Seven new deadly sins: are you guilty?

[Lunar Loops]

Now at first glance this news item may seem to have little to do with drugs, but one of the new 'sins' is taking or dealing drugs (not that any definition of drugs is given, could be anything from coffee to crack). The excessive wealth one is great considering the amount of riches to be found in the Vatican. Just as well the main material used in the construction of the vatican was not glass as there are some seriously two-faced individuals throwing stones around with little regard to reason.

The article comes from The Times (UK):

Seven new deadly sins: are you guilty?

Richard Owen in Rome


Drug pushers, the obscenely rich, environmental polluters and “manipulative” genetic scientists beware – you may be in danger of losing your mortal soul unless you repent.

After 1,500 years the Vatican has brought the seven deadly sins up to date by adding seven new ones for the age of globalisation. The list, published yesterday in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, came as the Pope deplored the “decreasing sense of sin” in today’s “securalised world” and the falling numbers of Roman Catholics going to confession.

The Catholic Church divides sins into venial, or less serious, sins and mortal sins, which threaten the soul with eternal damnation unless absolved before death through confession and penitence.

It holds mortal sins to be “grave violations of the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes”, including murder, contraception, abortion, perjury, adultery and lust.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into Hell”.

Although there is no definitive list of mortal sins, many believers accept the broad seven deadly sins or capital vices laid down in the 6th century by Pope Gregory the Great and popularised in the Middle Ages by Dante in The Inferno: lust, gluttony, avarice, sloth, anger, envy and pride.

Christians are exhorted instead to adhere to the seven holy virtues: chastity, abstinence, temperance, diligence, patience, kindness and humility.

Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican body which oversees confessions and plenary indulgences, said after a week-long Lenten seminar for priests that surveys showed 60 per cent of Catholics in Italy no longer went to confession.

He said that priests must take account of “new sins which have appeared on the horizon of humanity as a corollary of the unstoppable process of globalisation”. Whereas sin in the past was thought of as being an invididual matter, it now had “social resonance”.

“You offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming or coveting your neighbour’s wife, but also by ruining the environment, carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments, or allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos,” he said.

Bishop Girotti said that mortal sins also included taking or dealing in drugs, and social injustice which caused poverty or “the excessive accumulation of wealth by a few”.

He said that two mortal sins which continued to preoccupy the Vatican were abortion, which offended “the dignity and rights of women”, and paedophilia, which had even infected the clergy itself and so had exposed the “human and institutional fragility of the Church”.

The mass media had “blown up” the issue “to discredit the Church”, but the Church itself was taking steps to deal with it.

Addressing the Apostolic Penitentiary seminar, the Pope said there was “a certain disaffection” with confession among the faithful. Priests had to show “divine tenderness for penitent sinners” and admit their own failings.

“Those who trust in themselves and in their own merits are, as it were, blinded by their own ‘I’, and their hearts harden in sin. Those who recognise themselves as weak and sinful entrust themselves to God, and from Him obtain grace and forgiveness.”

The Pope also complained that an increasing number of people in the secularised West were “making do without God”.

He said that hedonism and consumerism had even invaded “the bosom of the Church itself, deeply undermining the Christian faith from within, and undermining the lifestyle and daily behaviour of believers”.

Eastern Catholics do not recognise the same distinction between mortal and venial sins as the Western or Latin Church does, nor does it believe that those people who die in a state of sin are condemned to automatic damnation.

The original offences and their punishments
Pride Broken on the wheel
Envy Put in freezing water
Gluttony Forced to eat rats, toads, and snakes
Lust Smothered in fire and brimstone
Anger Dismembered alive
Greed Put in cauldrons of boiling oil
SlothThrown in snake pits

[Metomni]

Very interesting article, I wonder why they decided to do this now. The conclusions they came to are completely superfluous, but the fact that they did this after 1500 years of not doing so may have fairly large implications.

[Evil GIR]

All Swim has to say is fuck the church, swim takes drugs, swim gives drugs to friends and swim will be hopefully after graduation to be working in a lab geneticaly or at least helping with research to genticaly alter stuff to produce new drugs.

I think its funny that the pope or whoe ever pulled these new sins out of their ass, it would be even funnyer if they told people that god spoke to them and mentioned it.
But I bet by then, they would be carted off to the mental ward.

