Does Anyone Believe in Sin Anymore?

           

A member of Cross~Wind UMC gave me an article with the title, “Does Anyone Believe in Sin Anymore?” It refers to the idea of updating the traditional “seven deadly sins,” namely, pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth. They derive from Pope Gregory in the 500s AD. The article refers to Bishop Gianfranco Girotti as thinking of modern behaviors that can adversely affect people, such as drug abuse, pollution, contributing to the widening divide between rich and poor, excessive wealth, and creating poverty. He refers to the Ten Commandments, but also, one offends God by wrecking the environment, carrying out morally debatable experiments, and so on. The article refers to Mahatma Ghandi drawing up a list of the seven blunders of the world, for the seven deadly social sins, of wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, science without humanity, knowledge without character, politics without principle, commerce without morality, and worship without sacrifice. Arun, his grandson, added number eight, rights without responsibilities.

            A survey (http://www.greymatterresearch.com/index_files/Sin.htm) of Americans listed several possibilities and asked whether they considered them sins. 

The behaviors a majority of all Americans describe as sinful are: 

· Adultery  8

· Racism  74%

· Using “hard” drugs such as cocaine, heroine, meth, LSD, etc.  65%

· Not saying anything if a cashier gives you too much change back  63%

· Having an abortion  56%

· Homosexual activity or sex  52%

· Not reporting some income on your tax returns  52% 

A number of other behaviors are considered sinful by a significant portion of all Americans, although not a majority.  These are: 

· Reading or watching pornography  50%

· Gossip  47%

· Swearing  46%

· Sex before marriage  45%

· Homosexual thoughts  44%

· Sexual thoughts about someone you are not married to  43%

· Doing things as a consumer that harm the environment  41%

· Smoking marijuana  41%

· Getting drunk  41%

· Not taking proper care of your body  35% 

Then there are behaviors that fewer than one-third of all Americans see as sinful: 

· Gambling  30%

· Telling a “little white lie” to avoid hurting someone’s feelings  29%

· Using tobacco  23%

· Not attending church or religious worship services on a regular basis  18%

· Playing the lottery  18%

· Watching an R-rated movie  18%

· Being significantly overweight  17%

· Not giving 10% of your income to a church or charity  16%

· Drinking any alcohol  14%

· Working on Sunday/the Sabbath  14%

· Spanking your child when he/she misbehaves  7%

· Making a lot of money  4%

· Dancing  4% 

            I wonder, however, if the problem is not failure to believe in sin, but failure to envision the possibility of redemption.

            It gratifies me that so many Americans think of racism as a sin. For the percentage to be that high, regardless of political affiliation, racism is sinful.

            Parker Rice and Levi Pettit were members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Oklahoma. The video of their racist sing-a-long gained much press in the early part of 2015. Eventually, the President of the school expelled them, he shut down the fraternity, and the fraternity itself would go through a nationwide examination. Given the circumstances, all of this may well be the best path of action. I do not know the individuals involved, so I am not passing on evaluation of their actions.

            However, I find it striking that Isaac Hill, the president of the Black Student Association at the University told Megyn Kelly that people should forgive the students. His counsel was to fight hate with the power love. Cal Thomas, columnist, was quite right to suggest that the goal of actions by fellow students and especially by the university should have been redemption. Redemption is a harder path to travel, but the destination is to change the thinking of the students.

In her article, "The Power of Forgiveness: Why Revenge Doesn't Work," Dr. Judith Orloff writes: "...revenge reduces you to your worst self, puts you on the same level with those spiteful people we claim to abhor."

Now, let us step back and consider a larger issue.

Yes, America has its faults and sins. They flow from its history of connection to Europe. Most of us can list them. Slavery and treatment of the Native American would rate high on the list. Critics will implicate Christianity and white people in these sins.

Such imperfections are there. No one can erase it from the history.

What would redemption look like?

Maybe you would have preachers throughout the country, known as abolitionists, encourage America to abolish slavery. Maybe you would fight a war at great cost in human lives to remove it, and maybe you would work tirelessly for another 100 years to remove racism from any form of respectability. An avowed racist could not receive a majority anywhere in this country.

Yet, the path of revenge will lead to your worst self. You might become like the people you hate. It might lead to riots and violence in the streets, destroying the businesses your community needs to make progress. It might lead to harming relationships with the police, the people you need to protect you from those in the community who wish harm.

Many Americans are quick to label almost anything a “sin,” even if they do not use the word. For some people, the only path to redemption is to agree with them.