Despite more jobless, crime rates drop
But then policemen will be laid off, then crime rates will go up, then more police will be hired until an equilibrium is reached where Desperation exactly equals Security.
Sorcery charges on the rise in Saudi Arabia
"the religious police are trying to flex their muscles in the few ways they still can, including looking for people who practice magic or who don't pray five times a day, and for women who don't properly cover their hair"
Microcosm - My Head Lines
Gene was a lonely, introverted intellectual.With a blurb like that, it's just incredibly hard not to, uh, read between the lines of passages like this one:
Phineas was a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete.
What happened between them at school one summer during the early years of World War II is the subject of A Separate Peace.
Finny and I went along the Boardwalk in our sneakers and white slacks, Finny in a light blue polo shirt and I in a T-shirt. I noticed that people were looking fixedly at him, so I took a look myself to see why. His skin radiated a reddish copper glow of tan . . . and I noticed that the tan made his eyes shine with a cool blue-green fire.Anyways.
I'm going to confession today, which of course, gets me thinking about sin.
There's actually a special format for confession. You have to go through all the ten commandments and think about which ones you broke. Well I forgot them, which is probably an unwritten sin right there, so I looked them up online:
1. You shall have no other Gods but me.
Okay I'm good.
2. You shall not make for yourself any idol, nor bow down to it or worship it.
Um, have you seen Daniel Day-Lewis in "The Last of the Mohicans"?
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
So it's "Oh, my gosh" from now on, no matter how dorky it may be.
4. You shall remember and keep the Sabbath day holy.
If only professors kept this in mind when giving exams on Monday.
5. Respect your father and mother.
This is the one I always tell the priest, although I'm a pretty good kid. Or my parents are just exceptionally cool.
6. You must not kill.
Okay so what if someone confesses to a priest that he killed someone? Is the priest still sworn to secrecy? Even if it was Scott Peterson? And how many "Hail Mary"s would he have to say to repent for this sin?
7. You must not commit adultery.
I'm no Tiger Woods.
8. You must not steal.
All that food I took from the dining hall that's stashed in my room is included in my meal plan, right?
9. You must not give false evidence against your neighbour.
I've never done that. That guy did. I saw him.
10. You must not be envious of your neighbour's goods. You shall not be envious of his house nor his wife, nor anything that belongs to your neighbour.
How can this be helped at Yale when there are girls everywhere with gorgeous clothes, talent, and brains?
I wonder if it's wrong of me to do this. I mean these are the sacred Ten Commandments. You don't make pop culture references.
You don't comment about them on your blog.
You don't take them lightly.
Sin = bad = guilty = wrong = satanic
This has always been the formula that most religions use to get followers to do the right thing. But we've seen so many cases where enforcing rigid restrictions on people and stigmatizing sin to such a high degree has proved hypocritical or created the opposite effect:
The Scarlet Letter
An actually really pious woman with a disgusting husband has to wear a big fat A on her chest while the priest who knocked her up is revered until he finally dies of guilt.
The Crime of the Padre Amaro
Celibacy => Forbidden romance => Tragic abortion
See headline #2 above
Fortunately, I've noticed a shift in attitude toward sin. Nowadays, it's not as important to avoid sin so much as realize when you have sinned and try your best to not do it again. We choose not to sin because of the benefits of not sinning rather than out of fear of punishment. Priests don't scare people into being good Christians by describing the fires of eternal damnation anymore. They describe the peace of mind that comes from regular prayer and the joy of doing good for others.
Thank gosh for that.
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