In what consisted the strength of the assault made upon Adam, which caused his fall? It was not his indwelling sin; for God made Adam after His own character, pure and upright. There were no corrupt principles in the first Adam, no corrupt propensities or tendencies to evil. Adam was as faultless as the angels before God's throne. These things are inexplainable, but many things which now we cannot understand will be made plain when we shall see as we are seen, and know as we are known. {16MR 86.2}
Jesus came to the world as a human being, that He might become acquainted with human beings, and come close to them in their need. He was born a babe in Bethlehem. He grew up as other children grow. And from youth to manhood, during the whole of His earthly life, He was assailed by Satan's fiercest temptations. {BEcho, September 3, 1900 par. 9}

Adam was tempted by the enemy, and he fell. It was not indwelling sin which caused him to yield; for God made him pure and upright, in His own image. He was as faultless as the angels before the throne. There were in him no corrupt principles, no tendencies to evil. But when Christ came to meet the temptations of Satan, He bore "the likeness of sinful flesh." In the wilderness, weakened physically by a fast of forty days, He met the adversary. His dignity was questioned, His authority disputed, His allegiance to His Father assailed by the fallen foe. {BEcho, September 3, 1900 par. 10}

Satan had "original sin", not us. Sin originated with Satan and we became "infected" with it by Adam and Eve choosing the fruit.

This is a typical Adventist idea. Ellen White writes of how sin was passed by the influence of mind upon mind. So sin is not passed by way of the flesh, but by way of the mind (the same idea as you are expressing in terms of eating the fruit).

However, in this context "original sin" is more of a pun than anything else.

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.(Pope Pius IX 1854)

By "typical Adventist idea," I mean something which has typically be said by Adventists for a long time.

Regarding what you think makes sense regarding the meaning of "original sin," that's what makes sense to me to, although this isn't how the phrase has been used theologically.

The Catholic version of Original Sin is that Mary was immaculately conceived so that Christ could be born without sin, meaning that Mary had a sinless nature. There's a fancy term for it, something like "Desoliderization," (but that's not quite right, since I couldn't find any hits for it in Google)

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.(Pope Pius IX 1854)

In the Protestant version, it is Christ who was immaculately conceived, "preserved immune from all stain of original sin." The teachings of Jones and Waggoner (and later Prescott) flew in the face of this idea.

Are you saying that Ellen White is basically saying that every baby born was born in sin?

Aaaah,I believe im getting a little more understanding for your position. I think that issue is very important. Do you remember if it has been brought up before in these discussions? I vaguely remember coming across that somewhere but will not swear to it.

Babies need a Savior because their salvation is dependent upon the faith of their parents, and without a Savior their parents could have no faith.

If Original Sin meant that we all die because Adam sinned, then everyone would agree with it, as, to the best of my knowledge, there isn't any disagreement on this point. The disagreement comes over whether the guilt of Adam is passed genetically from generation to generation.