Gluttony Revisited
Sin: I think we can all benefit from thinking about sin, even if we don't believe in a supreme being, even if we don't accept notions of divine punishment, of heaven and hell. The concept of sin is usually thought to be a religious concept, the deliberate violation of the will of God. I want to think of sin without religious references, with regard to a broader definition. I want to examine sin in the sense of personal failure, of the harm we can do to ourselves. In this sense, sin will still include violation of rules but not necessarily rules imposed by religion. I want to examine sin as violation of rules of good conduct, violation of rules which are designed to make our lives better. Of course sin will often include harm to others but I urge that the harm we do to others by our conduct is usually exceeded by the harm we do to ourselves.
We all know the seven deadly sins: If not religious, we know the popular songs or pop groups referring to the deadly sins. The seven deadly sins are pride, avarice, luxury, envy, appetite, anger and sloth. The list of seven deadly sins is a good list of things to avoid if we want to be happier and lead better lives. We don't need to be religious to see the value in not hurting ourselves and others. So I've decided occasionally to write about these sins and also, in contrast, about the classic virtues of wisdom, courage, temperance, justice, faith, hope and love.
Last time I wrote about savoring, the special enjoyment attached to various pleasurable moments, such as eating. Gluttony is the other side of the coin, savoring carried to such an extreme that it becomes sinful.
I've written before about the seven deadly sins, sins that lead to other sins, including gluttony. Gluttony is the sin of pleasure-less over-indulgence, the existence of appetite for the sake of appetite. Although normally associated with food, I see gluttony as including appetite for all things pleasurable. Thus, gluttony is closely related to lust and avarice. I just finished reading Francine Prose's Gluttony, part of a series of recent books on the seven deadly sins derived from a New York Public Library lecture series. Over time, I plan to write about the other books in this series. For some reason, Gluttony was the first of the series to come to my hand.
Ms. Prose captures the secular side of sin, which is particularly relevant to gluttony. She notes that gluttony is now viewed by most people as an affront not to God but to society's ideas of health and beauty. In an age where most people don't think about sin, the sin of gluttony is regarded as one of the worst behavioral problems. For example, society views the obese, whom it assumes to be gluttonous, with extreme disfavor.
I'm not trying to excuse gluttony or suggest that it's admirable. Gluttony, especially if broadly defined, leads to all sorts of problems: Drunkenness, disease, heedless hurtful conduct. It's also selfish; gluttons think only of themselves and their appetite. Gluttons tend to take more than their share, feel worse about themselves than they did before consuming and are unable to enjoy, to savor, the best of food, drink, other consumables.
However, the greatest harm stemming from gluttony is to the sinner. I think I understand this sin very well. I think I understand why people are affronted. But I reject society's scorn for the gluttonous. Many of the gluttonous are beset with problems they try to solve by consuming. And many of those we assume to be gluttonous are beset with health problems not of their own making.
Be nice to everyone. Accept the glutton and try to help him or her. It's the old story: We must endeavor to hate the sin, not the sinner.
10-18-04
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