I have been wondering why the term sin has almost died out in our language and I think for many of us who were brought up in a very strict version of Christianity it became too painful to think about it.We were made to feel ashamed of our failures so much so that we abandon the whole idea of sin.We don’t know as children that it is very difficult to live without making mistakes and our emotions run away with us so that we hurt other children….But now looking at the world as it is,maybe it would be better of more adults admitted making dreadful mistakes.And we know free will may not be as free as we think.But if we accept we do sin then it makes us more tolerant of others around us…If we were perfect it might make us self righteous and judgemental which to me seems a perversion of religion.Yet this is happening in the world today.
How my heart sings 
Your quote is from ‘Murder in the Cathedral’ – Eliot.
Re. the bomb, do you know this clip by Robert Oppenheimer, the so called ‘father of the bomb’ : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8H7Jibx-c0
I just looked up the quote!This is good,thank you
That reminds me of the lines
And this above all is the greatest treason
To do the right thing for the wrong reason… Who said that?
Yes, but there is a problem as we can behave well and have a heart full of hate.On the other hand we can’t become virtuous entirely by will power.We could leave out the word ” sin” but admit our actions/words may have wounded others without a good cause.Sometimes if you tell someone they have hurt you they reply,you are too sensitive.I think it is very interesting.The pain might come from being made to feel shame, perhaps as a small child; having an adult glaring at one can be horrible.And ironically some people feel guilty of sin when they have done nothing wrong.I believe in some types of mental illness people feel they dropped the bomb on Hiroshima or cause the Middle East conflict.Meanwhile those who might have done feel perfectly happy.[as far as we can tell]
I think there has been a transition to thinking of ‘law’ as something ‘without’, whereas sin is ‘within’.