[RaverHippie]

I guess this is the vatican going with the whole "change is good" motif

[Nature Boy]

In the age of moral relativity stories like this shouldn't make the newspapers. Well, maybe the funnies.

[TMM]

I love Catholicism.

Originally Posted by Lunar Loops

It holds mortal sins to be “grave violations of the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes”, including murder, contraception, abortion, perjury, adultery and lust.

Spot the odd one out.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into Hell”.

If there is a hell, I really hope St Augustine is there for starting half of this shit.

“You offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming or coveting your neighbour’s wife, but also by ruining the environment, carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments, or allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos,” he said.

I suppose they're against farming, then, are they?

Bishop Girotti said that mortal sins also included taking or dealing in drugs, and social injustice which caused poverty or “the excessive accumulation of wealth by a few”.

Not touching this one with a ten foot clown pole.

He said that two mortal sins which continued to preoccupy the Vatican were abortion, which offended “the dignity and rights of women” ...

Even if you disagree with abortion, you have to admit this quote is hilarious.

... and paedophilia, which had even infected the clergy itself and so had exposed the “human and institutional fragility of the Church”.

You don't say...

The mass media had “blown up” the issue “to discredit the Church”

Actually a fair point.

The Pope also complained that an increasing number of people in the secularised West were “making do without God”.

So... good luck to them, then?

He said that hedonism and consumerism had even invaded “the bosom of the Church itself, deeply undermining the Christian faith from within, and undermining the lifestyle and daily behaviour of believers”.

They're just realising this now? God, it's hundreds of times worse than Hunter S. Thompson's description of cop knowledge in the drug conference in Fear And Loathing.

The original offences and their punishments

Pride Broken on the wheel
Envy Put in freezing water
Gluttony Forced to eat rats, toads, and snakes
Lust Smothered in fire and brimstone
Anger Dismembered alive
Greed Put in cauldrons of boiling oil
SlothThrown in snake pits

So before this announcement, I was all set to be in freezing water and boiling oil at the same time, with fire pouring down on me, as well as snakes (heat-proof ones, I assume), while turning on a wheel and being force fed small animals.

While being slowly dismembered.

Seems the Pope actually did me a favour.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	lol
	excellent. haha

[Jatelka]

Does "Not ruining the environment" cancel out my other mortal sins? Well I've never murdered anyone or perjured myself so maybe there's some hope

Honestly, if the Catholic Church weren't such an obscene joke I'd be stuffed.

[stoneinfocus]

Unfortunately the law-manifested "christian-leadculture" works like a charm, so no wonder the netherlands will give up their liberal drug policies...

Strangely, they don´t have a problem in getting to hospital and being treated with a whole arsenal of useful and doubtful drugs.

It boils down to being totally addicted to "professionals" and monopolists and cutting out your own brains.. great!

[Alicia]

Catholics ha. she says squeezing her rosary tightly. swia going to hell sins are jus to tempting not to break or enjoy.

swia is sure they get sick of her in hell, again.

but then the catholic church has become more of a bank recently then a religious icon. I used to love confession.

[stoneinfocus]

.. the poe says, that drugs-dependency is a mental illness... wow, what if the mental illness is best treated with the illegal drug? What if dependency is not mental, but physical and treated best with a drug, so you´re healthy but well, depend on it, like diabetics on insuline?

Oh, I see, go to church instead... they´ll solve your problems discretly and for sure, with snake-pits, boiling oil and damnation... nothing beats good ol tradition.

Plsu -which swim likes best , them, prayign for you, after ripping out your heart and stealing your life.

[Powder_Reality]

So I guess the sacrament of Eucharist is now a mortal sin? I suppose they'll just have to go directly to confessional afterwards and repent before they "lose their mortal soul".

[truth]

Religion is only made for hope for the people. I read this and laughed at the punishments. But in 2000 years if the world is still around, everyone will laugh at how stupid people are believe in the things they do now. Like the bible.

[El Calico Loco]

I have a chip on my shoulder about religion at times, due to all the ignorance and hatred pushed by the strident and self-righteous, but it's not all bad. Religion does have good effects on some people. The most popular combine a creative metaphysics/mythology with a basic, workable ethical theory. Each has its own brand of nonsense, but some things - honesty, kindness, charity - are universal (if not always consistent in the texts).

