Whew, what a "strawman" position!!
I've been trying to remember the title of a theology book of mine in a course in the mid-seventies. This volume contained an incredible article by commentator Jacqueline Strain, who outlined the difference in world-view and ramifications of the early Jewish-based Christianity v. that of the more Greek-oriented one.
In the former, the only "sin" was a matter of falling away from the all-important, central, relationship with God (as Judaism is very strongly relationship-based). In the latter (considering that the Greek tradition is much more about analysis and pieces of things (rather than "wholes" and relationships), sin is viewed in a much different way. In this approach to Christianity (which was Paul's, considering his being (despite his status as a Jew and a Roman citizen, very much possessing a Greek mind-set), sin is about individual, discrete acts (like the commission of crimes). ..and if one accepts this essentially negative stance, there is NO END to one's list of sins, and one's world may become a very dark one, indeed.
By comparison, in the more Jewish "tradition" when one seems to "fall away" from one's relationship with God, there is plenty of opportunity to "return to the fold," and there is little felt need to endlessly dwell (obsess) upon the subject of sin. Christianity, as we know it (markedly colored by St. Paul (with his characteristic Greek mentality, and plenty of neurosis, from a man wracked with guilt and shame, and considering sexuality and even just the human body to be seriously abhorrent!) is distinctly and dramatically depressing and negative in orientation. There is simply NO END to the problem of evil with Paul's giant "bushel-baskets of sin!!" Of course, some churches, like those based on the teachings of Zwingli and Calvin (and please recall some American "fundamentalist" ministers such as Jonathon Edwards (and his thundering sermons)) are even worse than the rest: Abysmal!! They represent man as dwelling dangerously close to eternal damnation, hanging by a thread, and only barely saved "by the grace of God!" And, they generally harangue their congregations by threats related to the "arch-enemy," (and major Bogeyman) Satan. In effect, the "beginning of this story" is the OT fairy tale of the "Fall," then compounded by a perpetual accumulation of other sins, during one's lifetime. Clearly, this is a very daunting game!!
Now, one aspect of this is--yes--Paul's admonition to strive to be 'perfect." Yet a more Jewish interpretation would be something like "Strive to be complete, mature, integrated, illuminated (or "spirit-filled") and perfected, even as God in heaven is!"..which removes the very impractical, unrealistic--indeed, impossible--goal of "perfection"..to which nothing comports, except maybe a dead image projected onto a wall..certainly not human beings. The second interpretation relates to being full of life and very involved in life..unlike the pessimistic, victimizing tendency of the first. One simply cannot win in this context. ...and this is the negative type of Christianity--in the Roman Catholic version--that I decided to thoroughly reject during my teens...and I've never looked back.
I might add that (at least much of) the idea of mankind's terrible "evil" can be adequately explained in psychological terms. People, like Joe Stalin and "old Adolf" (and some of the denizens of Washington, through the years) were probably terrorized and abused during childhood. They were sociopaths, very flawed warped individuals with severe character defects. Mankind is NOT inherently evil...and I--personally-- am not plagued by past sins. Some regrets and some losses, surely, but I do not identify as a sinner, nor am I lost in a "Hades" self-recrimination, shame and torment. You handle the "old (unconscious content) junk," find some work that is fulfilling (and ideally develop a "support system" of loving people)...and MOVE ON!!! As it happens, for many years, I was "victimized" by clinical depression, ADD (and a serious “dysfunctional family”), but eventually found (through various psych. means, bodywork, neurofeedback, better nutrition, AND, some spiritual practice, as well as professional training in the medical field) a reasonably satisfying life...quite apart from the nightmare of "fundamentalist" Christianity.
