From the Histories of Herodotus by Herodotus Is Morality as Custom? It is clear to me therefore by every kind of proof that Cambyses was mad exceedingly; for otherwise he would not have attempted to deride religious rites and customary observances. For if one should propose to all men a choice, bidding them select the best customs from all the customs that there are, each race of men, after examining them all, would select those of his own people; thus all think that their own customs are by far the best: and so it is not likely that any but a madman would make a jest of such things. Now of the fact that all men are thus wont to think about their customs, we may judge by many other proofs and more specially by this which follows:—Dareios in the course of his reign summoned those of the Hellenes who were present in his land, and asked them for what price they would consent to eat up their fathers when they died; and they answered that for no price would they do so. After this Dareios summoned those Indians who are called Callatians, who eat their parents, and asked them in presence of the Hellenes, who understood what they said by help of an interpreter, for what payment they would consent to consume with fire the bodies of their fathers when they died; and they cried out aloud and bade him keep silence from such words. Thus then these things are established by usage, and I think that Pindar spoke rightly in his verse, when he said that "of all things law is king." These materials are made available at this site for the educational purposes of students enrolled at Anne Arundel Community College. They may be protected by U.S. Copyright law and should not be reproduced or transmitted electronically. One photocopy or printout may be made of each article for personal, educational use. SICK SOCIETIES AH societies are sick, but some are sicker than others, This paraphrase of Orwell's famous quip about the equality of animals calls.attention to the existence of traditional beliefs and practices that threaten human health and happiness more in some societies than in others. But it also indicates that there are some customs and social institutialns in all societies that compromise human well-being. Even populations tha t appear to be well- adapted to their environments maintain some beliefs or practices that unnecessarily imperil their well-being or, in some instances, their.survival. Populations the world over have not been well sewed by some of their beliefs such as, for example, those concerning witchcraft, the need for revenge, or male supremacy, and many of their tradkionral practices invoiving nutrition, heaIth care, and the treatment of chillrirem have been harmful as well, Slavery, infanticide, human sacrifice, torture, female genital mutilation, rape, homicide, feuding, suicide, and environmental pollution have sometimes been needlessly harmful to some or all members of a society and under some circumstances they can .

1. From the Histories of Herodotus by Herodotus
Is Morality as Custom?
It is clear to me therefore by every kind of proof that Cambyses
was mad exceedingly; for otherwise he would not have
attempted to deride religious rites and customary observances.
For if one should propose to all men a choice, bidding them
select the best customs from all the customs that there are, each
race of men, after examining them all, would select those of his
own people; thus all think that their own customs are by far the
best: and so it is not likely that any but a madman would make a
jest of such things. Now of the fact that all men are thus wont to
think about their customs, we may judge by many other proofs
and more specially by this which follows:—Dareios in the
course of his reign summoned those of the Hellenes who were
present in his land, and asked them for what price they would
consent to eat up their fathers when they died; and they
answered that for no price would they do so. After this Dareios
summoned those Indians who are called Callatians, who eat
their parents, and asked them in presence of the Hellenes, who
understood what they said by help of an interpreter, for what
payment they would consent to consume with fire the bodies of
their fathers when they died; and they cried out aloud and bade
him keep silence from such words. Thus then these things are
established by usage, and I think that Pindar spoke rightly in his
verse, when he said that "of all things law is king."
These materials are made available at this site for the
educational purposes of students enrolled at
Anne Arundel Community College. They may be protected by
U.S. Copyright law and should not be

