Most of Christianity’s Seven Deadly Sins are bullshit. Yeah, there I said it, and I give zero fucks if that rattled your cage. Since I’m one of the philosopher bachelors that the OG hates so much, I’m going to narrow my audience to my fellow cohorts; young men. Also, I’m targeting that demographic in this article because that is the lens that I’m still able to view the world (even if I’m starting to age out of that demographic). I can’t really comment on how this will apply to women or the other 17 fucking genders since it’ll be based mostly on my personal experience (anecdotes? Gasp!). Suffice it to say, attentive readers will notice a trend, while angry Karens or agents of The Matrix will sharpen their pitchforks…
Wrath is one of the supposed Seven Deadly Sins. The devil (hehe, see what I did there?) is in the details. Uncontrolled wrath is bad and is usually destructive; not even the greatest of all time is immune to this. However, properly-harnessed wrath absolutely has a place in a young man’s life. Wrath is what got me off of the bench and into the starting line-up. Wrath (and its cousin, utter contempt) was an excellent short-term motivator to study hard, work overtime, hit the gym, or do anything else when I didn’t particularly feel like it. Luckily, my default setting from 18-24 was unyielding rage, with the setting on the RageKnob being turned down only slightly to “seething rage” when I was 25-27. I’m not alone in this assessment either; stud podcaster Chris Williamson of Modern Wisdom is quite vocal on the utility of rage, even if he is critical on its long-term usage.
The issue with listing wrath as one of the Seven Deadly Sins is that there are times it is absolutely needed. As so eloquently described in Team America: World Police; being a dick is necessary. However, these rules were not written by dicks. No, they were written by assholes who wanted to shit all over everything and everyone. The situation is also aided-and-abetted by pussies who simply stood back and enabled this to happen. The truth is that society needs physically fit men who are not easily controlled. Enter wrath…
What is the alternate? To be temperate? Temperance is necessary, sure-but only sparingly. It’s important to ask; who benefits from young, energetic men becoming passive betas who accept the status quo? Is it the massive corporations, who’d rather have docile employees rather than disruptive entrepreneurial competition? Is it the government, who’d rather have a sedated populace of easily-controlled taxpayers, rather than men who’ll stand up to abuse?
Who is telling you to calm down and do they truly have your best interests at heart? Riddle me this; when, in all of human history, has anyone who has ever preached just sit down and accept your lot in life to a large population ever been “the good guys”? Population-wide wrath is a necessary counter-balance to abuse of power by elites, absent of any other formal check-and-balance. It’s almost like this was a rule written by someone in charge who wanted to remain in control or something…
Greed is another one of the alleged Seven Deadly Sins that young men are told to stay away from. They warn of not taking more than one is entitled to; to leave some for others who are patiently waiting their turn. If this advice wreaks of socialism, then you’re catching on. I remember being chided all the time as a younger man such nonsense such as “Why do you care so much about money? You can’t take it with you when you die!”. This ridiculous advice always came from someone in a financial situation that I’d never want to emulate.
Again, a healthy exercise is to ask out loud Who benefits when the masses follow this advice? It’s almost as if the Church wants people to leave more money on the table, and to fill the pewter coffers with it, rather than keep it for themselves. If is ludicrous to expect all of society to throw away their desire for more money. Assuming a zero-sum game (I know, I know) then you leaving money on the table is an easy win for somebody else. Assuming a non-zero-sum game, then it makes sense to be greedy and take as much money as you reasonably can, since the pie can always expand. In either case, grabbing as much money as you can is the winning play. Its almost as if this rule was written by someone who did not want you to escape poverty or something…
Lust is a so-called Deadly Sin that young men are told to be weary of, yet doing so is comically nonsensical. This overt theocratic (let’s not forget the historical context of these rules, after all) rule is nothing more than a blatant power-grab of the male sex drive. Back in the day, this ethically-dubious overreach of power had a modicum of practicality to it. In those days, men were nearly assigned a wife at the ripe old age of 19 and they stayed together for life.
Contrast that with today; Any of Scott Galloway’s more data-driven broadcasts will tell you that young men are single today for much, much longer than any other generation in recent history. Male sexlessness is at an all-time high. Yet, the antiquated belief system would have men passively accept this arrangement. Fuck That. Be lustful. Go out and make your intentions known to a woman who’s “out of your league”. You’ll be better off for it, even if she rejects you (spoken from a man who’s racked up quite a few feminine rejections). Truthfully, when has any group in power that attempted to control the sexuality of their citizens have ever been considered to be the “good guys”? It’s almost like this rule was designed by people who did not have your best interest at heart or something…
Envy is the last of the seven deadly sins that I’ll dunk on for today. Contrary to what the dictatorial theocracy called the Vatican would have you believe; it is natural to be jealous at times. Wanting what something that someone else has (whether it’s a job, political position, a nice house, a cool car, tons of money, etc) is okay. It’s almost as if the shadowy heads of this violent ideology just loved to stand on a soapbox and say Don’t you dare try to strive for something you want, peasant! Call me a broken record, but it’s likely that this was not written with your best interests at heart, or something…
However, this so-called Deadly Sin can easily be judo-thrown into something positive. All one has to do is ask “What’s that guy doing right that I’m not doing right?”. It’s simple, but not easy, to shelve an ego and take a look objectively at why someone else has something that you don’t. Get past the petty answers revolving around privilege or “it came easy to him because of XYZ”. Truly take stock of what you know about their habits and schedule, then you might just learn something. Better yet, assuming you have a good (or at least neutral) relationship with the other person, then ask them how they did it. No seriously; go up to them, earnestly congratulate them, publicly acknowledge your jealousy, and then ask them how they did it. Chances are, they’ll be willing to enlighten you if asked nicely.
Religion is the opiate of the masses. Meet the Sacklers…
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