Sins, Great, Small, and New

One of my favorite movies is the 1995 thriller Se7en (no, that's not a typo), which starred Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt as a pair of detectives tracking a serial killer who preys on people guilty of the Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Envy, Wrath, Pride, and Lust. The film is moody, atmospheric, and graphically terrifying, with one of the most shocking twist endings in memory.

The traditional Seven Deadly Sins which for centuries have identified the ultimate condemned actions have now been updated. The Holy See has announced a list of seven "new" deadly sins for the modern era:

Environmental pollution;

Genetic manipulation;

Accumulating excessive wealth;

Inflicting poverty;

Drug trafficking and consumption;

Morally debatable experiments; and,

Violation of fundamental rights of human nature.

I think this new list represents a fundamental change in the Church's approach to what constitutes a "deadly" sin, moving away from what might be considered "personal" sins toward those which reflect an emphasis on social justice and protection of the earth and humanity at large. This is an interesting and, perhaps, overdue update of actions worthy of condemnation, although it raises some questions which require clarification: What are the "fundamental rights of human nature?" What constitutes "excessive wealth?" "What sort of experiments are "morally debatable?"

The issues of genetic manipulation and environmental pollution in particular are ones about which I have long been concerned. The fact that we can modify the genetic structure of organisms and even create new forms of life is truly amazing - but do we know and understand what we're doing and what its long-term implications are? And the pollution of the earth is a terrifying reality: when we can't drink our water and breathe our air, how can we live? Across the United States and in many other parts of the world, recent tests have shown the presence of antibiotics and prescription drugs, not to mention industrial chemicals and other pollutants, in our drinking water. China is finding it necessary to resort to draconian measures to clean up its air so that Olympic athletes will be able to breathe. And the landscape in many parts of the world has been devastated by unregulated mining, logging, and other mineral extraction activities.

So perhaps it's time that the Church updated its teachings and moral standards to account for sins that perhaps were never imagined centuries ago. Whether the seven new sins are as fundamentally "deadly" as the original seven is a matter for debate. That they are worthy of our attention and condemnation is beyond doubt.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo