The New Seven Deadly Sins

Recently, the Catholic Church unveiled “The New Seven Deadly Sins”. They are:

• Genetic Modification
• Human Experimentations
• Polluting the Environment
• Social Injustice
• Causing Poverty
• Financial Gluttony
• Taking Drugs

Now, some of these are a little difficult for an individual to apply in everyday life, unlike the first seven, which were designed to be the antithesis of the Cardinal Virtues. Both of those dealt explicitly with how an individual person should live life.

In addition to the confusion surrounding the tone of plurality, there seems to be a certain vagueness about the new rules. For example, does “Taking Drugs” mean using illegal drugs, or all drugs? I, for one, have a hard time swallowing that pill. Are we to believe that while antibiotics might save your life, they will damn your soul?

And how does anybody “Cause Poverty”? Do these sins deal with the unintended consequences of actions? For example, if I win the lottery (Financial Gluttony), and don’t donate my new fortune to charity, am I inadvertently Causing Poverty? And how is Financial Gluttony different from good old-fashioned Greed?

What about Social Injustice? How can a single person impact that either way? Is being a citizen of a racist nation enough to damn you? Is not rising in rebellion over a social injustice sufficient to send you to hell?

And what, exactly, is Social Injustice? Slavery? Racism? Affirmative Action? Where is the line, and, more importantly, WHO decides?

A lot of these new sins seem to be somewhat redundant too – Causing Poverty and Financial Gluttony, for example. I don’t know that many of these are even “sinful”, but stem from a conservation-istic philosophy of how religion should guide one’s life. Were I to make this list, I would certainly put “selfishness” above anything on it. As in the old days, it is motive that makes an act pure or impure, not any particular act itself. Of course, with pure motives, some acts would never be done, but that’s secondary to the main point: it is intent, not deed, that the Church should be guiding.

As it stands, the list could just as easily say “guns” instead of “human experimentation” – or even say “using hammers” – they seem a reactionary list of personal preferences, not (or very little) guided by a deep moral philosophy. There is no “reason why” aspect to this list, as there was with the original, but only a kind of negative version of a shopping list. Thou Shalt Not Buy Kool Aid. Motive determines whether the application of any tool, from a screwdriver to genetic engineering, is good or bad, and there is no consideration of that evident here. But, if God hadn’t meant for us to play god, He wouldn’t have given us such huge brains.

I mean, think about it: isn’t “building a house” interfering with God’s natural world too? Should we live only in caves, provided for us by the Good Lord? Should we not take any action to better our lots in life, because if God had meant for us to be better off, He would have simply created us that way? Where do we draw the line?

I’ve always understood Pride to mean excessive ego, or arrogance. Take Eliot Spitzer, for example: Lust alone doesn’t explain his actions – he was all kinds of arrogant. He thought he was “above” the law, or too important, etc. I mean, he brought State Troopers with him to his “meetings”! Now THAT is ballsy!

In this case, though, it seems the Church itself is succumbing to the siren’s song of Pride. Their egos have led them astray, and caused them to issue these broad, contradictory directives that carry little moral or spiritual backing, save that whoever was in charge felt very strongly about them, for no particular reason. They are generalizations of someone’s personal beliefs, drawn on a poorly defined sense of what is moral. They are judgments made on assumption, not deep spiritual examination.

They are the Church once again declaring that the Church is infallible, and automatically correct, no matter how erroneous the beliefs of the men in charge of it. These new sins are the proof in the pudding that today’s theologians are little more than warmed-over, half-baked philosophers riding on the high horse of self-indulgency. It isn’t Pride if you’re telling others what is right and wrong, right?

All religions share the common goal of improving life through spirituality and moral philosophy. The Catholic Church’s new Seven Deadly Sins do not reflect that basic principle. So, since the Church has failed us all, followers and non-believers alike, once again, I will put on my own funny hat, and step up to the plate.

Here are MY recommendations for seven new Deadly Sins, to be added to the original set:

Selfishness

Putting “self” above others is surely the root of much of the world’s evil. When we deliberately, or through negligence, bring harm to others exclusively for our own benefit, we are committing the sin of Selfishness. This is not to say that a person should give all that he or she has to the poor, but that exercising that universal drive behind Greed and Envy leads down the dark road of sin.

Hatred

Hate is the antithesis of Love. Hate does not allow for forgiveness, redemption, or apology. Hate darkens our souls, drives us apart from others, and weakens our ability to be one with the spirit of God. When we hate, we reject all that is the target of our aggression, including the seed of the divine that lies within each of us, the spark of life, the gift of the soul. When we hate, we reject utterly everything, both good and ill, that comprises the focus of our ire. We disregard all of that entity’s potential for good, even the value of that life itself, over some particular matter of disagreement – often, a trivial one in the scope of all the things in this life that really matter.

