Thread: What's a sin?
View Single Post
Old 05-21-2007, 07:21 PM   #20 (permalink)
Matthew Shea
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Detroit
Posts: 772
Matthew Shea is on a distinguished road
Default

I see your point, Brutha. Accepting that something can be sinful does actually presume belief in a higher power. Assuming that's true, though, and that this higher power has the ability to affect your eternal destiny based on what you do in this life, sin is very real. Even without that belief, though, there are certain actions that inevitably hurt others. Things like murder, theft and adultery hurt your fellow humans. That's the essence of sin and it applies to everyone equally.

Now I can see that those wishing to achieve a high level of consciousness might not focus on avoiding sin as much as focusing on how to do the most good. Acknowledging sin for such people might be seen as lowering consciousness. That doesn't change the fact, however, that humans can and do hurt each other every day by committing actions that are universally accepted as wrong.

Finally, I'm not saying rebelliousness is a bad thing. If it's directed against an improper use of authority, rebelliousness is good. But in the example I cited, the rebelliousness is directed against a reasonable restriction put in place for everyone's safety. That type of rebelliousness is not good.
Matthew Shea is offline   Reply With Quote