Original Sin?

Is the Christian doctrine of original sin rational at all? I am surprised that how many people take the doctrine of original Sin at face value even though it is easily the most illogical concept of all Christian thought.

The most extreme case which I heard from my Baptist days is that everyone is inflicted by the original sin which is like a cancer that needs to be removed. And everyone is going to hell by default unless the sin of the person is atoned for.

The Lutheran doctrine of original sin is very similar to Catholicism. Original sin is the root of all sins and is not something that can be removed from this life time, but a person has to be regenerated and saved in order to avoid eternal damnation.

I think the doctrine of original sin is best understood with this parable. Let's suppose that there is someone who makes cars. Unfortunately none of the cars can run properly. Much to the chagrin of the maker, none of the cars can drive in a straight line and breaks don't work much of the time. So instead of blaming the car maker (God), we think that it makes more sense to blame and punish the drivers (people) instead.

I don't actually deny the existence of original sin. In fact almost all religions in the world have some form of original sin in their teachings. But one difference between Buddhist and Christian idea of original sin is that the Buddhists don't label original sin as bad but rather the original sin is simply is. It is there, and we (and God) have to deal with it. Therefore, for the record I have no problem with people saying that Jesus died for our sins. I only have problem with the way the doctrine is formulated.