Wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and everybody's favorite, gluttony. You've heard this list before. You know 'em, you love 'em, you either fear committing them or treat it as a to-do list. It's the "seven deadly sins," also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins.
I've been thinking about this lately, and reading up on the Seven Deadlies thanks to our good friends in Indiana. Had I missed something? Had buggery finally been added to the list?
No, I couldn't find any version of the Seven Deadlies that specifically included any homosexual acts.
But that nice lady in the pizza shop was so certain that homosexuality was the only sin that would prevent her from serving a customer!
So, maybe it's really covered in one of the seven already on the list. After all, the list isn't all-inclusive, they're really more like section headings.
According to Catholic moral thought, the seven deadly sins are not discrete from other sins, but are instead the origin ("capital" comes from the Latin caput, head) of the others.
That must be it, and obviously homosexuality must be included under "lust." But lust can mean a lot of things other than just buggery:
Lust, or lechery (carnal "luxuria") is an intense and uncontrolled desire. It is usually thought of as uncontrolled sexual wants, however the word was originally a general term for desire. Therefore lust could include the uncontrolled desire for money, food, fame, or power.
Hmmm... could include "lust for power"... but she didn't say anything about not catering a political wedding...
Upon further reading, it turns that lust wasn't even always on the Big List:
In the Book of Proverbs 6:16-19, among the verses traditionally associated with King Solomon, it states that the Lord specifically regards "six things the Lord hateth, and seven that are an abomination unto Him", namely:
1. A proud look
2. A lying tongue
3. Hands that shed innocent blood
4. A heart that devises wicked plots
5. Feet that are swift to run into mischief
6. A deceitful witness that uttereth lies
7. Him that soweth discord among brethren
Clearly a list of seven wasn't going to surface the need for such a strict pizza ban. I needed to go to the
Ten Commandments!
Let's see... There's "no committing adultery" but if the homosexuals involved aren't married that wouldn't apply...
It says I can't "covet my neighbor's wife," but it doesn't say anything about my neighbor's husband. Nor does it say anything about a wife who isn't my neighbor. Hmmm... but I guess that would be adultery.
Oh well. Not in the Ten Commandments either, and that thing hasn't been updated for, like, ages.
I guess I'll have to keep digging. Either that, or admit that some people just use religion as a weapon. No, that can't be it. I'll keep digging.
(BTW, if I were more craven for views, my click-bait title for this piece would have been "7 Deadly Sins? You'll Never Believe What They Missed!")