The Seven Deadly Sins (Revised Edition)
The Seven Deadly Sins -- sloth, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, wrath and pride -- made famous in Dante's Inferno, have just been updated by the Vatican with a new list of deadly (or "mortal") sins that includes drug-dealers, environmental polluters and the excessively wealthy. The , published yesterday in the Vatican newspaper, seems to be part of a new strategy by the Pope and his advisers to redeem the concept of "sin" in the contemporary world. Many Catholics across the world have given up the practice of Confession; in Italy itself, 60 per cent of Catholics are no longer participating in this sacrament. Pope Benedict thinks secularisation is part of the explanation for that change in Catholic practice; but he also believes that many priests need to develop more "tenderness" in their approach to their role. Recently, some priests have been offered retraining to develop more compassionate personal qualities in an effort to attract the faithful back to Confession.
According to Catholic teaching, sins come in one of two species. "Mortal sins" are a "grave violation of God's law" and result in "eternal death" if unrepented by the act of confession. "Venial" sins, on the other hand, impede a soul's progress towards God. The Vatican's new list includes: genetic modification, carrying out experiments on humans, polluting the environment, causing social injustice, causing poverty, becoming obscenely wealthy and taking drugs.
This new list is sure to provoke some debate among Catholic ethicists and theologians. How much money does one have to earn before one is classified as "obscenely wealthy"? Is taking a recreational drug like Exstacy really comparable to murder? Are all experiments on humans (even those where human subjects have agreed to participate) equally "sinful"? How do we define "social injustice"? Would the economic policies promoted by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s place the former Prime Minister in a fast car to perdition?
Would anyone like to confess anything?
Comments
What a pile of b****hit.
We are all sinners now! Good business for the Church...how does that old journalism saying go "Any press is good press."
Does anyone believe that lines are going to be forming in front of the confessionals so good Catholics can confess to this new Executive Order of sins? And I thought Pope Benedict was going to be an uneventful Papacy!
What about Bill Gates - second wealthiest man in the world but probably does as much for charity as the Catholic Church does.
And does excessive population growth not contribute towards poverty in certain areas ? And we all know the church's position on population control.
Just shows how out of touch they really are.
Pfffffrrrh! Apart from agreeing with John Wrights general statement, there is that specific bit about genetic manipulation. I wonder how many cardinals there are in the Vatican who suffer from diabetes in their old age and take insulin every day. Would they have any clue that they are using a beneficial substance produced from genetically modified e-coli bacteria? I wouldn't be surprised if they were all too ignorant. And from that ignorance, don't distinguish between any applications of genetic manipulation, just throw out everything, even the stuff that no one could deny is very beneficial to us. Organised religion can be such a disease to the progress of our knowledge. We're in the 21st century now, and the movie director calls 'Galileo Galilei, take 4738, action'.
Pfffffrrrh! Apart from agreeing with John Wrights general statement, there is that specific bit about genetic manipulation. I wonder how many cardinals there are in the Vatican who suffer from diabetes in their old age and take insulin every day. Would they have any clue that they are using a beneficial substance produced from genetically modified e-coli bacteria? I wouldn't be surprised if they were all too ignorant. And from that ignorance, don't distinguish between any applications of genetic manipulation, just throw out everything, even the stuff that no one could deny is very beneficial to us. Organised religion can be such a disease to the progress of our knowledge. We're in the 21st century now, and the movie director calls 'Galileo Galilei, take 4738, action'.
i find incomprehendible how anyone could change the 7 deadly sins.i don't think God would be happy!
Science has helped save human lifes through out history. Our technology, scientific discoveries and profound need to seek out answers and find reasons, is surely something we should be encouraged to do.
Updating Christianity to the modern world might bring back a few believers to confession but making it harder to go to 'Heaven' is hardly going to have people at the church doors.