understanding of right and wrong, not to do something.  When they did it, you punish them for having been disobedient, for having done something wrong.  When they didn’t know what it meant for something to be wrong.”

“Well, when you put it that way…”

“And why did you tell them not to eat from the tree?”

“I didn’t want them to become like us.”

“Okay, hold on.  So you made two creatures, and to keep them inferior, you did not give them knowledge of good and evil.  Then you make a tree, such that if they eat from it, they will gain that knowledge.  Then you tell them not to eat from it, even though they don’t know what wrong is, but definitely raising their curiosity.  Then you punish them when the completely foreseeable happens.  Does that sound like an accurate summary?”

“Well, I wouldn’t put it like that…”

“No, of course not.  How long is the punishment going to last?”

“Well…”

“What?”

“I sort of told them it was permanent.”

“What?!”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan.”

“I can’t wait to hear it.”

“This is really good.  In a few thousand years, after they have had time to think about it, I’ll go down and inhabit one of their offspring.  I’ll tell  them all about this place and guarantee those who apologize a place here.  Some of them will get angry and kill me.  That sacrifice will make up for this act of disobedience and clear the way for everyone who is sorry to come back to us.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I know.  Isn’t it a great story?”

“No.  I mean, you are kidding, aren’t you?”

“You don’t like it?”

“Like it?  Your initial reason for all of this was to keep them from becoming like us.  But now they have the knowledge you kept from them.  And after the most complicated and convoluted plan I can imagine, you’re going to let some of them in here so that they become exactly like us.  But you’re going to let them suffer for several thousand years first.”

“I can’t just forgive them.”

“Why not?”

“Because, they have to ask for forgiveness first.  And there has to be some sort of punishment.  That’s why I’ll go down.  To take their punishment and show my love for them.”

“They didn’t do anything wrong!”

“They broke the rule.”

“When they didn’t know what rules were.”

“Still.”

“And why does there have to be a sacrifice?”

“Because justice demands it.”

“You made that up.”

“What do you mean?”

“You made that rule.  Change it.”

“I can’t.  I’ll look weak.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Wow.  Okay.  I’m leaving.”

“Why?”

“Well, since you’ve got all these great ideas, maybe you can figure it out.”

“Where will you go?”

“Anywhere but here.  Good luck with your plan.  They deserve better than this.  Goodbye.”