[HerenIstarion]

Original Sin re:

davem

I think 'original sin' is misleading, in that neither race 'originally' defied Eru or went against any commandment of his. Some defied the Valar(Elves), or turned to Morgoth (Men), but this is not the case for all members of either race, unlike with Adam & Eve, whose 'sin' is passed down to all their decendents

Men did. Exactly like Adam & Eve, and the sin is passed down to all their decendants. It would be proper to give story in full, I reckon:

AFAA

'Therefore I say to you, Andreth, what did ye do, ye Men,
long ago in the dark? How did ye anger Eru? For otherwise all
your tales are but dark dreams devised in a Dark Mind. Will
you say what you know or have heard?'
'I will not,' said Andreth. 'We do nor speak of this to those of
other race. But indeed the Wise are uncertain and speak with
contrary voices; for whatever happened long ago, we have fled
from it; we have tried to forget, and so long have we tried that
now we cannot remember any time when we were not as we are
- save only legends of days when death came less swiftly and
our span was still far longer, but already there was death.
...

Then Andreth being urged by Finrod said at last: 'This is the tale
that Adanel of the House of Hador told to me.'

Some say the Disaster happened at the beginning of the
history of our people, before any had yet died. The Voice had
spoken to us, and we had listened. The Voice said: 'Ye are my
children. I have sent you to dwell here. In time ye will inherit all
this Earth, but first ye must be children and learn. Call on me
and I shall hear; for I am watching over you.'
We understood the Voice in our hearts, though we had no
words yet. Then the desire for words awoke in us, and we began
to make them. But we were few, and the world was wide and
strange. Though we greatly desired to understand, learning was
difficult, and the making of words was slow.
In that time we called often and the Voice answered. But it
seldom answered our questions, saying only: 'First seek to find
the answer for yourselves. For ye will have joy in the finding,
and so grow from childhood and become wise. Do not seek to
leave childhood before your time.'
But we were in haste, and we desired to order things to our
will; and the shapes of many things that we wished to make
awoke in our minds. Therefore we spoke less and less to the
Voice.
Then one appeared among us, in our own form visible, but
greater and more beautiful; and he said that he had come out of
pity. 'Ye should not have been left alone and uninstructed,' he
said. 'The world is full of marvellous riches which knowledge
can unlock. Ye could have food more abundant and more
delicious than the poor things that ye now eat. Ye could have
dwellings of ease, in which ye could keep light and shut out the
night. Ye could be clad even as I.'
Then we looked and lo! he was clad in raiment that shone like
silver and gold, and he had a crown on his head, and gems in his
hair. 'If ye wish to be like me,' he said, 'I will teach you.' Then
we took him as teacher.
He was less swift than we had hoped to teach us how to find,
or to make for ourselves, the things that we desired, though he
had awakened many desires in our hearts. But if any doubted or
were impatient, he would bring and set before us all that we
wished for. 'I am the Giver of Gifts,' he said; 'and the gifts shall
never fail as long as ye trust me.'
Therefore we revered him, and we were enthralled by him;
and we depended upon his gifts, fearing to return to a life
without them that now seemed poor and hard. And we believed
all that he taught. For we were eager to know about the world
and its being: about the beasts and birds, and the plants that
grew in the Earth; about our own making; and about the lights
of heaven, and the countless stars, and the Dark in which they
are set.
All that he taught seemed good, for he had great knowledge.
But ever more and more he would speak of the Dark. 'Greatest
of all is the Dark,' he said, 'for It has no bounds. I came out of
the Dark, but I am Its master. For I have made Light. I made the
Sun and the Moon and the countless stars. I will protect you
from the Dark, which else would devour you.'
Then we spoke of the Voice. But his face became terrible; for
he was angry. 'Fools!' he said. 'That was the Voice of the Dark.
It wishes to keep you from me; for It is hungry for you.'
Then he went away, and we did not see him for a long time, and without his gifts we were poor. And there came a day when
suddenly the Sun's light began to fail, until it was blotted out
and a great shadow fell on the world; and all the beasts and
birds were afraid. Then he came again, walking through the
shadow like a bright fire.
We fell upon our faces. 'There are some among you who are
