Somehow a movie called "14urteen" doesn't have the same ring to it. As of this week, there are seven new ways to put you soul in a state of mortal sin, because 12-13 commandments and the original seven deadly sins apparently just doesn't cover it any more. Here are the old deadly sins:
- Pride
- Envy
- Gluttony
- Lust
- Anger
- Greed
- Sloth
And here are the new ones, which look suspiciously like re-hashed old ones:
- Environmental pollution (poss. sloth)
- Genetic manipulation
- Accumulating excessive wealth (greed)
- Inflicting poverty (greed)
- Drug trafficking and consumption (greed/gluttony)
- Morally debatable experiments
- Violation of fundamental rights of human nature (love thy neighbor, thou shalt not kill, etc.)
Maybe it's just me, but has the human race come this far that we need our sins spelled out that specifically? Did anybody really think mass genocide was okay until just now? More importantly, are things like pollution mortal sins or just a really bad idea? As human beings, we can not help but pollute the environment in at least a little way. Am I now going to hell because I don't drive a hybrid? Maybe it's not that extreme, but I think I kind of have a point.
I think as a society, we have become too used to trying to find loopholes. "Well, Jesus didn't specifically say I shouldn't shoot heroin or destroy the planet, so I don't need to go to confession". What we need to do is use a little common sense and have a little bit bigger conscience and maybe in fifty years we won't have a book of things that will send us to hell.
< / soapbox>
2 comments:
It'd be a lot easier if they just condensed them all down to one: THOUS SHALT NOT. There. Covers everything. *I* think that if you are a decent, moral person with your head screwed on straight, you already KNOW what you should or shouldn't be doing.
If you're doing drugs or exploiting the poor, you aren't going to stop just because some religion tells you to, or even a diety! It's like gun control laws - all they do is make it difficult for law abiding citizens to obtain a gun for home protection. The criminals don't care - THEY don't USE gun stores!
Very few people are going to be in the middle of snorting cocaine and say, "Oh Cardinal Fang says it's a sin? Well then! I shall cease imbibing this fine Peruvian nose candy at ONCE!"
I think it's just the Catholic church desperately trying to stay relevant in a time when most people have moved on from organized religion. Even if they are people of faith, they realize that in most cases, their own consciences can -and should - be relied upon.
Funny thing about those seven deadly sins....They're not really in the bible anyway! They were the Catholic Churche's attempt to make the original 10 commandments more applicable to daily life in the 6th century.
Wow, we couldn't have a religion for more than 600 years before we had to revamp some items?
Yes, yes, Judaism's had these commandments for a couple thousand years and they saw no need to clarify...wait, kosher law is pretty messed up too. Hang on, I just derailed my train of thought...
So what's my point again? Oh yeah. Sooner or later the lawyers all get shot and we fall back to the basic principles the original commandments call for.
Heck, Jesus tried to simplify this into two easy steps.
1)Love your Creator. C'mon, he gave you existence, don't hold a grudge.
2)Love everyone else. Sure, we're all a bunch of douche bags sooner or later, but no one ever thinks it's cool to unnecessarily fuck up someone else's life.
If you think what you're doing doesn't gel with these two things, (FACE VALUE: rationalization is just lying to yourself), then it's probably a sin somehow.
Ah well, it's hard living a sin free life, especially when some sins are a lot of fun.
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