i think i've got it.



first, there were monkies. (cellular repoduction and evolution up to that point are explained to my satisfaction in carl sagan's "cosmos," so if you have questions on this point i must there refer you.) then, lightning hit a tree. a bunch of hominids then gathered around. something happened, maybe one of them died. words were created, the word for death. with an idea of death, there was little point, above the animal level, of killing all your neighbors, since it all goes back to dust, then, eventually. institutions were formed.
sin and death enter the world together in many of the religions i most enjoy. the flaming sword outside of eden is the turning hand of a clock. the death which god gave humanity when they learned good from evil is predictable.
after that, we just did what monkies do, with elaborate rationalizations.
even ants make war. even chimps make war. but they are in eden, and, in my opinion, though they behave as we do, have no evil and don't see death.