the seven deadly sins

I see it now. an entire section devoted to food.

sloth -- lazy people being waited on. Black ties and tuxedos.

lust -- strawberries and whipped cream

wrath -- little yellow food packages vs little yellow bombs

pride -- 40lb pumpkins

greed -- Golden Corral buffet - plates stacked higher than needed.

envy -- Homeless guy outside a restaurant

gluttony -- Biggie size.

 

The "Seven Deadly Sins," in moderation, are natural and sometimes necessary to live. It was a brilliant propaganda tool for a few centuries, but now the gig is up. Wallowing in guilt over them is no better than letting them run your life.

SLOTH - a.k.a., The Bane of the Workaholic
Another Name For: Learning to Relax, Stopping to Smell the Roses
In Overdrive: You'll become soft and lethargic, go nowhere and stagnate while your dreams and the joys of life pass you by.
In Moderation: You'll avoid burning yourself out and allow yourself to enjoy those things you've worked so hard to obtain.

LUST - a.k.a., The Bane of the Prude
Another Name For: Indulgence of Desire, Enjoying the Pleasures of Life
In Overdrive: You'll be ridden with STDs, be broke from child support or from bankrolling abortions, and never know the meaning of love.
In Moderation: You'll be happy and healthy, having released your natural urges and avoided the damage that sexual suppression and guilt trips can cause.

WRATH - a.k.a., The Bane of the Cheek-Turner
Another Name For: Payback, Justice, Setting the Wrong Things Right
In Overdrive: You'll broil yourself internally with bottled up rage or end up in prison, to be one day shanked in the ribs for crossing the wrong person who never learned to deal with his rage in a healthy manner either.
In Moderation: "Wrath" is a natural emotion like any other, and certainly not a sin. Channelled towards the right people and properly managed, it's a natural and proper state to go through. The War on Terror leaps to mind.

PRIDE - a.k.a., The Bane of the Masochist
Another Name For: A Good Self-Image, Non-Self-Loathing
In Overdrive: Overblown "Pride" quickly becomes foolish arrogance. The puffed-up and sanctimonious let "Pride" be their masters, thinking they can do no wrong. Their egos outgrow their brains and their balls (figuratively speaking), and eventually the biggest giants are bound to fall.
In Moderation: Liking yourself and taking "Pride" in your strong points is a must to be a happy and well-balanced person. There are those who would have us all hang our heads in defeated subservience, constantly needing cleansing and "improvement" that only a higher authority can provide. Better to hold yourself accountable to the best qualified judge: your own conscience.

GREED - a.k.a., The Bane of the Socialist Part I
Another Name For: Ambition, Drive, Thrift
In Overdrive: You'll become a money-grubbing swine who'd steal the pennies from a dead man's eyes and pay your employees with Monopoly money if you could get away with it. In extreme cases, one might literally, physically transform into Dick Chaney. In either case, materialism will lead to only a shallow and empty existence, plauged by a swelling need for more that can never be fulfilled.
In Moderation: Some "Greed" is a must to survive in a capitalist country, and also works nicely to counteract an overaboundance of "Sloth." Managed right, a little "Greed" will allow you to obtain goals that you thought impossible, as well as provide well for those who matter to you.

ENVY - a.k.a., The Bane of the Socialist Part Deux
Another Name For: Green Grass Syndrome, The Fire Under the Ass
In Overdrive: Murderous crimes of passion (when mixed with too much "Wrath"), low self-esteem or suicide (when mixed with too little "Pride" or an overload of unreleased "Lust"), et cetera. Too much "Envy" can magnify a harmless amount of one Deadly Sin into a bad problem.
In Moderation: "Greed" and "Envy" are the chocolate and peanut butter of a capitalist society. Two great tastes that taste great together. Without some "Envy," "Sloth" can take over and lead to one going soft and becoming complacent. "Envy" can motivate you into the gym, to work harder for promotion or a better job, or to eliminate vices or shortcomings that are holding you back while someone less worthy is enjoying that which you are striving for.

GLUTTONY - a.k.a., The Bane of the Bulemic
Another Name For: Sweet Tooth, Food Lover, Connoisseur
In Overdrive: You'll join Chris Farley in the morgue, blow an artery, or OD on the pleasure-giving overindulgence of your choice.
In Moderation: "Gluttony" is the cousin of "Lust" and "Sloth," and covers more than just a love of food. It's an overall savoring of life's simpler pleasures. A cold brew, a pepperoni pizza, porn, fishing, sports, gambling, or Star Trek. We all have our secret vice. And that's OK, so long as we remain the master. "Pride," "Envy" and sometimes "Wrath" work well to counterbalance "Gluttony" and keep it in check.

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Balance and control are where it's at... knowing when to say when. This goes for all the so-called vices. On one hand, the stigma attatched to them helps keep us from taking them into overdrive. But cutting them off from yourself or feeling the need to constantly repent of them does nothing to help yourself or others. It's a needless guilt trip.

 

You make solid points, E, but couldn't it be argued that your "in overdrive" definitions of those terms are, for the most part, the truest definitions of those terms?

 

should we aspire to have no part of the seven deadly sins in our life?

 

I hope not. Sloth works pretty good for me.

 

If the individual gets to decide what's "too far", then what may be a deadly sin for one may not be for another. Right?

 

it depends on your belief. if you believe that we're here to live up to somebody else's standards, then you certainly need to keep in mind those standards in your everyday life.

if you only need to live up to your own standards, then certainly everybody would have a different threshhold for what is too far. so, yeah, different people would consider the sins differently.

i suppose you could also believe that you're living up to some other standards and different people could also have a different understanding of what those standards are. so you could also get a different threshhold for sin from this scenario.

 

Again, human emotions and needs are not good or evil. They simply are. When we make mistakes or let the "7DS" get the best of us, we pay the price in tangible, real-world ways. If we're truly sorry for a lapse of judgement or for hurting someone wrongfully, we'll learn from our mistakes and adjust our behaviors to avoid the mistake in the future. That's where conscience comes in.

 

Absolutlely not. Weren't you listening??

 

True. And as you and I well know, remorse doesn't absolve us from all, or even most, of the consequences of caving into the "overdrive" versions. It can literally take years to crawl out of some of those holes. Sometimes you never can. To me, that shows a practical foundation for the big 7, not just some theocrat's jones for population control. Wouldn't you agree?