Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath and Sloth.
The seven deadly sins. Are we, in America, so inured to what we see every day that we no longer see it, or even realize it is there? We hear about it, sure, but do we feel it? Or do we give it lip-service and just move on? I am as guilty as anyone of this, but it has taken a deep self examination to realize this to be true. I try to be good, to people, to animals, to the earth even. But the path is no longer a road that goes up and down like gently rolling hills, but has has become mountains with sheer cliff faces to climb on one side and ravines to slip into on the other and I have no idea as to where the paths up and down truly are any more. So, that said, on with the ripoff of info from Wikipedia!
Maybe I need to examine each sin and itemize where I see them? It is as good a place to start as any other.
Pride - (Latin, superbia) is considered, on almost every list, the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins: the perversion of the faculties that make humans more like God—dignity and holiness. It is also thought to be the source of the other capital sins. Also known as hubris (from ancient Greek ὕβρις), or futility, it is identified as dangerously corrupt selfishness, the putting of one's own desires, urges, wants, and whims before the welfare of other people.
In even more destructive cases, it is irrationally believing that one is essentially and necessarily better, superior, or more important than others, failing to acknowledge the accomplishments of others, and excessive admiration of the personal image or self (especially forgetting one's own lack of divinity, and refusing to acknowledge one's own limits, faults, or wrongs as a human being).
Hmm, where to start? White pride, black pride, latin pride, gay pride, etc. Christian pride, Catholic pride, Hasidic pride, Islamic pride, etc. And who amongst us has not taken a personal pride in some accomplishment? Even corporations do it — “Proud sponsor of” this or that.
Greed — (as seen by the Church) is applied to an artificial, rapacious desire and pursuit of material possessions. Thomas Aquinas wrote, "Greed is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things." In Dante's Purgatory, the penitents are bound and laid face down on the ground for having concentrated excessively on earthly thoughts. Hoarding of materials or objects, theft and robbery, especially by means of violence, trickery, or manipulation of authority are all actions that may be inspired by greed. Such misdeeds can include simony, where one attempts to purchase or sell sacraments, including Holy Orders and, therefore, positions of authority in the Church hierarchy.
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As defined outside Christian writings, greed is an inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one needs, especially with respect to material wealth. Like pride, it can lead to not just some, but all evil.
Wow, where to start? Maybe a question first? Is capitalism, by its very nature, greed made material? Almost all companies are formed to gain money, be it for its owners, stockholders, heirs, etc. Most churches do it, a lot of humans do it Maybe I should limit the definition to just material wealth; FSM knows I am always after more knowledge and understanding…
Lust — intense longing. It is usually thought of as intense or unbridled sexual desire, which leads to fornication, adultery, rape, bestiality, and other immoral sexual acts. However, lust could also mean simply desire in general; thus, lust for money, power, and other things are sinful. In accordance with the words of Henry Edward Manning, the impurity of lust transforms one into "a slave of the devil".
Lust, if not managed properly, can subvert propriety.
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Dante defined lust as the disordered love for individuals, thus possessing at least the redeeming feature of mutuality, unlike the graver sins, which constitute an increasingly agonised focusing upon the solitary self (a process begun with the more serious sin of gluttony). It is generally thought to be the least serious capital sin as it is an abuse of a faculty that humans share with animals, and sins of the flesh are less grievous than spiritual sins (love excessive, not love turning ever further awry toward hatred of man and God).
Is the longing for information and knowledge truly lust when it is for gaining understanding of our existence? Back to original intentions ascribed to lust, I am unfamiliar with this as I am not really sexual in nature as I lack cravings of this sort. This can only be ascribed to people, either individually or in groups, and from all walks of life. Heck, I hear they can even become president…
Envy — like greed and lust, is characterized by an insatiable desire. It can be described as a sad or resentful covetousness towards the traits or possessions of someone else. It arises from vainglory and severs a man from his neighbor.
