On the news today, it was announced that the Vatican has released a new listing of 7 Deadly Sins. This list does not replace the original list of 7 Deadly Sins, but simply adds to it.
We are asked as Catholics how we feel about these new deadly sins. Personally as someone who grew up as a Catholic, I have taken issue a lot over the years with the fact that the rules of the religion seem to be constantly changing. This has made me wonder in the past weather what was taught in the church was what God wants us to know and to believe, and what God wants us to abide by, or if these are rules that are simply made up by a bunch of men sitting around a table eating lunch.
We are led to believe that the original deadly sins came directly from God and were revealed by one of the chosen ones with which he chose to communicate through. Weather this is true or not the original 7 deadly sins certainly made a lot of sense. They were clear, easy to understand and to the point.
For those who need a little review on the original Deadly Sins they are as follows:
Pride (Vanity) – Now there is nothing wrong with pride, but pride that gets in the way of one’s belief in God or over shadows ones belief in God is what is meant here.
Envy – An excessive jealousy of someone else’s possessions, abilities, or attributes.
Gluttony – This is basically eating too much. Eating more than you body needs to survive is considered gluttony.
Lust – A more than healthy need to fulfill ones sexual appetites
Anger (Wrath) – Spurn love and opt for furry.
Greed – When the desire for wealth overrides the need for spiritualization.
Sloth – Those who avoid work both physically and spiritually.
The new deadly sins seem to be pulled completely from the current state of our world, addressing current problems and scientific research. This of course only seems to prove that these new 7 deadly sins are man made, and stem from the beliefs and feelings of people rather than God. The new list also includes some sins that are really very vague, it is not really explained to what extent some of these new deadly sins are to go to or what exactly is meant by them. Here is the list of the newest 7 Deadly Sins:
* Human Experimentations
* Polluting the Environment
* Social Injustice
* Causing Poverty
* Financial Gluttony
* Taking Drugs
Taking Drugs – Of these new 7 deadly sins only one of them is mostly clear in my opinion. Taking drugs is pretty easy to understand. Of course one could ask if this only refers to illegal or recreation drugs, or all drugs. One would assume this deadly sin does not apply to prescribed medications.
Genetic Modifications – Genetic Modifications by definition is a removal of a gene linked to an undesirable trait by using certain treatments with which to do so. One may consider this to be scientifically altering the human body. This can change ones genes, but it can also offer a chance for humans to eliminate certain inherent physical traits, therefore eliminating certain conditions and diseases. I don’t really know the church’s full argument against this and would indeed need to research it before judging their decision on this. It is not my intention to judge the choices with which to make this a deadly sin, however, I might wonder why God would give us the capacity to learn and extend our minds to a point of which such science could be used if he didn’t want us to use it. However, this deadly sin is vague and more explanation needs to be given.
Human Experimentations – This is really vague in my opinion. Does that mean a human being who is dying of cancer should not try a new experimental drug, to possibly save their life, or to help save others lives in the future? Just what are we talking about here? Of course when it comes human experimentation we can certainly go too far, but there are many cases where it is helpful and will save more lives in the future. Again I am trying not to judge here, but I need to know more specifically what is being asked of us as human beings here.
Polluting the Environment – This is actually pretty self explanatory, but again to what extent are we talking about here. Am I going to go to hell if I use hairspray on my hair, or if everything I used fails to be made from recycled products, or is not recyclable. Just how extreme is this non pollution of the environment. What is considered to be pollution by one person is not considered pollution by another, just what are talking about here? One would hope that this would specifically mean blatant and knowing attempts to destroy the environment. But I am not sure what that means.
Social Injustice – Social Injustice is the perceived unfairness of divisions of rewards and burdens. The words and the definition of the term social injustice is vague to me. Social Injustice to me means that some people are given certain perks or handed out bad situations just based on who they are. This certainly does still happen in some countries in this world but exactly how far are we to go with those terms. Is someone to be punished because they were born in to wealth? It is my opinion that though some of us may have certain social advantage, however, in most of the civilized world everyone has the same opportunity as everyone else to achieve great things. It may be more difficult for some, and some may start out in more difficult circumstances, but if they choose to rise above their circumstances they certainly can. While Social Injustice does exist, I fail to understand by what extent that it is sinful that we are social unjust. Personally I have never held anyone back, however, my husband and I work hard to provide our children with every possible advantage we can afford to give them in life. Does that make us socially un-just because some children born of less able or less caring parents, can not or do not provide the same for their children? This again is vague.
Causing Poverty – Again this is vague. I am sure that many of us contribute to poverty with out even realizing it. Most of us don’t have the ability to cause poverty to others all on our own, but we can certainly contribute to it. Maybe a certain car company is about to go under, am I contributing to poverty by not purchasing one of those cars, to help those who work for that company to not lose their jobs? Are those who develop new technologies causing poverty by replacing jobs done by humans with machines? At what point are we sinning. For those of us who are not the power to be just how much could be possibly contribute to the poverty of others?
Financial Gluttony – Gluttony is having excess of what we need. Does that mean every successful celebrity, professional athletes or successful CEO is a sinner? Does it mean that if we strive to rise above our current financial situation that we are sinners? If someone does a great job or gets recognized for their talent, attributes, or hard work and gets paid very well for those things are they sinners? If someone is born in to their wealth and has more money than they could possibly ever spend are they sinners? Are we possibly sinning just by playing the lottery? After all if I were to win the lottery I would obviously suddenly have more money than I actually currently need. Just exactly at one point does wealth become gluttony, at what point is it a sin? The current or old deadly sin of greed where the desire for wealth overrides the need for spiritualization I think handled the subject of money very well, and very clearly. This new deadly sin appears to claim that all who are wealthy are sinners. I am quite possibly wrong but until this is further defined, how are we to know.
I am not saying these new deadly sins are right or wrong. I am saying they are very vague. We have been given a list of things that are now sins, but no one took the time to explain what this all means. Are we being subjected to some human beings or a group of human beings own opinions? Are they correct to judge us by such measures, or have they gone too far? These new 7 Deadly Sins have only served to confuse me.
If the Vatican is going to give a list so of things so important that could cause us to be eternally damned, they really need to be more specific about their meanings.
