QOTD: Is Car Ownership A Sin?

Donal Fagan
by Donal Fagan

Several of the original Seven Deadly Sins– Pride, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Sloth and Greed– have enhanced automobile sales and pistonhead pleasure. But Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, the Pope's BFF and the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary (uh-oh) reveals that these "sins of yesteryear'' have a "rather individualistic dimension.'' The Church's seven new deadly sins are intended to make worshippers realize that their poor decisions also do unto others: Human Genetic Modification, Human Experimentation, Environmental Pollution, Social Injustice, Causing Poverty, Seeking Obscene Wealth and Drug Abuse. Did you know that every deadly sin has a traditional punishment? Pride leads to being broken on the wheel. Wrath leads to being dismembered alive. And so on. Hence, our QOTD: how can the car industry and pistonheads stay on the side of the angels with these new strictures, and what should happen if they don't?

Donal Fagan
Donal Fagan

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  • TexasAg03 TexasAg03 on Mar 12, 2008

    As usual, the press is not getting it right. http://tinyurl.com/2vcg7j http://tinyurl.com/24gmdu A quote from the first article: Finally, in the afternoon, I spoke with the CBS News religion consultant at the Vatican, Fr. Thomas Williams. He confirmed what I suspected: there's nothing new in the "new" deadly sins -- and they aren't necessarily deadly, and they don't number seven, and it's all one person's interpretation of moral failings that are as old as time itself. The pope had nothing to do with it. It doesn't change doctrine or dogma one iota. And from the second: The Vatican's intent seemed to be less about adding to the traditional "deadly" sins (lust, anger, sloth, pride, avarice, gluttony, envy) than reminding the world that sin has a social dimension, and that participation in institutions that themselves sin is an important point upon which believers needed to reflect. In other words, if you work for a company that pollutes the environment, you have something more important to consider for Lent than whether or not to give up chocolate.

  • TexasAg03 TexasAg03 on Mar 12, 2008

    Another article: http://tinyurl.com/2y6dan An excerpt: As usual, a British newspaper leapt to the forefront with the most sensational and misleading coverage. The Daily Telegraph made the preposterous claim that Archbishop Girotti's list replaced the traditional Catholic understanding of the seven deadly sins: It replaces the list originally drawn up by Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th Century, which included envy, gluttony, greed, lust, wrath and pride. Could we have a reality check, please? When a second-tier Vatican official gives a newspaper interview, he is not proclaiming new Church doctrines. Archbishop Girotti was obviously trying to offer a new, provocative perspective on some enduring truths. The effort backfired-- but in a very revealing way. I want to point out that I am not Catholic, but I just wanted to correct story to be known. It continually amazes me that so-called professional journalists report things that they know are wrong or they just don't do their homework or pay very close attention. It would seem that on TTAC, of all places, this fact would be at the forefront and every story would be checked out; even those about the "horrible, backward" Catholic Church. It took me about five minutes to get the real story on this, and I am certainly no professional journalist.

  • TexasAg03 TexasAg03 on Mar 12, 2008
    Did you know that every deadly sin has a traditional punishment? Pride leads to being broken on the wheel. Wrath leads to being dismembered alive. These are the punishments in hell for the sins. Some people mistakenly believe the traditional list of punishments to be those used by the Church on earth. http://www.deadlysins.com/sins/history.html
  • Virtual Insanity Virtual Insanity on Mar 12, 2008

    Agnostic>Atheist. This way, if the Church is right, we still have our bases covered.

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