New Sins?

It seems like everyone I know is on Facebook, including just about everyone in my Tuesday night small group, so maybe I need to take the plunge. So I asked Angelynn when she was home last week on spring break to help me set up a Facebook account. She looked at me in horror and said, “No way!” It was actually funny. I was pretty much kidding about it, but it looked like it was going to annoy her so much that now I have to go ahead and set one up!

Did anyone see where the Vatican released a list of “new sins?” These behaviors that are now deemed as sinful include using drugs, pollution, genetic manipulation and social and economic injustices. The traditional list of the “seven deadly sins” (gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride) was established by Pope Gregory in the 6th century, and it was time to modify the list to fit the modern world. I guess the old list was getting too easy and it was time to add some tougher stuff? Or did they just give up on people keeping the older list? For the record, I am against using drugs, pollution, and social-economic injustice. I don’t know that I would dismiss all genetic engineering. Coming up with heartier wheat seems like a good thing, although the Dr. Frankenstein stuff is a little scary.

Actually, this "new list" of sins does illustrate the inefficiency of lists of rules that codify human behavior. When I was a kid, morality was often talked about in terms of dancing, drinking, smoking, mixed-bathing, etc. That list was incomplete then, and it is certainly out-of-date today. The list was actually confusing then— some of the deacons smoked between church and Sunday School and we saw several of our church friends at the pool on Monday after mixed-swimming was preached against on Sunday. Talk about mixed-signals on sin. On the other hand, maybe today we (I) are so hesitant to draw up lists of rules that we (I) don’t preach specially enough on certain behaviors.

So maybe Sunday I will preach against genetic manipulation.