Have vices become virtues? Have we come to view "sins" as regrettable psychological diseases?
Sin, which is an offense against God, has been replaced with crime, which is an offense against other people. Or so writes Frank Furedi, of the "The Spectator." "The deadly sins [lust, gluttony, avarice, sloth, anger, envy and pride] have become behavioral problems that require treatment rather than punishment," he says. Except for pride, which "has become a virtue."
There are no longer sinners, says Mr. Furedi, "only addictive personalities." Take lust, for example. People we may have referred to as lustful, from presidents to adult Internet site aficionados to high-school hotties are said to be "addicted" to sex and in need of therapy. The American Association on Sexual Problems estimates that more than 15% of the U.S. population is addicted to sex. We used to call it promiscuity, and wave it off with a comment like, "So, one day they'll grow up (or old)." Today, there's even a Sex Addicts Anonymous and an online organization called Spirit of Recovery which offer counseling and therapeutic advice.
The second of the deadly sins - gluttony - has also been transformed into an addiction. How many varieties of eating disorder have you heard about, in the past twenty years? Some people who profit from various forms of eating disorders even claim that compulsive eating is a psychological disease with a biological cause. Obviously, there's no hope for people with this affliction - both their minds and their bodies are conspiring against them.
Avarice and envy seem to go together in the I've-got-a-new-therapy-for-you crowd, who redefine those character flaws as "the inevitable consequence of modern consumer society." Ours, they claim, is an addictive society that compels individuals to be envious of each other, and they compare shopaholics and compulsive gamblers with alcoholics and drug addicts.
"Have you ever been so angry," asks Spirit of Recovery, "that you felt like you could breath fire?" If you have, "you are truly addicted to this state of being, this emotional chemical trap that now determines your every action and feeling." Sounds like the lead-in to a good commercial for marijuana, or some processed drug like Valium. The apologists point to "road rage," "computer rage," "golf rage," and "air rage" and suggest that these "diseases" can be overcome with stress management and anger management therapy. Sometimes, employers will insist that employees go on courses that allow them to come to terms with their emotions. Sounds like they should just do some growing up, not old.
As for sloth, it's become medicalized, says Mr. Furedi. "Conditions such as chronic fatigue...invite people to make sense of their lassitude through a medical label." Ever hear of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder? Such an all-purpose explanation for people who are reluctant to focus or concentrate seems to be a cop-out by all involved.
But sloth isn't necessarily all that bad, according to those who point to it as an antidote to stress-related illnesses brought on by hard work. It seems that working hard, which was once a positive virtue, now transforms us into "workaholics" and that we'll get ill if we keep it up.
Finally, let's look at pride. Of all the so-called "seven deadly sins," it's the only one that has been completely rehabilitated. These days, virtually every social and psychological problem is blamed on low self-esteem. The solution to such diverse problems as poor educational performance, teenage pregnancy, anorexia, and even crime is to raise the self-esteem of the victim (yes, it's a victim that commits the crime). Our self-oriented world, say the experts, actually incites us to take ourselves far too seriously. That is why pride has become one of the prime virtues of our time.
In the Middle Ages, people practised the "seven contrary virtues" - humility, kindness, abstinence, chastity, patience, liberality and diligence. Doing that, they said at the time, would protect one from being tempted by the seven deadly sins. Today, anyone found practising these virtues are just as likely to be offered counseling. Hey, too much kindness can lead to "compassion fatigue," and too much diligence can be viewed as "perfectionism." Did you know that humble people lack self-esteem, and chastity is just another sexual dysfunction? Or that too much faith could be seen as "religious addiction?"
What to do, what to do? Like Mr. Furedi, I don't much like the idea of sin, and if I am given the choice between being powerless in the face of God or an impotent client of a therapist or drug company, I'll go with God every time. Therapeutic definitions of addiction have elevated those conditions to the point where people are being told they'll never recover. But, in actuality, no one ever really changes. Vices or virtues, we are what we are.
The author, Lorne Peasland, is a former advertising agency owner and national media consultant,
the founder and past-president of the Canadian Home & Micro Business Federation, and author of "Influencing Public
Opinion - A Communications Primer For Political Candidates, Community Activists, and Special Interest Group
Spokespeople" (ISBN 0-9697364-0-1). He is a home-based marketing consultant, writer and speaker, and publisher of HomeBizNew, a syndicated web-based weekly for home-based and small office entrepreneurs. He can be
contacted through either of his web pages at http://www.accept.ca/homebiznews/lorne.html or http://www.accept.ca/homebiznews/pms2.html, via e-mail at lorne@pacificcoast.net., or by phone at 250-708-0250.