My favorite is humility - it's hard to be too arrogant if one has to humble one's self before an omnipotent being. I think arrogance and narcissism is responsible for most of the evils in the world. Granted that many arrogant narcissists claim to be devout...Pastor Hagee, I'm looking in your direction...

As for the Catholic Church...I'm divided. I wasn't raised Catholic, so I have no horror stories about nuns. In recent years, I've preferred their message of peace and charity to the jihadist Baptists who are common in my neck of the woods. This new list sounds like a bunch of crap.


ECL

[Lunar Loops]

Originally Posted by Powder_Reality

So I guess the sacrament of Eucharist is now a mortal sin? I suppose they'll just have to go directly to confessional afterwards and repent before they "lose their mortal soul".

Only if you are a catholic, it isn't wine at all that you are drinking (incidentally something that rarely takes place for all bar the clergy and the chosen few parishoners these days; unlevened discs is all you get). Catholics believe (well are supposed to) that once consecrated, the wine turns to the blood of christ and the unlevened bread to his flesh. This was a concept that SWILL could never get his head around even as a child. So cannabalism is good?

[stoneinfocus]

Originally Posted by Lunar Loops

Only if you are a catholic, it isn't wine at all that you are drinking (incidentally something that rarely takes place for all bar the clergy and the chosen few parishoners these days; unlevened discs is all you get). Catholics believe (well are supposed to) that once consecrated, the wine turns to the blood of christ and the unlevened bread to his flesh. This was a concept that SWILL could never get his head around even as a child. So cannabalism is good?

It´s a f+ckn´ methaphor, wich is sold as the real thing, -are we(them) so stupid that we(they) belive in a non-sex related pregnancy or does this mean something completeley different?

But, as a matter of fact, all of this is sold as beig real for the build-up of power and control over uneducated and frustrated stupid people to suppress others.

Even being an atheist, with the church´s great power and overwhelming majority of christians, one tends to be influenced by the most stupid things being told by these instances becauser it´s intimidating within the wide-spread relrigious "fanatics" of which you can´t tell, how much they actually buy of the indictrinated propaganda.

Unfortunately this happens uncounsciously, and worst, then, when we need to be the most objective to an issue and subjects, which might posess some threat to us, making any progress hard for the atheist, the scientist and all the people and as good as impossible within the majority.

Still today, I can´t compare any other religion to christians to the harm that´s done by christians.

[augentier]

Oh god, YES, please condemn me more Jesus man, I want the seat right next to Satan

[stoneinfocus]

Originally Posted by augentier

Oh god, YES, please condemn me more Jesus man, I want the seat right next to Satan

Yes, but you see... you´re no good... you´re a sinner and a bad guy... you´re the mold of which society sickens... it would be better .... if.... you...

..can´t you understand... its´so easy and you still don´t seem to understand, why don´t you just obey the word of jesus, like any normal, intelligent human being, insteadof being so stupid.., you know, he wants our best ...

*fart*

[Triple7]

Originally Posted by Lunar Loops

He said that two mortal sins which continued to preoccupy the Vatican were abortion, which offended “the dignity and rights of women”, and paedophilia, which had even infected the clergy itself and so had exposed the “human and institutional fragility of the Church”.

There was a noisy class and three adults as passengers on the airplane. The co-pilot told that they have too little fuel to make it to the airport and need to get rid of excess weight. The teacher of the class suggested to throw out the luggage.. and they did. Then the co-pilot told that they still have to get rid of more weight. The guy who was fed up of the noisy children suggested "Throw of the children!" the co-pilot who didn't catch the sarcasm replied "Naahh.. fuck them!"... then the catholic priest exclaimed "There is way too many!".

[stoneinfocus]

.. is flesh=bread and wine=blood the metaphor already, or is flesh and blood another metaphor?.. maybe the wine jar as a phallic symbol, and the flesh as a symbol for sex... so if everyone had sex with another, than it would be all the same, as jesus told us it´s the way to go... just one of my possible interpretions

[El Calico Loco]

Originally Posted by stoneinfocus

Still today, I can´t compare any other religion to christians to the harm that´s done by christians.

The Marxists managed to murder more people in the 20th century than Catholics did in their entire history, and that religion is officially atheist. I don't write this to defend the Xtian soldiers, but only to suggest that God is not necessary to get gullible people to swallow a fanatic ideology and commit mass murder in its name.

