“The Church teaches that we’re born with original sin,” says Father Tim. “The temptation to behave selfishly is something that we have to negotiate throughout our lives. But as we grow up, we also develop a capacity to override our temptations. That’s what differentiates human beings from every other animal, as far as I can tell. If you had no choice but to obey every impulse, we wouldn’t call it a ‘sin’—we’d just call it an instinct.
