The Seven Deadly Sins: remember that? Following my custom of starting a thought process by discussing first the broad foundational concepts involved and then wondering about their application to us today, I thought I'd scan these familiar "sins" a moment or two: what do you think? (...Not that these, essential Roman Catholic principles ever seemed really important to me personally, you understand...)
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The seven possible, "deadly" human traits are these:
1. Sloth
This feature of the individual is more extreme and more permanent than simple inactivity or laziness. A truly slothful person is incapacited by his or her nature, prevented from action. Sloth is one sin I find it hard to imagine, frankly. I wonder if it has any relation to Despair...? (We might say "depression")
2. Envy
"I wish I could be as good-looking as he is," or "Why couldn't it have been me who won the lottery?" or " He didn't deserve that promotion as much as I do." Most of us have passing thoughts like this from time to time; it's only human nature. The deadly sin of Envy, on the other hand, is a permanent disposition to resent the good fortune, of any kind, of anyone else. Jealousy, the green-eyed montster, is also not Envy; instead of directing one's ill-will at the person enjoying the benefit you are not experiencing yourself, Jealousy at least primarily directs the ill-will at the individual - a loved one, presumably - providing the other person's pleasure. (Jealousy is related to a sense of betrayal and to one's lack of control over one's beloved. Envy, on the other hand, is an ineradicable sense that one's superiority to others is not recognized or rewarded.)
Envy is an expression of one's self, stimulated by a permanent sense of injustice. It prevents contentedness or good will towards any other.
3. Gluttony
This human trait is not merely feeling intense hunger even if it happens all day long, and is not eating too much, even if the overindulgence is often repeated. It is not the simple desire of more of some food you are enjoying. It is a driving force in the individual's whole life. Gluttony is insatiable and does not even provide pleasure, which is why gluttons are portrayed as demanding more and more spices and complicated preparations of their food.
A Glutton neither enjoys vicarious pleasure at seeing someone else taking pleasure from eating, nor can she or he share his delicacies with anyone else.
4. Greed
This is not a momentary desire for more of something. It's a lasting or even permanent feature of the sinner's character, which makes it impossible for her or him to ever be satisfied, no matter how much she or he has already. Such a person of course could never feel generous or benevolent toward someone else.
5. Lust
This is an all-encompassing craving of sexual passion and pleasure. It is easily distinguished from both the simple, passing desire for sexual gratification (from anyone) and from love, since the lustful person has no regard for anyone but himself or herself.
6. Wrath
This is apparently not just anger, which is not in itself a sin; but anger in the extreme, a lasting and passionate rage; this emotion is so great and of such a nature that the wrathful individual is incapable of happiness, or love. The wrathful person is always outraged; when one provocation disappears, another is found simultaneously. For in point of fact, the angry passion comes from within.
7. Pride
If the best human trait is Love, Pride may be the worst - or the "deadliest" - of the sins. We're not talking here about the kind of self-satisfaction that naturally follows a particular accomplishment; or simple self-esteem, or personal vanity even if that is a permanent trait. Pride in this sense involves one's always feeling that one is better than someone - anyone - else, not in looks or possessions or accomplishments, but in one's very nature. Morally, constitutionally, existentially superior.
In ordinary experience, we often propose that someone who behaves in a haughty manner, scornfully, or with apparent arrogance is actually "over-compensating" for secret or unperceived fears of inadequacy. I wonder if that folk wisdom is relevant in this discussion of the sin of Pride...?
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One observation we should make is that these seven deadly sins are not actions or kinds of action. They are traits of one's character, elements of one's nature; constituents of one's soul (do we know what that is?). These sins are not overt behaviors but spiritual qualities. Lust is not sex without marriage or with someone else's spouse. Wrath is not punching someone in the nose or beating a hated rival to death. Gluttony is not eating a third banana split.
If not actions in themselves, are the deadly sins emotions that motivate immoral actions or that impel one to criminal, inhumane, or anti-social behavior? Well, while they may be related to each other in our experience, emotions - so close to the senses and even the muscles - are considered distinct from spiritual qualities. So, no, we should not think of them as emotions.
But it is significant, I expect, that the worst elements of human nature in the Christian world are not actions but spiritual qualities. Is this related to the mind-body duality in the western world?
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After all, it wasn't a foregone conclusion that (a) these basic elements would be negative - not exhortations to do or be something good but prohibition of forbidden character traits - and (b) not forbidden actions but unacceptable spiritual qualities. Not all formative religious dogma are phrased this way.
Here are the "Ten Commandments" from Judaism, for instance, paraphrased somewhat freely:
1-2. Treat no other gods as more important than me,
and bow down to no pictures or statues of other gods.
3. Don't claim that our god backs or values something "he" doesn't.
4. Worship our one god every seventh day.
5. Honor your parents.
6 - 8. Don't kill
or commit adultery
or steal.
9 - 10. Don't testify falsely against another of us ("us" being those who worship this one god),
and don't wish for yourself anything that belongs to someone else among us.
These basic religious principles, unlike the deadly sins, are not traits of character but actions; however, like the seven sins, the Judaic principles are also phrased negatively: they tell us what NOT to do instead of what we should (or must) DO.
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The "Five Pillars of Islam" - on the other hand - are all actions, and are all actions we should do instead of avoiding doing them. In addition, we might observe that they seem primarily related to rituals rather than to life:
1. Declare your faith in Islam, not in any other religion.
2. Pray in certain ways at certain times.
3. Provide money to help the poor (I wonder why this one differs from the others in the sense that it
does relate to life in the world...).
