In Continuum.

But if you think about it carefully like I have, what is really wrong with most of these sins anyway. The number is weird to begin with, because it just doesn't sound official enough, you know. Let's say the dude that wrote this came down from the clouds and told people about these seven deadly sins, right, and a crowd gathered a long long time ago to hear him speak. He came down from the clouds, of course people would want to hear what he had to say. So he gives a list of seven things we really shouldn't do in life, and then he flies away back into the clouds and disappears. OK, first of all, his rapport isn't exactly very good. He just kinda flew down from the skies and flew back again, not a very convincing dude to begin with. Secondly, why the number seven? Ten sounds like a commanding number, because it sounds important. Decades, centuries, millennium, they are all divisible by ten, so ten is quite important, you know. Seven is kinda like an odd number, it's in the middle of nowhere. It's between six and eight, which are very nice numbers by themselves. It's a prime number, and only divisible by one and itself - not very useful. Plus, it doesn't sound very important, so why only have seven sins?

The number problem aside, the sins themselves don't exactly qualify as sins - here's why. Let's begin with pride - what's wrong with pride? They always say that pride is a bad thing, that we should be humble about ourselves, that we should never boast to others what we have and compare to them as to what they don't have. That sounds like a very bad kind of pride, in fact that sounds like what a douche bag would do. But then again, there are a lot of different types of pride, you don't just lump all the prides together and say that they are bad, they are not! I think pride is kind of important in life, in a human life anyway, especially when we are trying to achieve something, you know, when we have a goal to shoot for. Let's just take the Australian Open that ended yesterday for example. Just look at Rafael Nadal as he held the trophy up above his head as the camera flashes blinked all around him a thousand times over. Those glitters in his eyes weren't just camera flashes, but pure pride. So what's wrong with pride, anyway. I mean he earned it, he played well, he deserved the media attention and he was proud about himself. Yet, he remained humble when he received the award, with pride still hanging on his face - so what's the problem? 

Next, sloth. What's wrong with sloth? Sloth is defined as a reluctance to work or just plain laziness - so what? Again, there are a lot of different kinds of sloth, you can't just say that all of them are bad. I mean, have you ever seen a sloth before? They are probably the cutest thing ever, and they always look so harmless and happy with that smile on their faces. Sloth can't be a bad thing if they are always smiling and furry, so what is the problem, really? I suppose the dude that came up with the list, the dude that broke through the clouds and picked a strange number, was probably referring to laziness especially when you've got something to do. That being said, what about all those times when you have absolutely nothing to do? You can't expect us to have something to do all the time, or to be doing something every time. There are times when we simply have the time to do nothing at all, so why not just laze in bed and waste a day or two away. At least that is what I do in holidays, and a lot of people that I know of, nothing wrong with that. If you haven't got obligations, responsibilities, or just things to do in general, what's wrong with being lazy for a while? Be a sloth every once in a while, then you'd know why they are always smiling while hugging those tree trucks. I know I am happy when I laze around every once in a while. It's so... liberating. 

Greed and Gluttony, I think I am going to mention these together. Isn't gluttony a part of greed, kinda like how the testicle is a part of our internal organs. I mean, greed is basically the want or the desire to get things for yourself, right. It is an act of selfishness, so how is that really different from gluttony anyway. By being a glutton, you are saying that you have the desire to eat everything for yourself, which is an act of selfishness, which is also greed! Why do they have two separate points for greed anyway, was the dude who wrote the list trying to take a point home? Maybe the people back then were all really fat, and they didn't really have a good weight-loss program in place yet, since they probably never thought of using wheels for treadmills just yet. So anyway, that dude probably thought it'd be wise to take "the desire for food" out from greed, and make a category of it all by itself, just to warn people about being fat. So those really fat people saw that they were living, breathing, walking sins, and thought bad about themselves. Gluttony is really a part of greed, and I think greed IS, in fact, the only proper sin in this list, if you ask of me. They really should have lumped gluttony and greed together though, that would have made a nice round number that is divisible also, by two. 

Next, envy. What's wrong with envy? I think it is inevitable for humans to be envious of others, one way or another. Even monks in a monastery probably gets envious about the monks in another monastery. Like, one monastery grows better and bigger mushrooms than the other monastery, or that one monastery serves better tofu, for example. OK, let's move away from materialistic aspects of things, since they are supposed to be free from those. Let's say the monks in one monastery is able to attain enlightenment more easily than the monks in another monastery, given the same amount of time spent praying. More monks in Monastery A, apparently, are going to Heaven as compared to the monks in Monastery B - what's up with that? Of course the ones in Monastery B are going to complain, or feel envious, because they are not attaining enlightenment fast enough. I think the emotion of envy could be very well used as a drive, or a motivation to be a better person. Let's say a person grew up in the slums, feeling envious about the famous and the rich. So he works hard to become famous and rich, and in turn he gives money back to the slum for development. Given, not all people are like that, but envy can be used for good! 

