It's an old testament quote from the bible. (Exodus 20:5) - "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,"
That is where the phrase "Sins of the Father" comes from

But people who say this as a cop out obviously haven't read their bible because in the new testament, jesus tells us that each man will one day be judged according to his sins when he faces judgement from God.

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