2. reproduced or transmitted electronically. One photocopy or
printout may be made of each article for
personal, educational use.
SICK SOCIETIES
AH societies are sick, but some are sicker than others, This
paraphrase of Orwell's
famous quip about the equality of animals calls.attention to the
existence of traditional
beliefs and practices that threaten human health and happiness
more in some societies than
in others. But it also indicates that there are some customs and
social institutialns in all
societies that compromise human well-being. Even populations
tha t appear to be well-
adapted to their environments maintain some beliefs or
practices that unnecessarily
imperil their well-being or, in some instances, their.survival.
Populations the world over
have not been well sewed by some of their beliefs such as, for
example, those concerning
witchcraft, the need for revenge, or male supremacy, and many
of their tradkionral
practices invoiving nutrition, heaIth care, and the treatment of
chillrirem have been harmful
as well, Slavery, infanticide, human sacrifice, torture, female
genital mutilation, rape,
homicide, feuding, suicide, and environmental pollution have
sometimes been needlessly
harmful to some or all members of a society and under some
circumstances they can
threaten social survivnl.

3. To Americans besieged by headlines and television reports
concerning our
endangered environment, homelessness, child abuse, the threat
of drugs, ADS, or gang
violence, the idea that some things people do may be harmful to
themselves.and others wpl
hardly seem controversiaE. Beliefs that Iead to anorexia nervosa
or wife beating are likely
to be seen as harmful, and beliefs favoring anti-Semitism or
male supremacy are aIso likely
to be seen as dangerous. Americans mny also believe that if
surveys can rate various cities
in the United States in terms of their 4crelative quality of life,"
the same could be dome for
foreign cities and, for that matter, foreign countries. Many
would surely be troubled by the!
idea that the political systems of Iraq, HftlePs Germany, or the
Khmer Rouge ia Cambodia
were, or are, as good as those in, say Norway, Japnn, or
Swiberland. And they would
probably react with disbelief to the assertion that there is no -
.=;. scientifiz - A- basis for evaluating J'
, another society" practice of genocide, judicial torture or
human sacrifice, for example,
, , except as the people in that society themselves evaluate these
practices. Yet that is exact1
-t
YI what the principle of cultural relativism asserts, and this
principle continues to be widely ,
" and strongly held. I
So too is the belief that "primitive'' societies were far more
harmonious than ,J-

4. societies caught up in the modern world. We know that human
misery, fear, loneliness,
pain, sickness, and premature death are typical of America's
urban ghettos and its
homeless people, South Africa's black townships, the starving
villages of the Sudan, the
sEarms of Brazil, andl the was-ravaged lands of Central
America or the Middle East. We
also know that people in places such as these are the hapless
victims of sach forces as
governmental neglcct; racism; corruption; ethnic, religious and
political strife; and
economic exploitation, among other kinds of social, cultural,
and environment~l pressures.
However, many prominent scholars believe &bat this sod of
lnaise~y is not natural to the E
human condition, that people in smaller, more homogeneous
"folk" societies have
historically lived in greater harmony and happiness, and that
many small popu8ations
continue to do so today. The belief that primitive societies are
more harmonious than
modern ones, that savages are noble, and that life in the past
was more idyElic than life
today is not only reflected in the motion pictures and novels of
our popular culture (the., ,
:I film Dmces w i t Wolves comes immediately to mind), it is
deeply ingrained in scholarIy li-I discourse as well.
This "community-lost'' way of reconstructing history is founded
in the romantic

5. bdief that the malaise and mayhem of the modern world is not
the natural human -
condition. Instead, human misery is thought to be the product of
pervasive social
disorganization, divisive ethnic or religious diversity, class
conflict, or competing interests
that plague large societies, particuIwrly nation states. "because
smaller and simpler
societies, on the other hand, developed their cultures in
response to the demands of their
immediate and stable environments, their ways of life must have
produced far greater
harmony and happiness for their populations. /%bin Fox, for
emmpIe, vividly described
the upper Paleolithic environment of big-gam$ hunters as one in
which Y . . there was a
harmony of our evolved attributes ns a species, including our
intelligence, our imagination,
our violence (and hence our violent imagination), our reason
and our passions-a harmony
that has been ~lost."(~f-a small society is found that lacks
harmony, many social scientists
conclude that this condition must be the result of the
disorganizing effects of culture
contact, particularly urbanization. This idea, like cultural
relativism, has been deeply
embedded in Western thought for centuries, and it persists in
scholarly thinking t o d a d
In 1947, when Robert Redfield published his well-known folk-
urban typology, he
did Iittle more than lend the cachet of anthropology to an
aIready ancient distinction. ( h e
idea that cities were characterized by crime, disorder, and
human suffering of all sorts ;
while small, isolated, and homogeneous folk societies were