4. Deny yourself certain pleasures of food and drink.
5. Make a long, hard journey to the holiest of places.
The Christian sins disparage character traits that isolate the individual from others, while the Jewish and Islamic basic principles include an emphasis on how distinctive from others in the world around them each group is.
And in Islam, making oneself suffer seems to be a positive goal. (Does doing so create the illusion that suffering is not entirely out of control, or even bad - as it seems?)
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The formative principles of both Buddhuism and Hinduism seem designed to help their followers reach a certain kind of "happiness," rather than to avoid going to hell after death, or in order to avoid the wrath of god, or in order to be a welcome member of one's group.
For Buddhists (as I understand it), the eight steps or stages on the path to happiness, which is the cessation of suffering, are these (enormously paraphrased):
1. View reality clearly, not seeing appearances only.
2. Hope and seek to do no harm to others and to be free and unselfish rather than greedy.
3. Speak truthfully and not hurtfully.
4. Avoid harming others.
5. Pursue a livelihood that does no harm.
6. Strive to improve.
7. Perceive yourself honestly and accurately.
8. Meditate in order to concentrate the mind on your enduring inner self within the wider reality.
Compared to not killing somebody or being free of inordinate desire of food seems kind of "easy" compared to these eight Buddhist ideals, don't they? They are things to "do" rather than "not-do," though these are primarily spiritual "actions."
Hinduism (I believe) is also primarily aimed at reaching a high level of spiritual insight, and doing so for the Hindu seems beyond ordinary effort.
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How really significant does any or all of this - critically important in much human history - seem to us today?
We might agree that it is wrong - or even "sinful" - to be greedy, as the Super-Rich certainly seem to be in our time. We might agree that no one should steal someone else's property and even that we all should show respect for our parents, perhaps even to all our elders. Some of us might feel it is vital to be an active part of a religious community, regularly following their rituals, and we might all understand that finding, not an escape from suffering, but a status in which one sees suffering as unreal or insignificant is a valuable goal...
Any of that may happen, but... it equally may not, and I dare say that most of us wouldn't particularly notice. If the Jews and the Muslims did not think the most significant thing about a person is whether or not she or he is part of their particular group or tradition, the whole world might actually be better off, right? (Maybe they could work toward becoming Buddhists, seeking to do no harm and to avoid speaking hurtfully of others...)
Do these foundational principles of the world's great religions seem to provide as much guidance to us in life as - say - our Declaration of Independence, that says all people are equal in their right to live, to act freely (and responsibly too), and to seek their worldly well-being?
...Or the Preamble of our Constitution, that says our government - which in a democracy is "we the people" ourselves - should ...
1. Provide for the nation’s defense
2. Keep peace within the nation
3. Maintain a just system of laws and government
4. Promote the people's general wellbeing, and
5. Guarantee freedom to ourselves and our descendants.
How useful are the foundational teachings of the world's great religions compared to these foundational documents in American history?
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Especially since utility may itself not be the fundamental aim of religious principles - so much as helping the individual achieve a certain spiritual state beyond social order and justice and beneficial personal behavior - maybe we should take a different perspective.
Do the negative spiritual states named as the seven deadly sins tend to prevent the individual from exercising the moral values expressed in the Declaration and the Preamble?
Well, Sloth tends to prevent any action at all, moral or immoral; so, yes, one could say that Sloth tends to impede one from following the principles in our foundational documents.
A sinner possessed by Envy cannot feel any satisfaction from the prosperity of anyone besides herself (or himself); so, Envy does tend to prevent the sinner from valuing all others' equal rights to "the pursuit of happiness," for example. Again, basic American values are threatened by this "deadly" sin.
A Glutton would be pretty indifferent to any of our basic principles, since her or his desire to eat is the only matter of concern... On the other hand, such an all-encompassing passion to consume seems likely to come into conflict with our moral and political obligation to promote others' general well-being and not merely one's own. Preoccupation with eating in fact for the Glutton would seem to overcome any responsibility to others at all...
Greed would be similar to Gluttony in that only the preoccupation with having money matters to the Greedy. Whether or not other's have an equal opportunity to make money would either be a matter of not concern or a direct threat to one's own opportunity.
Lust is also similar; sexual gratification is all that matters. Defending the nation and - well, maintaining justice, for instance - couldn't be of any importance to the Lustful.
The Wrathful would seem an active threat to our efforts to keep the peace or maintain a system of laws and justice.
Pride is a direct challenge to the most fundamental principle of all that everyone is politically (and morally) equal to everyone else. The Proud believes no such thing, since he or she is superior to everyone else.
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So at least we could say that identifying, criticising, and fighting the seven deadly sins would not do harm to our nation's professed values, and in some cases may even do some good. Identifying a greedy corporation or CEO or financier as a "sinner" of the worst sort may help us get together on how to restrain such individuals. Naming a racist or sexist or plutocrat - a Proud person who feels superior to others - as someone who should be shunned by those of us who try to be virtuous could do some good socially and politically. And so on.
The test of whether or not such formative principles support or threaten our public values - peace and prosperity, equal opportunity, freedom and justice for all - is what should matter the most when we are thinking of not only ourselves and our own spiritual state (significant as that may be) but the good of all humankind.
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