Revel the night,

Rob, murder and commit

The oldest sin,

The newest kinds of ways.

— Shakespeare, 2 Henry, IV, IV, 5

As the French say, the more things change, the more they remain the same. No sin is really new for they have all been around as long as religion has existed; they’ve just been recycled, The only difference now is the way in which they are committed.

From the dawn of time, man stole, lied, fornicated, committed adultery and indulged in all the sins that gave so much pain, profit and pleasure. That’s right, there is pleasure in sin, for if there wasn’t, people would not commit them.

But with this pleasure comes accountability, consequences, payment. Oh yes, we all pay for sins in one way or the other, with the most serious payment being death. The wages of sin is death.

Say what, death? Hold on a minute now, can’t you revise that outcome, perhaps tweak it a little bit, make it jail time with possibility of parole, community service, detention, even a flogging? But death, isn’t that kind of hard?

After all, sins aren’t equal. There are small sins and great big whoppers, aren’t they? Isn’t a fib a little white lie, as opposed to the serious sin of blackmail? Note the colour connotation, which is not lost on me. “Wash away his black sins and make him white as snow.”

“No, no, blacklist him.”

And if there are different degrees of sin, shouldn’t there be a grading system like in CXC exams where you can get a 1 or 2 for distinction or a 3 for a pass? It should follow then, if sins are graded for severity and impact, that the punishment should also reflect this.

None of this ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’ business. Let the punishment be commensurate with the sin. That’s why in the old days they had the practice of letting the punishment fit the crime.

“What are you here in court for?”

“Buggery, your honour.”

“Well, you know what your punishment has to be.”

That’s my plea today, grading sin, right after these responses to ‘Materialistic mayhem’.

Hi Tony,

There is a saying, “Fake it ’till you make it”, suggesting that you pretend to be someone or something that you desire to be until you achieve your goals. I am not sure why anyone would adopt that philosophy. I believe that one should keep a low profile and not flaunt one’s wealth and good fortune. Wealthy single people should act ordinary to attract a mate who likes you for your real self and not for what you have. Some wealthy folks also attract others who want to take it away… so beware.

Richie

Hey Tony,

Like it or not, we live in a world of conspicuous consumption, as you put it. Keeping up with the Joneses is now passé as now the Joneses have to be surpassed and mocked for not having as much as you. Children are sporting smartphones that cost as much as a car, while others are driving high-end cars that cost more than an apartment. It’s all about who can show off more, and if you can’t make it legit, then make it by means fair or foul, guile and cunning, gambling, scamming, skimming, all for materialistic mayhem.

Gloria

What is sin anyway? To offend against God, commit an offence, transgress, do wrong, commit a crime, misbehave, go astray, stray from the straight and narrow, fall from grace. Wow, so many things not to do. Is it possible not to sin? “I sinned and brought shame down on us.”

But even as sin oftentimes falls under the realm of breaking the law, it isn’t always so. A sin is really a transgression against the laws of God, which begs the question, can atheists commit sin? After all, if they don’t believe in God, how can they break His laws? And if they can’t technically sin, will they be punished?

I used to ask these questions from as far back as my high school days at KC, where we would have spirited discussions in Bible knowledge class, or BK as we used to call it. By no means am I attempting to fly in the face of The Almighty, but I’m merely trying to unravel some mysteries and put some logic to this whole question of sin and its consequences. The Bible says that we were all born in a world of sin, and even a newborn is born a sinner. How can this be?

And what punishment will be meted out to that infant sinner? Then there’s the equality of sin as put forth in the Bible. Effectively, it purports that all sins are equal and therefore, so is the punishment. Recently I was in a serious discussion with some church people about this.

How can all sins be equal, and with them the punishment administered? If a man takes a pencil from his office, that’s stealing, and stealing is a sin. And if another man embezzles $20 million, that’s also stealing. Both are crimes, both are sins. Should the punishment be the same?

Ironically, we all know that, sin aside, when it comes to crime the greater the amount you steal, the lighter the sentence; White-collar crime they call it. But burglary will attract plenty years behind bars. Remember when people were locked up for years for having a ganja spliff, even as some got only a few months for stealing millions?

Now, let’s examine the sin of murder — Thou shalt not kill. That’s a serious sin and deserves the maximum punishment. But is there leeway for extenuating circumstances? Let’s say a man is pressured, provoked, ridiculed, harassed and gets into a fight and punches another man, killing him. Clearly it’s murder and deserves punishment.

Let’s take another scenario, where a man plots, schemes, plans the mass murder of innocent infants. Will his punishment be the same as that guy who lashed out in anger and killed his friend? In fact, will the punishment be the same for that person who stole a stapler from the office? After all, aren’t all sins equal?

I read where a nurse in Germany killed over 100 patients in a hospital, ranking it among the biggest mass murder case in history. What divine punishment is in store for that nurse? That’s why I advocate that sins have a grading system. In my mind, some are clearly worse than others.

Some sins bring so much pleasure that at times people weigh them in the balance and commit them anyway. “Lord, I know that it’s a sin, but it feel so sweet I couldn’t help myself.” One such sin is gluttony, excessive eating. How will that sin be punished, and does it draw the same ire as the sins of greed, covetousness, fornication? “Imagine, I’m burning in hell because I nyam too much.”

Speaking of fornication, sins of a sexual nature should be placed in a special category. Clearly they are sins that provide much pleasure and therefore the ones easiest to commit. The temptation is so great. When that man goes to that young lady’s room in the dead of night and she greets him wearing nothing but a smile, his words may be, “Lord forgive me for the sin I am about to commit.”

Some religions, like Catholicism, have a system of confession, where you can sin as much as you want then sit in a booth across from a priest and confess those sins. “Forgive me father, for I have sinned. I had sexual relations with my next door, nymphomaniac neighbour.”

“Really, what’s her address?”

Don’t chide me, for we all know how clergymen are when it comes to committing sins of a sexual nature. Dem don’t ramp when it come to defrocking, laying on of hands, and dabbling in tongues. When men who are entrusted to carry out the word of the Lord betray that trust and commit such egregious sins, what punishment should they get?

That’s why I believe in the grading system for sin, for those rank among the worst. Which brings me to the issue of repentance, where people can commit the worst sins known to man — rob, rape, kill, maim, lie and scam — yet in their last days, repent. In essence, escaping the wrath of divine punishment.

Basically, those persons can have the best of both worlds, even as the poor schmuck who walked the straight and narrow, lived a boring life, never experienced the pleasures of the flesh, ends up in the same place. Hitler and Mother Theresa, in Heaven, both forgiven.

Like I said, I’m merely asking some questions and putting forth my opinion regarding the grading of sin. So many questions go unanswered, so many are left hanging. It was Escalus in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure who said, “Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.” And ain’t that the truth.

More time.

seido1@hotmail.com

Footnote: I saw this fascinating documentary on HBO that explored how people are delving into the dating game scenario as they desperately seek companionship at different levels. I’ve explored the topic before, but this feature went way deeper than I could ever have imagined. I learned the term ‘situationship’ where people don’t consider themselves in a relationship but more or less in a sort of casual lease agreement, a situationship. They’re involved, but no strings attached. The millions of dollars spent on these dating sites is mind-boggling, yet the long-term success level is still not very high. Women seek permanent relationships while some guys simply use these sites to get women for casual sex. What a situation.