Friday, September 19, 2008

Spins on Sins

I came by a snippet in Reader's Digest the other day about some "additional" sins the Catholic Church has come up with to keep up with the changing times. We know that there are seven deadly sins -- we all saw the movie Seven right? -- lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride, along with that supposedly born-with mortal sin by Adam and Eve that they taught us all when we were young. Well, the church has conveniently added another 7 more sins, namely:

1. "Bioethical" violations such as birth control
2. "Morally dubious" experiments such as stem cell research
3. Drug abuse
4. Polluting the environment
5. Contributing to widening the divide between the rich and the poor
6. Excessive wealth
7. Creating poverty

Did I miss something? Who saw the burning bush? Did anybody see a couple of stone tablets appear anywhere?

I am a Catholic by birth, upbringing and by affiliation. But I prefer to be non-denominational Christian.

The thing with most religious affiliations nowadays, the Catholic Church included, is that it is now more often a clergy of men who dictate rules they come up with than followers of faith. I mean, seriously, it feels like that list was just made up. Just because they were the fancy clothes doesn't mean they can make the rules up as they go along.

The Church has become more of man and less in the praise of Him who matters.

By all means, I am a sinner. I am not perfect. But Jesus once declared that blessed are those who are poor in spirit, the sinners for the kingdom of God is theirs. With that said, anybody who uses contraception to curb the population explosion is a sinner (oh yes we are overpopulated, but that's just me). The boy whose life was saved by stem cell research and the doctor who gave it is a sinner. The drug abusers, well, res ipsa loquitor. Anybody who drives a car is a sinner. I really wouldn't want to be Bill Gates right now because he pretty much takes up 5, 6, and 7.

Someone, who we love and adore over most things on this earth once said to love Him with all our hearts, souls and minds and to love each other as we love Him. I think that pretty much suffices, doesn't it?

2 comments:

Ligaya said...

ha? mao ba? hehe...

oi there's a denomination that calls themselves non-denominational Christians

and CS Lewis referred to a concept of being "mere Christians" but i think naa pod ga-start ug church based on that concept

things do tend to get out of hand. entropy, and all that

i DO think, sometimes ba, people tend to feel holier than God. you know what i mean? like, ang Ginoo gani makapasaylo, why not kamo?

oh, well, basta I believe God is good and just and loving and he sees into our hearts and minds, and he takes our good intentions into account, and notes that we're just trying our best to live our lives in the way we think is right and pleasing to Him. just like in the boards, nga ang examiner ra gyud ang sakto, in the end, ang Ginoo ra jud ang sakto. so we'll see. in some cases, I'll take my chances

bricalz said...

Haha, I meant the concept of not having a denomination.

I know you got what I meant and yup I agree, sometimes other people get carried away.

In the end, it's all about Him and you.