An online magazine of faith based on a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. The mission of Unitarian Universalism: A Way Of Life ministries is to provide information, teach skills, and clarify values to facilitate the evolutionary development of increasingly higher levels of spiritual development for human beings around the world.
People seem to see sin as the same thing as crime but some things can be legal but immoral and some things can be illegal but moral. I think the best synonym for "sin" is mistake. The other major component to sin is the belief in God's punishment but Universalists don't believe in God's condemnation and damnation.
As a Catholic girl I was taught that sins are categorized as origianl, venial, and mortal. I understand the "original sin" of Eve and Adam eating the apple in the Garden of Eden disobeying God for which God was angry and condemned them to a life of misery. The venial and moral categorization never made sense to me and seemed fairly arbitrary. We were taught that God was a score keeper and we would get the final tally at the Last Judgement. Interesting myth and moral teaching for children, but as an adult I hope I have outgrown this nonsense.
There are moral failings for sure, but we need a better word. How about "screw up?"
I told my son, Jaxon, 5, 50 times if I told him once not to eat the red and blue Tide detergent laundry pods. He ate the thing anyway. I called Poison Control and they told me to take him to the emergency room.
Poison control gave me a hand and was there when I needed them. I hope Jaxon learned his lesson.
My eight year old got a gift from his grandmother he doesn't like. He asked me if its okay to lie about liking the gift? He has been told in religious ed that its a sin to lie. Is there really such a thing as "white" lies? I ask because I found out 3 years ago that my husband was having an affair for 6 months and when I confronted him he told me he wanted to tell me about it but didn't because he didn't want to hurt me. I don't know what I was madder and more upset about: his affair or his telling me he didn't tell me to spare me my feelings. Geeeeeesh!
People seem to see sin as the same thing as crime but some things can be legal but immoral and some things can be illegal but moral. I think the best synonym for "sin" is mistake. The other major component to sin is the belief in God's punishment but Universalists don't believe in God's condemnation and damnation.
ReplyDeleteAs a Catholic girl I was taught that sins are categorized as origianl, venial, and mortal. I understand the "original sin" of Eve and Adam eating the apple in the Garden of Eden disobeying God for which God was angry and condemned them to a life of misery. The venial and moral categorization never made sense to me and seemed fairly arbitrary. We were taught that God was a score keeper and we would get the final tally at the Last Judgement. Interesting myth and moral teaching for children, but as an adult I hope I have outgrown this nonsense.
There are moral failings for sure, but we need a better word. How about "screw up?"
I told my son, Jaxon, 5, 50 times if I told him once not to eat the red and blue Tide detergent laundry pods. He ate the thing anyway. I called Poison Control and they told me to take him to the emergency room.
ReplyDeletePoison control gave me a hand and was there when I needed them. I hope Jaxon learned his lesson.
Sam Levenson, the comedian, said one time, "How wise are thy commandments, Lord. Each of them applies to someone I know."
ReplyDeleteMy eight year old got a gift from his grandmother he doesn't like. He asked me if its okay to lie about liking the gift? He has been told in religious ed that its a sin to lie. Is there really such a thing as "white" lies? I ask because I found out 3 years ago that my husband was having an affair for 6 months and when I confronted him he told me he wanted to tell me about it but didn't because he didn't want to hurt me. I don't know what I was madder and more upset about: his affair or his telling me he didn't tell me to spare me my feelings. Geeeeeesh!
ReplyDelete