Next, wrath - what's wrong with wrath? I think there is nothing wrong with wrath at all, and here is why. You feel the wrath when you are beyond angry, you know, when your veins are about to pop in your neck, and you feel like you want to mangle somebody into a pulp with a pipe. That's wrath, and I see nothing really wrong with it. Why? Because it is a normal human emotion, you can't fault a normal human emotion. That's like saying love or happiness is a wrong thing, they aren't. When someone teases you in school, you feel angry. When someone cheats a hefty sum of money from you, you get pissed. Sometimes you get more than pissed, and you feel the wrath, so what's wrong with that? I think it is what you do when you are infuriated that makes it a sin. Like murder, for example, out of anger, would probably be more fitting as a sin. You might feel angry and frustrated with a person, but you may not necessarily want to murder him. But in accordance to these rules, being pissed off is already a sin, so it doesn't matter if you commit crimes afterwards or not. You are already sinful, and you are already a bad bad person. I think if you want to say that wrath is a sin, then love should be considered a sin as well. Think about it, which has caused more bloodshed in the history of mankind? I rest my case. 

Last but not least, lust. Now wait just a minute there, how is lust a problem anyway. If the Bible was right, mankind kind of started with a guy named Adam and a girl named Eve. They pranced around in a garden completely naked, and they had sex with one another to create the first born, the first set of offsprings. So they kind of went on and on, until we are who we are today, simple as that (wait a minute, so there must have been some kind of incest relationship?). Adam probably saw Eve all naked and felt a little something something, and Eve probably saw Adam all naked and felt a little something something. It probably didn't occur to Adam that he was, essentially, screwing his own rib - maybe that's why it's called a "boner". Anyway, without lust, that would have never happened, and humans would probably never be allowed to procreate, and procreate, and procreate some more. Adam probably didn't have sex with Eve for economical purposes, or that he felt lonely. "I will have sex with you, Eve, because I think more of us would do the world good!" Well Adam, you were dead wrong, but that's besides the point. Or, he surely didn't say "I shall produce more little versions of you and I like a conveyor belt in a factory!", or something like that. He probably didn't do all of those things, but probably just had sex with her because he lusted for her. Yeah, they ate the apple, the original sin. But seriously, it was just an apple God, get over it. You are supposed to be better than that, right? I mean, you created the world in seven days, can't you make ANOTHER apple?

So, the only sin that I really recognize is greed, because I think that is the real problem with our world today, you know. I think if half the politicians never existed and most of the other half are locked in prisons, the world would be a much better place. The problem with human beings, when you look at it, all comes down to greed. Take Haiti for example. There is a charity organization in Taiwan trying to send food supplies to Haiti right now, because its people are dying from famine. Problem is that one of the parties trying to gain control of the country wants the food to be delivered into the country, while the opposing party does not. The opposing one would only allow it if it is passed through the government, and we all know what that means. They only really want it for themselves, and it is the story everywhere around the world. It explains the genocide in Sudan, it explains the famine in Somalia, and it explains why people are killing each other. It's not for any other reasons, but for greed itself. Selfish reasons why people don't want to give things up, they want things for themselves, and then some. 

So yes, there is really only one deadly sin. But, I don't believe that it is punishable at the death, though. I don't think you are going to be sent to Hell and then punished for eternity if you do not repent. As someone who doesn't necessarily believe in the existence of a superior being, believing in Hell would just be a little contradictory. No, I believe people will get away with greed, and people will just die and rot into the soils and into the seas. People will not be punished, their souls will not be in the purgatory, they will just get away with it somehow. That is the reality of things, really, because if you see Hell as a possibility, then you see Heaven as a possibility too. They are two sides of a coin, you can't separate them apart, you know. Then, if eternal life is possible, it then makes life - this life - irrelevant. Does that kinda mean that we can do anything we want in this life, just as long as we do not touch any of the seven sins. How about killing somebody, because murder isn't on the list. How about torturing small animals, or little children. It may not be out of wrath, but just because. You know, you just want to do it. Let's face it, the list and religion is not relevant to human beings at all. So let's just abide by the law that we have in this country, and be done with it. And as for everything else, what can we do about it, really? Things like lust, they are embedded in our system. You can't dig it out with a knife. Let's just live with it, and whatever happens, happens.