The New Seven Deadly Sins
The Vatican has released an updated list of the seven deadly sins for the modern world:
- Environmental Pollution
- Genetic Manipulation
- Accumulating excessive wealth
- Inflicting poverty
- Drug trafficking and consumption
- Morally debatable experiments
- Violation of fundamental rights of human nature
I agree with 1, 4, 5, and 7, but the other three are really just plain nonsense.
Firstly, genetic manipulation is one of the most promising forms of health care, and can lead to the eradication of practically every illness and disorder known to man. Personally, if I had the choice to make sure my child was born without any life threatening illnesses, I’d say “yes” without another thought.
Accumulating excessive wealth is fine, as long as you do something good with it. I suppose a good example here would be Bill Gates, who has accumulated a massive fortune, and is now donating more and more each year to charities. Hardly a bad thing.
Finally, “morally debatable experiments” can cover a wide range of things, and I think most rationalists would agree that if a procedure could save many, even if it was “morally debatable”, it would be a justified reason to proceed.
It is humourous to note that the Catholic Church has broken quite a few of the new sins already (namely 3, 4, and 7) in it’s lifetime, so it’s quite ironic they would endorse something that by definition condemns them to hell.
Link from BBC News
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“Mar. 10, 2008 (CWNews.com) - When he finished his interview with
L’Osservatore Romano, Archishop Gianfranco Girotti probably thought
that his main message had been an appeal to Catholics to use the
sacrament of Confession. Little did he know that the English-language
news media would play the interview as a newly revised list of sins.
As usual, a British newspaper leapt to the forefront with the most
sensational and misleading coverage. The Daily Telegraph made the
preposterous claim that Archbishop Girotti’s list replaced the
traditional Catholic understanding of the seven deadly sins:
It replaces the list originally drawn up by Pope Gregory the Great in
the 6th Century, which included envy, gluttony, greed, lust, wrath
and pride.
Sin is an objective wrong: a violation of God’s law. What is sinful
today will be sinful tomorrow, and a deadly sin will remain deadly,
whether or not Telegraph editors recognize the moral danger. The
traditional list of deadly sins remains intact; nothing has replaced
it. ”
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=
far be it for me as an atheist to defend the Church but this is yet another instance of secular press making something out of nothing. its fine for atheists and/or secular press to go after the Church…but do it w/ real news or real facts. if ‘we’ atheists want to really make points, let’s do so w/out resorting to contorting the facts. and when in doubt …go to the Catholic press or at least doublecheck your sources.
Cyn
11 Mar 08 at 1:16 am (GMT)
You may want to know that I checked my sources and found the exact same story at the BBC, NY Times, and pretty much every other newspaper in the world. Your link doesn’t lead anywhere so it’s not like I can actually check your sources. That aside, whatever the Vatican claims it meant, the “list” came across as a clear definition of sins, and the fact still remains that the church itself has broken many of them.
Adrian Hayter
11 Mar 08 at 1:22 am (GMT)
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=57130
Cyn
11 Mar 08 at 1:29 am (GMT)
my 2nd comment has a link that works.
look, i’m not defending the Church. i’m saying the secular press needs to get its facts straight. also there is a long history of ant-Catholicism in the English press for various historical reasons.
and it certainly was not directed at you personally. i like what you’re doing here. :)
thing is ..if atheists want to have any kind of credibility in the press or in confronting Catholicism or any other well established religion…they best have all their ducks in a row. :)
Cyn
11 Mar 08 at 1:35 am (GMT)
Perhaps it’s best if we wait for official confirmation form the Vatican? I’m assuming that cwnews.com isn’t in direct contact with the Archibishop, and it is (as far as I can tell) the only “major” news service to run that specific article.
As I have said before, even if the list isn’t an official update, it is still a bad list to go by, with some sins just plain ridiculous in this world, and others being broken by the Vatican anyway.
Adrian Hayter
11 Mar 08 at 1:36 am (GMT)
Cheers for the compliment, I’ve just been reading your blog :D
Adrian Hayter
11 Mar 08 at 1:37 am (GMT)
frankly i don’t put much faith :) in mainstream press anymore..for political, religious or any other kind of news. seems like everyone has an axe to grind. sometimes it is the little offsite press. the little guy. that has something more closely approximating the truth. sometimes not. :)
i just have a sense of dread about where the ‘atheist movement’ is going…its starting to sound all too familiar and stink of the same funk as the ‘faithful’. ya know? *sigh*
Cyn
11 Mar 08 at 1:48 am (GMT)
I know what you mean, which is why I try to get a story validated by the most “trustworthy” sources. Generally BBC and NY Times are pretty good at getting the story. We’ll just have to wait to see what the Vatican response is :P
Adrian Hayter
11 Mar 08 at 2:01 am (GMT)
well…doubt there’ll be a formal response. maybe some things in the press that will be labeled as such but it ain’t the way the Vatican works ..so far as i can tell from the outside looking in. and too…this is essentially a non issue as it was never a formal Papal declaration only bits from an inteview w/ Archishop Gianfranco Girotti, who i’m not sure was ever designated as a formal voice for the Vatican. and yeah, i know its a bit tricky to follow the Papal policies and procedures…but one thing i know for sure, it works by its own rules.
secular press can be a bit over eager to chomp on anything remotely resembling a controversy…especially insofar as the Church is concerned. and it is all about headlines w/ them anyway.
frankly i think there’s been enough controversy created on all sides. now’s the time to settle into a more middle ground for the serious long term work towards making atheism mainstream and developing some social and political clout.
Cyn
11 Mar 08 at 3:58 am (GMT)
[...] The new seven deadly sins [...]
Vatican released new list of 7 deadly social sins : OTWOMD | Bluepanjeet.Net
11 Mar 08 at 3:15 pm (GMT)
[...] zu kredenzen, löst Wutstürme in der rationalistisch-atheistischen Blogosphäre aus ~ The new seven deadly sins ~ Pope Watch: New Seven Deadly Sins « Fahr zur [...]
DER MISANTHROP » Blog Archiv » 7 Todsünden, important update
11 Mar 08 at 9:08 pm (GMT)
Hey there my Athiest friend,
Take a minute to peruse
http://www.jfcshow.com
and you’ll see why Bono is saying “Forget Africa, donate your money to JFC”
and why Christians are saying “You evil, sadistic bastards, you can’t make
fun of our lord in such a blatant and highly realistic fashion!”
Cheers
freddy
12 Mar 08 at 2:03 am (GMT)
[...] the church fails to realize is how how having lots of extra children violates their new first Deadly Sin of the Modern Age causing pollution. In the western world we can reasonably expect a child born in the year 2000 to [...]
Population Growth vs The New 7 Deadly Sins | Brad's Tiny World
13 Mar 08 at 1:45 pm (GMT)
The Catholic Communications Network says they’re not offical sins: “This is not a new Vatican edict. The story originated from an interview that Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti gave to the L’Osservatore Romano in which he was questioned about new forms of social sins in this age of globalisation.” source http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/ukcorrespondents/holysmoke/mar08/owngoalondeadlysins.htm found via http://www.alexparsons.co.uk/blog/2008/03/12/updates-on-stories/
Jo
15 Mar 08 at 7:04 am (GMT)
So drinking wine and inhaling incense is a sin now? Good. (Just because it is legal, e.g. alcohol isn’t less addictive and dangerous). I’m glad that I don’t have to obey the Vatican and am free to use my excessive wealth to eat genetic engineered Babies. With wine. Yum.
Sven
24 Mar 08 at 9:20 pm (GMT)