Malicious envy is similar to jealousy in that they both feel discontent towards someone's traits, status, abilities, or rewards. A difference is that the envious also desire the entity and covet it. Envy can be directly related to the Ten Commandments, specifically, "Neither shall you covet ... anything that belongs to your neighbour"—a statement that may also be related to greed. Dante defined envy as "a desire to deprive other men of theirs". In Dante's Purgatory, the punishment for the envious is to have their eyes sewn shut with wire because they gained sinful pleasure from seeing others brought low. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, the struggle aroused by envy has three stages: during the first stage, the envious person attempts to lower another's reputation; in the middle stage, the envious person receives either "joy at another's misfortune" (if he succeeds in defaming the other person) or "grief at another's prosperity" (if he fails); the third stage is hatred because "sorrow causes hatred".
Again, where to start? Yes, I get envious, a lot! The ability to walk easily, the ability to breathe freely, the ability to eat freely, lots of things to envy in others, but it always comes back to health. Corporations raid each other to get people and resources all the time, and if they can’t get it they try to destroy it. But, I am ascribing human behavior to corporations, which are governed by humans. I could use Philip Morris as an example of insatiable to desire to own everything, but it might be better suited for the next sin, which is:
Gluttony — the overindulgence and overconsumption of anything to the point of waste. The word derives from the Latin gluttire, meaning to gulp down or swallow.
In Christianity, it is considered a sin if the excessive desire for food causes it to be withheld from the needy. Because of these scripts, gluttony can be interpreted as selfishness; essentially placing concern with one's own impulses or interests above the well-being or interests of others.
During times of famine, war, and similar periods when food is scarce, it is possible for one to indirectly kill other people through starvation just by eating too much or even too soon.
Kinda hits home. Yes, obese, on a diet, and gaining (2000 +/- 200 calories), and still gaining; went off med for a bit and started losing but got chewed out for not taking med… Truly a human condition in America of epidemic proportions!
Wrath — can be defined as uncontrolled feelings of anger, rage, and even hatred. Wrath often reveals itself in the wish to seek vengeance. In its purest form, wrath presents with injury, violence, and hate that may provoke feuds that can go on for centuries. Wrath may persist long after the person who did another a grievous wrong is dead. Feelings of wrath can manifest in different ways, including impatience, hateful misanthropy, revenge, and self-destructive behavior, such as drug abuse or suicide.
Some favorites from Wikipedia regarding wrath:
People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing. — Will Rogers
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In her introduction to Purgatory, Dorothy L. Sayers describes wrath as "love of justice perverted to revenge and spite".
In accordance with Henry Edward, angry people are "slaves to themselves".
Currently feeling this due to seeing the effects of climate change in my lifetime, barbaric pricing of medical services and medicines, the the impotence of justice, the inherent racism, homophobia, ad nauseum. Kinda gets to a point of despair-inducing indifference not seeing any of the actions we are taking making any difference at all...
Sloth — refers to a peculiar jumble of notions, dating from antiquity and including mental, spiritual, pathological, and physical states. It may be defined as absence of interest or habitual disinclination to exertion.
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Sloth has also been defined as a failure to do things that one should do. By this definition, evil exists when "good" people fail to act.
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Unlike the other capital sins, which are sins of committing immorality, sloth is a sin of omitting responsibilities. It may arise from any of the other capital vices; for example, a son may omit his duty to his father through anger. While the state and habit of sloth is a mortal sin, the habit of the soul tending towards the last mortal state of sloth is not mortal in and of itself except under certain circumstances.
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Sloth not only subverts the livelihood of the body, taking no care for its day-to-day provisions, but also slows down the mind, halting its attention to matters of great importance. Sloth hinders the man in his righteous undertakings and thus becomes a terrible source of human's undoing.
Truly a human condition, and one I find myself constantly battling against. Perhaps this “absence of interest” is due to struggling to survive, along with the bread and circuses times we are living in?. Maybe we need to be reminded from time to time just what it is that we are really fighting for in this day and age.
I guess my main point of all of this is: How does a small majority like us make a difference? It feels like I am the only person bailing out the boat while the other 99 just pee in the boat in a downpour (especially living in a red state)…
ps shameless plug here, maybe toss a little extra love to Wikipedia for their great service? I donate to them, NPR, EFF, and ACLU every year, along with local charities. Maybe they could use some love too.