>> Belief in an afterlife is strictly optional and there's no notion of salvation or original sin.
>
>I find it particularly hard to understand how a sin can be original. It's all been done over and over :).

Have you heard the song "Original Sin"? The chorus goes:

I've been looking for an original sin.
One with a twist and a bit of a spin.
And since I've done all the old ones
Till they've all been done in.
Now I'm just looking-
Then I'm gone with the wind-
Endlessly searching for an original sin.

Written by Jim Steinman (one of the great lyricists). I have a couple of recordings of it. One is Meat Loaf, the other is a group called Pandora's Box.

Tamar