Ignorance

Not to be confused with Innocence, Ignorance is the deliberate act of ignoring facts and information in order to justify a particular view. In truth, this sin might be seen as an aspect of Pride, in that we presume that our own prejudices are right, no matter what trifling things like fact and reality have to say about a matter. By committing this sin, we sow the seeds of darkness in the world around us. We spread lies, even though we refuse to see our own untruths are what they are. In this way, we knowingly lie to others, but, worse still, we lie to ourselves. If we cannot even be honest with ourselves, what hope have we of Salvation, whatever its form?

“Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one’s self.” – Terry Goodkind

Irrationality

This sin is akin to Ignorance, in that it stems from individual choice. In impassioned moments, we often have difficulty in thinking clearly and rationally, but those are not what is being addressed here: we all make mistakes, that is what Forgiveness is for. This sin deals with those times when we are perfectly capable of making a reasonable choice or decision, but choose not to, for whatever reason. Instead, we opt to follow further down the road begun at Selfishness, a path lit by Ignorance, and proceed deeper into the darkness of self-delusion. Surely, there is no greater sin than acting as if what we, in our Pride, believe should be were true, rather than what IS. The damage this sin can cause to ourselves and to others cannot be understated.

Regret

While it is wise to learn from our past errors, allowing ourselves to be consumed by our mistakes is to willingly choose to venture forth into a black pit of despair. Regret is akin to Hatred, but focusing on one particular aspect of one’s self. It is the act of Ignoring all else, good and ill, that comprises your life, and clinging to the negative. It is the rejection and degradation of one’s own worth, and, by extension, the value of life itself.

“The past can teach us, through experience, how to accomplish things in the future, comfort us with cherished memories, and provide the foundation of what has already been accomplished. But only the future holds life. To live in the past is to embrace what is dead. To live life to its fullest, each day must be created anew. As rational, thinking beings we must use our intellect, not a blind devotion to what has come before, to make rational choices.” – Terry Goodkind

Blind Faith

As with the other Sins, Blind Faith stands in opposition to its Virtuous counterpart of justified faith by rejecting the outside world, in part or in whole, and focusing inward on the delusions favored by the self. This is a Prideful act of Ignorance, where one makes a deliberate choice to ignore reality in favor of what one might wish were real.

For example, faith in a leader might be justified, or it might not. If a leader shows, through acts and deed, not mere promises, that he or she stands for those truths that improve life, not diminish it, and that he or she is able to bring those changes about, then faith in that person’s leadership is justified. However, if one chooses to Ignore a history of false promises and empty rhetoric, then one is engaging in Blind Faith, the unthinking acceptance of what one wishes were real, and, by extension, the rejection of what is.

It is important to draw a distinction here between this Sin and others, as it is a special combination of other factors, fueled by passion that burns hot enough to overwhelm Reason. It differs from Ignorance in the same way that reasonable Belief differs from factual Knowledge – where Ignorance deals with ignoring Certainty, Blind Faith deals with Belief based on wishes and whims alone.

Justification

This final Sin is the most damning of all, because it masquerades as Reason. It is what we do when we lie to ourselves in an effort to assuage a guilty conscience. It is how we manage to sleep at night, knowing that we have committed an unforgivable act. It is the culmination of all the other Sins, in some form or another, applied in such a way as to fool ourselves into thinking that up is down, black is white, and other such nonsense.

Justification is a woman telling herself that her abortion was not an act of killing, because the being insider her is not “alive”. It is a scientist, scrambling to explain why the theory that is his life’s work is correct, despite all evidence to the contrary. It is the spouse making excuses for why the housework isn’t done, or why it is really his or her partner’s fault that an event occurred, instead of simply asking forgiveness. It is a politician telling a passionate crowd that allowing people to die of treatable diseases is good for them, because of economics. It is an act of misplaced blame, an absurdity, where, instead of seeking to redress an obvious wrong, we make up false reasons why it should be Ignored – not forgiven, but forgotten.

Here are some additional resources that can aid in understanding the moral philosophy behind these Sins, and help elaborate on why these particular Seven stand apart from every-day, run-of-the-mill wrongs.

• Belrad, Bryan – “Never Let GO”(poem)
• Belrad, Bryan – “Rage of Night” (novel)
• Eddings, David – “The Malloreon” (series of novels)
• Goodkind, Terry – “The Sword of Truth” (series of novels)

In closing, I feel it is vital to remind everyone that Forgiveness is the greatest gift, the most profound power, endowed in us by our Creator. There is no Sin that is irredeemable. But, to be Forgiven, one must ask for it – and deserve it.