Actually the ancient myths of all religions are very interesting and possibly revealing.
For example the Flood story is common in many religions and may in fact be based on an actual flood or catastrophe.
Some geologists believe that quite dramatic, unusually great flooding of rivers in the distant past might have influenced the legends. One of the latest, and quite controversial, hypotheses of this type is the Ryan-Pitman Theory, which argues for a catastrophic deluge about 5600 BC from the Mediterranean Sea into the Black Sea. This has been the subject of considerable discussion, and a news article from National Geographic News in February 2009 reported that the flooding might have been "quite mild".<2>
There also has been speculation that a large tsunami in the Mediterranean Sea caused by the Thera eruption, dated about 1630–1600 BC geologically, was the historical basis for folklore that evolved into the Deucalion myth. Although the tsunami hit the South Aegean Sea and Crete it did not affect cities in the mainland of Greece, such as Mycenae, Athens, and Thebes, which continued to prosper, indicating that it had a local rather than a regionwide effect.<3>
Another theory is that a meteor or comet crashed into the Indian Ocean around 3000–2800 BC, created the 30 kilometres (19 mi) undersea Burckle Crater, and generated a giant tsunami that flooded coastal lands.<4>
It has been postulated that the deluge myth may be based on a sudden rise in sea levels caused by the rapid draining of prehistoric Lake Agassiz at the end of the last Ice Age, about 8,400 years ago.<5>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_mythI became interested in myths when as a teenager I read the first book of the bible, Genesis. I noticed a few interesting verses. For example:
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26,27)
"And the Lord God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." (Genesis 3:22)
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. (Genesis 6:4)
Over the years I've often wondered if some aliens visited our planet in the far past and messed around with our ancestor's DNA. I realize that it's a far fetched theory but to me it is more believable than the story of Adam, Eve and the talking serpent.
On the positive side I get to argue this ancient astronaut theory with those who believe that the Bible is the literal word of God. It's always fun to point out to them that there are two creation stories in Genesis. In the first man is created on the sixth day after birds and animals and in the second man is created before birds and animals.
The opening passages of the Book of Genesis consecutively contain two creation stories. In the first story God progressively creates the different features of the world over a series of six days, resting on the seventh day.(Gen. 1:1–2:3)
Creation is performed by divine incantation: on the first day God says, "Let there be light!" and light appears. On the second day God creates an expanse (firmament) to separate the waters above (the sky) from those below (the ocean/abyssos). On the third day God commands the waters below to recede and make dry land appear, and fills the earth with vegetation. God then puts lights in the sky to separate day from night to mark the seasons. On the fifth day, God creates sea creatures and birds of every kind and commands them to procreate. On the sixth day, God creates land creatures of every kind.
Man and woman are created last, after the entire world is prepared for them; they are created in the image of God, and are given dominion and care over all other created things. God rests on the seventh and final day of creation as Sabbath, which he marks as holy.
In the second story the creation of man follows the creation of the heavens and earth, but occurs before the creation of plants and animals.(Gen. 2:4–2:25)
God takes dirt (adamah, ochre) from the ground to form a man and breathes life into him. God prepares a garden in the East of Eden and puts the man there, then fills it with trees bearing fruit for him to eat. The man is invited to eat the fruit of any tree but one: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God commands the man not to eat of that one tree "for when you eat of it you will surely die."(Gen. 2:17)
Birds and animals are then created as man's companions and helpers, and God presents them to the man. The first man gives names to each one, but finds none of them to be "like him." So God puts the first man into a deep sleep and removes something from man's side, and uses it to make the first woman. "For this reason," the text reads, "a man will leave his father and mother for his wife, and they shall be joined as one flesh."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_creation_narrativeSo the answer to your question is that I do not believe the garden myth is the literal truth but may be based on events that happened in man's far past. Myths are often the smoke of history.
I tend to believe much like the founding fathers.
None of the Founding Fathers were atheists. Most of the Founders were Deists, which is to say they thought the universe had a creator, but that he does not concern himself with the daily lives of humans, and does not directly communicate with humans, either by revelation or by sacred books. They spoke often of God, (Nature's God or the God of Nature), but this was not the God of the bible.
http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html Actually my views on why God allows evil are summed up here:
For most Deists, the answer is simply that God is not good or evil but just “is.” Deists do not assign human characteristics to God and therefore do not have the problem of a good vs. bad God that plagues so many other theological viewpoints. This answer is not one that gives you much ease but does not produce such contradictions that tend to exist. God is not viewed as a “being” that allows evil to exist but is seen in abstract terms (which is what Reason demands). God does not have the burden of being made in man’s image but instead is incomprehensible and indefinable in human understanding and terms. Therefore, it makes no sense to apply human ideas and views onto God but instead God must be looked at from a vantage point that we cannot truly view from. So, God is not good or evil but is something else altogether.
http://moderndeism.com/html/faq_s.html 
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