still listening to the Voice of the Dark,' he said, 'and therefore It
is drawing nearer. Choose now! Ye may have the Dark as Lord,
or ye may have Me. But unless ye take Me for Lord and swear to
serve Me, I shall depart and leave you; for I have other realms
and dwelling places, and I do not need the Earth, nor you.'
Then in fear we spoke as he commanded, saying: 'Thou art
the Lord; Thee only we will serve. The Voice we abjure and will
not hearken to it again.'
'So be it!' he said. 'Now build Me a house upon a high place,
and call it the House of the Lord. Thither I will come when I
will. There ye shall call on Me and make your petitions to Me.'
And when we had built a great house, he came and stood
before the high seat, and the house was lit as with fire. 'Now,' he
said, 'come forth any who still listen to the Voice!'
There were some, but for fear they remained still and said
naught. 'Then bow before Me and acknowledge Me!' he said.
And all bowed to the ground before him, saying: 'Thou art the
One Great, and we are Thine.'
Thereupon he went up as in a great flame and smoke, and we
were scorched by the heat. But suddenly he was gone, and it was
darker than night; and we fled from the House.
Ever after we went in great dread of the Dark; but he seldom
appeared among us again in fair form, and he brought few gifts.
If at great need we dared to go to the House and pray to him to
help us, we heard his voice, and received his commands. But
now he would always command us to do some deed, or to give
him some gift, before he would listen to our prayer; and ever the
deeds became worse, and the gifts harder to give up.
The first Voice we never heard again, save once. In the
stillness of the night It spoke, saying: 'Ye have abjured Me, but
ye remain Mine. I gave you life. Now it shall be shortened, and
each of you in a little while shall come to Me, to learn who is
your Lord: the one ye worship, or I who made him.'
Then our terror of the Dark was increased; for we believed
at the Voice was of the Darkness behind the stars. And some
of us began to die in horror and anguish, fearing to go out into
the Dark. Then we called on our Master to save us from death,
and he did not answer. But when we went to the House and all
bowed down there, at last he came, great and majestic, but his
face was cruel and proud.
'Now ye are Mine and must do My will,' he said. 'I do not
trouble that some of you die and go to appease the hunger of the
Dark; for otherwise there would soon be too many of you,
crawling like lice on the Earth. But if ye do not do My will, ye
will feel My anger, and ye will die sooner, for I will slay you.'
Thereafter we were grievously afflicted, by weariness, and
hunger, and sickness; and the Earth and all things in it were
turned against us. Fire and Water rebelled against us. The birds
and beasts shunned us, or if they were strong they assailed us.
Plants gave us poison; and we feared the shadows under trees.
Then we yearned for our life as it was before our Master
came; and we hated him, but feared him no less than the Dark.
And we did his bidding, and more than his bidding; for
anything that we thought would please him, however evil, we
did, in the hope that he would lighten our afflictions, and at the
least would not slay us.
For most of us this was in vain. But to some he began to show
favour: to the strongest and cruellest, and to those who went
most often to the House. He gave gifts to them, and knowledge
that they kept secret; and they became powerful and proud, and
they enslaved us, so that we had no rest from labour amidst our
afflictions.
Then there arose some among us who said openly in their
despair: 'Now we know at last who lied, and who desired to
devour us. Not the first Voice. It is the Master that we have
taken who is the Darkness; and he did not come forth from it, as
he said, but he dwells in it. We will serve him no longer! He is
our Enemy.'
Then in fear lest he should hear them and punish us all, we
slew them, if we could; and those that fled we hunted; and if any
were caught, our masters, his friends, commanded that they
should be taken to the House and there done to death by fire.
That pleased him greatly, his friends said; and indeed for a
while it seemed that our afflictions were lightened.
But it is told that there were a few that escaped us, and went
away into far countries, fleeing from the shadow. Yet they did
not escape from the anger of the Voice; for they had built the
House and bowed down in it. And they came at last to the
land's end and the shores of the impassable water; and behold!
the Enemy was there before them.

The image of a tree would be proper, I think, When one branch (or the roots themselves) of humanity is (are) infected, the whole tree is ill.