A Progressive on the Prairie

Mortal sins for the 21st Century

What’s happening to the Catholic Church? You know, the church I belonged to until, to quote George Carlin, “I reached the age of reason.” First, limbo goes out the window. Now the church is bringing mortal sin into the 21st Century.

For those unfamiliar with Catholic doctrine, mortal sins basically mean go directly to hell on death without passing Go. They include, but are not exclusively, the seven deadly sins many in the press and blogosphere are referring to. In fact, the list of potential mortal sins can get awfully long. But here’s a list of the ones published in the Vatican newspaper Sunday:

Environmental pollution
Genetic manipulation
Accumulating excessive wealth
Inflicting poverty
Drug trafficking and consumption
Morally debatable experiments
Violation of fundamental rights of human nature

Any Catholics on the Forbes list of billionaires may have gotten a tad nervous today. And it certainly makes one wonder if the legend on recycling containers should be changed to “Recycle OR ELSE.”

You know that it’s a sin to be rich
But it’s a low down shame to be poor

Title Song, Lightnin’ Hopkins, It’s a Sin to Be Rich