On Sin

June 16, 2009 | Filed Under Small Talk 

I’m not sure it’s even appropriate to use the word sin anymore.  It has so much cultural baggage that I’m not sure it has any meaning left.

If it means anything, I take it to mean something that is destructive against a person or persons.

So, for example, deception is sin because it is destructive against trust which is the bond of human relationships. Deception inevitably hurts both members of the relationship. Hatred is destructive, in fact, mostly towards the hater and those who are in relationship with the hater (if the hated is at a distance, he or she might not be very affected by the hate – but hatred will always harm the hater). This outward rippling effect goes for greed and many of the other destructive acts.

It is really interesting to just sit back and see how flawed individualism is on this notion of sin. We make the mistake of thinking that our choices are isolated, that they affect only ourselves. And while it is no laughing matter to make choices that are destructive to ourselves, it is almost always the case that in doing so we are hurting others as well. And that, I think, appeals to our moral sensibilities a bit better. We tend to be more willing to hurt ourselves, then others.

If you choose to become greedy and obsessive about acquiring something, then your attention is almost certainly diverted away from more important things like your family. If you choose to become hateful towards one person, then this will become an acquired behavior and your hate will spill over into your other relationships.

A friend of mine recently said the following:

“early and terrible lessons in the ways of sin” make life more interesting and less stressful later on.

To which I replied:

I generally agree that grave mistakes can lead to wisdom. It can also humble us to not be so self-righteous. We become more understanding of others. We get a deeper perspective on the ways of the world. An encounter with sin can also help to destroy sacred cows that we stressfully protect.

But I also think that intentionally repeated sin can lead to habit and excessive indulgence which is bad for the health of our bodies and souls.

I stand by this for the most part. If we take the right approach to life then we can learn from our mistakes and work towards eliminating destructive attitudes and actions. But there is the equal temptation to see each event in the past as isolated, and to re-enact this learned behaviors over and over again. And that is the start of death.

No related posts.

Comments