The concept of sin has been around for about 2,000 years, but even before the advent of Christianity, these concepts of greed, envy, lust, anger, sloth, pride/arrogance, and gluttony have been seen as vices or major flaws in society. The way that the Christian church divided up sin was that there were small sins that weren't so bad - ones that could be forgiven by confession to a priest (venial), and ones that would ruin your chances to get into Heaven (those were cardinal sins). As we'll discover after the presentation of the sins, each of them have their own destructive qualities.Anger tends to be the most destructive vice that can lead to war, genocide, and racism. Yet, anger can also be channeled into fighting against evil.
Greed is purported to be the worst of them all, the root of all sin, b/c if you did not desire more than you needed or wanted, then there would be fewer problems. Yet, that desire to improve ourselves (and this dovetails nicely with envy and gluttony here b/c what are envy and gluttony but forms of greed) comes from the desire to better ourselves.
Pride can also be seen as the root of all sins b/c when you see yourself as more important than others, especially God (as Pope Gregory the Great put it), then you are putting yourself above others. You are supposed to be a humble servant of God, and pride destroys that relationship. However, pride can be an important part of a person's self-esteem; it can also be part of a country's nationalism (as long as it doesn't turn into xenophobia). What about the pride of doing a job well? This builds confidence in the worker. So then there's lust. As we have seen lately with New York governor Eliot Spitzer and former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, lust has led people down the wrong path. I even hesitate to say that lust has led them, b/c those two guys got themselves in trouble. Love doesn't come from lust; I can tell you that from experience. My wife and I were friends first before we fell in love. Ours isn't universal, but it is an example of how love should come first. Lust, unfortunately, drives people to do insane things and I won't defend this with a flipside like I have the other vices.
10 years ago, lust dominated the headlines and cable news with the Clinton - Lewinsky saga and eventual impeachment in December 1998 and trial in February 1999. Fast forward to today, lust no longer dominates the headlines; it's greed and envy with news of the bailouts, economic scandals and political corruption as well as the looming depression.
Of these seven, which do you think can be the most personally destructive and why? Also, which of the seven is the most destructive for society and why?
Due Thursday, 1/8/09. 200 words minimum.
