“All sins tend to be addictive, and the terminal point of addiction is damnation.”
—W. H. Auden
Do you ever think about sin? It doesn’t have to be in the biblical sense, just in the sense of things that are bad for us. They give us a temporary high. But then it’s gone, and we need it more and more to get that same high.
The drug addict–what started as a weekend “getaway” devolved into the need to escape every day. Then the addict needed more and couldn’t afford it, so stealing from family and friends became the next step. Then the job loss, then homelessness, then hopelessness because all the bridges have been burned until the addict is nothing but a shell of what was once a human being.
The low self-esteem woman–it started with a man showing her attention. She was happy and feeling good about herself. Eventually she slept with him. Then he dumped her. She’s back to the self-loathing. So she seeks that same good feeling from someone else, and someone else, and someone else, until all that is left is a self-hating, miserable little girl.
Whatever the vice, it devours the heart, the body, the mind, and the soul until there is nothing left.
We’ve all seen and commented on how the crazy train seems to be rolling downhill faster and faster. Why has it picked up so much steam lately? Every time they achieve a new “goal,” they get their high. But then they come down from it and are still miserable. It wasn’t enough. They need more. People in this country are celebrating the seven deadly sins en masse. They have become addicted, and it’s that addiction that is devouring the very soul of our country, and the end result will be the death of a great nation.
Pride–It is said that pride is the root of all sins. Pride is the belief that you are superior to everyone else. When you fail to acknowledge that you are not perfect and are not all-knowing, you lose sight that you are not the Creator and begin to think you can control all of the things–like the temperature of Earth. What started as “Ooh look at me! I recycle!” has now become “if you don’t recycle, you’re a planet-murderer!” Prideful people need that affirmation that they are better than others, and they achieve that affirmation by castigating others. Pride makes people think their life is more important than someone else’s life.
Who hasn’t tried to merge into bumper-to-bumper traffic only to come up next to that person who won’t let anyone in front of them? Or that person behind you at a red light who blared their horn as soon as the light turned green, who as soon they could get around you, raced up beside you, flipped you off, then nearly took your right front fender off racing to get in front of you? Safety be damned! He/she has to be somewhere and you don’t! How dare you get in his/her way!
Pride. The more you give into it, the more affirmation you need.
Envy–It’s not fair that some have more than others. It’s not fair that there are more male firefighters than female. It’s not fair that…infinity. It has been the source of the grotesque emasculation of men in this country. Instead of equal rights, many women now want special treatment just because they are a women. A new high. If a woman chooses to stay at home for five years with a child then go back into the workforce, somehow this means she should be paid the exact same wage as the man in her same position who didn’t take five years off. Oh, and how dare a man think manly thoughts or say manly things like, “Woohoo! Pretty lady!” Or commit the worst horror of all–whistle.
Some men have acquiesced and still others don’t know how to act because they are berated at every turn just for having been more with too much of that oppressive testosterone stuff. Even the kind and gentlemanly acts of opening the door for a woman or paying for dinner is viewed as some ghastly offense. Families are torn apart because one gender isn’t appreciated anymore. Why stick around when you are just going to be demeaned and berated for being male? (By the way, I’m not excusing anyone who runs out on their family, just pointing out a cause and effect.) Are these women happy with their newfound “equality”? No. In fact I’m fairly certain they are even more miserable than they were when men were proudly men.
Need a new high.
And then there’s skin color. Remember when the argument was “we can’t control the color of the skin we were born with, so we shouldn’t be treated differently?” That high is long gone. Now we’ve devolved into accusing one skin color of being privileged and these people who can’t control what hue they were born with should pretty much just shut up and die because of that skin they were born with. In response to this, we have seen the lowering of standards to obtain certain jobs, the unearned pay raises, the rewarding of jobs based on skin color or gender rather than on merit. It’s never enough. They keep wanting more and more.
Needing that new high.