Marxists might argue that people like Stalin weren't genuine Marxists, but I don't think that matters. Those who commit murder in the name of Christ aren't genuine Christians, either. The fact is that charismatic leaders can always manipulate enough dumb oxen to do their bidding, and they will use whatever belief system is currently popular to do so.


ECL

[cra$h]

"Bishop Girotti said that mortal sins also included taking or dealing in drugs" wouldn't this make God a criminal? Isn't ALL living things created under God? So mushrooms, pot, salvia, opium, oh the list goes on forever, is all a sin? The church is becoming a hypocritical machine. for fucks sake, the pope was a NAZI!!!!!

[stoneinfocus]

El Calico, I don´t refer exclusively to murder in a sense of taking away one´s physical life, but denying and destroying the way of life one wants to go and these statements are perfectly made-up for that(the metaphor-thing, that unfortunately´s unseen, but holds true for swimmers).

Well, if the communists in China felt like crying when MAO died, and other pseudo-communists and state-forms were murderers and Marxism doesn´t include murder either iirc, a religion like christianity is a world wide institution, and e.g. still today, by her fathers raped daughters, getting abortions, are proposed to be murdereres through the church in most south american countries, which justifies them being murdered by their fahters, and many other things, that are taught and executed very low-profile and undercover, like the whole "your god-given body" thing, smashing athletes, who take performance enhancing drugs, because it´s their way of life they lived- and worked for exclusively, whilst others are not even being tested as a propaganda mashine (soccer etc .. ), screwing teens/twens and adults forr pooping vicodine or smoking MJ, docotors giving no pain-medicine, researchers being criminalized for inventing mind-altering drugs for the benefits of all.. this all is murder in my eyes.

You see cyclists being willinlgy smashed by cars every three years or so at offical tours, because they hate them so much, and not to mention all the deaths and cripples, that come from other "accidents", related to the media agenda, based on that drug-bullshit.
quote of one right wing politician:"Soccer is the cleanest sport, as drugs won´t help in putting a ball into the net, it´s all skill." -yeah, right, soccer, with the lowest drug-testingrates, and remember one finding of some journalist in a great soccerclub, having stored enough anabolics to juice up a small city for a couple of years, cycling, being the most tested sport and therefore statistically the second-cleanest(behind chess or something), is smashed by the media and the broad public.

back to the christians -I remeber, when the importance of religion faded in the 70ies, due to wealth and easy going and a quite cool and easy non-biased living arised and the youth grew up and sort of liked the way of living and art and some druggies around, like David Bowie, -is he really from Mars? Bob Marley, Deep Purple, Falko, and this is when things started getting very disgusting, me, remebering my catholic religion teacher in school, seeing Bowie residing somewhere below scum for toking on stage and the whole heroin problem as some reason, worth re-inventing gaschambers as a cure.
The 70ies then being screwed-up, by executing the drug law more strictly, so no "mother´s helpers", no scripts for benzedrex, pervitine, more agenda from the christians and the christian parties, new laws, condemming heroin addiccts, which were formerly at least humanly supported by most of their relatives and friends and were `really´ seen as human beings, allowed to having "normal" friends that didn´t judge them for taking heroin, from then on, being child-eating animals.
(wow, love baby, love)

It´s just, that all of that is completely underestimated, ... less is more, which holds true for propaganda and is being used excessively and succesively these days.
It´s like: "shut the fuck up, work and let all other, not playing along, leave aside, cut out your true feelings for them and stick with our and now your hate-indoctrinations until all of those will go crazy, then you´ll see you and we were right, because they were crazy right from the beginning not even humanly worth it"... it´s an unconscious wave of fascism, politically correctly and legally sold as "secondary (in english maybe better called subsequent or follow-up) moral values", and these were said -in a bright moment of the leader of the second biggest opposition party here-"to be albe to clear the way for running new concentration camps", without any problems... and it´s true, all swimmers and philanthrops, philosophers and scientists and researchers(even here, the universities being infiltrated by the curch) should be deeply concerned and aggressively fighting against these "little" indoctrinations, as the grow bigger and bigger,being emphazised by the vast masses giving their littel contribution to these individual´s livings, leading right to the tragedy of many, many, othwerwise uneffected, normal lifes and the losses of those, as well as the loss true contributions of sciences to humanity and not dead things like capital and influence/pressure on some groups.