Theologians have traditionally argued that pride is the core sin because it is placing ourselves above God and God’s law. Most of us, however, don’t live on that philosophical plane.
On a personal level, each of us sins and is sinned against in unique ways that are hurtful to ourselves, our families and our neighbors. Each of the deadly sins can lead to personal unhappiness, family disunity and interpersonal conflict. These sins rarely occur in isolation; we experience them in bundles.
On a global level, we also see how these vices are driving terrorism, ethnic and tribal conflicts and war. The anger and pride of terrorists lead them to treat other humans as expendable objects on the way to their political goals. Pride, envy, anger and greed drive ethnic and tribal conflicts. And anger, pride and some say greed compelled the United States into an ill-conceived war in Iraq.
As bad as all these things are, it may be gluttony and greed that will do us in as a species. Gluttony is not just about food but about everything that we consume including energy. Our consumer economy is eating up resources and destroying our global environment. Greed motivates those destroying the environment to feed this consumer economy.
Every indication is that we are headed toward a disaster, but even a minor slow down in consumption is throwing us into a recession. During this political campaign, we should be talking about how we can consume less and invest in the future of our children, but that is not going to sell. The deadly sins are alive and well in America.
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