Greed–Envy spawns greed. Once you get a taste of someone else’s treasure, you can’t get enough of it. We’ve seen the attack on the wealthy for a long time. The “rich” were the billionaire big job providers. The people were envious so they voted for those that would take from the rich via taxes and give to the “poor.” The people were happy. Until they weren’t. They needed more. So they demanded more taxes. And they got it. Finally, the billionaires started moving their money and jobs to other places. The people lost their jobs, but instead of stopping the taxes and allowing the billionaires to bring their money and jobs back, they demand more money from the “rich.” And they redefined who was considered “rich.”
So now we are at a point where the “rich” are people making over $250,000 a year. These are the small business job providers. Ahhh, they got their high again. But not for long because the small businesses started closing. Then the people demanded mandatory health benefits, and a new high.
But not for long because more job losses followed. Now they seek mandatory paid leave for those that make the choice to be parents. They might get it and the high that comes with it, but that will also fade quickly, and more job losses will follow. The end result will be no private sector, only government and its dependents. The death of America.
Lust–Sex was once private. Now it is shoved down our throats and our children’s throats 24/7. There is no shame anymore. There was a time when we told people they should wait until marriage. We were told that was archaic and misogynistic. We went from hearing about a random teenage pregnancy to pregnant teens in every school. Little girls dress like street walkers. Sex without responsibility. Passed on the premise of being for emergencies only, Roe v. Wade is now used as a form of birth control. For this, we have and will continue to suffer as a nation.
And let’s not forget the transition from coming out of the closet to redefining marriage. Do I really care who anyone sleeps with? Nope, but they asked for civil unions. Most said okay. But that wasn’t enough. They had to change the very definition of a religious ceremony, against the wishes of the religion, in order to attain the new high. Next up, polygamy.
Because it’s never enough.
But lust isn’t necessarily just about sex. For some, power is just as seductive as sex. Career politicians getting rich off of the taxpayer is a prime example. They promise away our grandchildren’s futures in the hopes of reelection. They “bend the arc” of morality to gain more votes in order to hold onto that power they desire, tarnishing everything that was once sacred.
They lust for fame or emulate the famous. People care and know more about Kay-Kay’s latest Instagram butt-post than they do about what legislation is being passed that will take away more of our freedoms. The arc of reality has been broken and people think real life should be like it is in the movies. Everyone in movies has a great job, makes plenty of money, has everything they want, and lives happily ever after. The victim is always vindicated and the perpetrator is always punished in under two hours. In the movies, the hard work that went into the hero or heroine being able to achieve their status doesn’t exist. In this new reality, that hard work shouldn’t exist, either. Also in this altered reality, autopsies, investigations, judgements, and convictions should be carried out instantly for any perceived crime lest they burn down a city.
Gluttony–Want want want. Once upon a time, most families had one income. Now most have two. And they spend it all, and then some. So now they need two incomes to pay for all the extra luxuries they want. The problem isn’t in having luxuries, the problem is that now people confuse those wants with needs. The luxuries were supposed to make them happier, but instead they are just overworked and stressed out over paying for these things.
Sloth–Laziness. More and more people who are too lazy to stay at a job, to go the extra mile that it takes to move up and succeed in the workplace, think they should be paid more. The “Fight for Fifteen” and “Living Wage” movements are nothing but sloth. Also, doing nothing in the face of evil is sloth. Trying to appease evil rather than fight it is sloth. The president of the greatest country in the world is the villainous Sloth Man.
Wrath–If pride is the root of all sins, then wrath is the result of all of them. When they don’t get their way, they lash out. When they don’t find that inner peace from making everyone else miserable, they blame others. When the high wears off and the need to get that fix starts again, the anger sets in. Anyone who stands in the way of the fix is a target. Someone looking for that next high will tear his or her own mother to shreds to get it.
If all of the things the social justice tyrants were trying to obtain were righteous things, they should be blissful. Progress, right?
Well, we’ve progressed ourselves right up that mountain and over the cliff. They aren’t happy. We aren’t happy. In the past few decades, we’ve witnessed the complete degradation of morals and ethics, which they said would make life better. So we compromised. But they needed more. And the compromises led to us rolling over for them. Because it’s never enough.
But we are not better. We are so far worse as a people and as a nation that I almost don’t recognize America anymore, and if we continue down this path of immorality, she will surely be damned.
Now…how do we get her back?