6. harmonious communities goes
back to Aristophanes, Tacitus, and the Old Testament. The idea
was given renewed
prominence in nineteenth-century thought by many influential
figures, not least of whom
Emile-qurkheim and Karl Marx in his Communist M a ~ i f a t o
. Their writings and those of --
others led to a cofisensus that the emotional and moral
commitment, personal intimacy,
social cohesion, and continuity over time that cl~arwcterized
folk societies were lost in the
tramsition to urban life, where social disoqanizatisn amti
personal pathology prevailed. In
the twentieth century, the contrast between folk "community"
and urban "society7' became -
one of the most fuladamental ideas in all of social science. The
idea that large urban
societies lost the harmonious sense of community that was
thought to be characteristic of ,
folk societies is widespread among social philosophers, political
scientists, socioll~gists,
psychiatrists, tbeologiams, novelists, poeb, and the educated
public in general,, Author
Kirkpatrick Sale defended the criticism of his book The
Cufiquesd of Papadire (about t be
-
European conquest of the native peoples of America) by
vigorously insisting tbrt compared
to the culture of Europe, the Ccprimal commnaities" of
preconquest America were I ./
Cchasmonious, peaceful, benign and content"

7. The contrast between folk harmony and urban conflict is rooted
in the evolutionary
assrsmption that while people in folk societies, Iike the Indians
sf America, were achieving
hnrmonioras ways of living together, they were also developing
traditional beliefs and
practices that helped them to adapt to their environrnenta
without depleting or destroying
them. Jan-Jacques Rousseau made the idea of the Noble Savage
part of our common I parlance, rand in one form or another
many modern scholars sustain this viewpoint. . . . .-
When a society was encountered that seemed to lack a
meaningful system of beliefs
or effective institutions, it was usually assumed that the cause
must lie in the baneful
influence of other peoples-such as colonial officials, soldiers,
missionaries, or traders-
who had almost always been on the scene before anthropologists
were. When a society was
encountered whose traditional beliefs and practices appeared to
be meaningless or even
harmful, the blame was often laid to extcrmal disruption. Thus,
the conviction,has
persisted that before the social-disorganization and cultural
canfu&bn brought about by
foreign contact, the lives of traditionaf populations must have
been, if not quite idyllic then
at Least harmonious and meaningful. . . . Therefore, rather than
rerort the alienation,
violence, or cruelly that sometimes dominated the Iives of the
people they came to study,
some anthropologists tried to reconstruct the people's way of
life as believed it was
bcfore it was disrupted by the religious beliefs, taxes, laws, and
economic interventions of

8. the colonial powers. Anthropologists may have believed that
homicide, suicide, rape and
warfare were part of folk societies, but most of them wrote their
ethnographies as if suchl
behaviors were either infrequent or somehow helped these
people to adapt to their
environmental circumstances. As a consequence, even
anthropologists who knew better
inadvertently reinforced the myth of primitive harmony.
11
I
It is very diffiicult to be precise about the frequency with which
maladaptive trai ts
occurred in these smalI societies, because the existing
ethnographic accounts seldom
addresses the possibility that some of the beliefs or practices of
the people were anything
other than adaptive. On the contrary, when paradoxical,
irrational, bizarre, inefficient, ar
dangerous beliefs or practices are described a t alLand very
often they are not-they are
usually presumed $a be adaptive and are treated as if they must
serve some useful purpose.
For example, even the most extreme forms of penile mutilation-
slashing open the urethra,
scourging it with abrasive stalks of grass or other plants,
mutilating the glans or
infibulating it-have typically been andyzed in the ethnographic
literature (but the i.,
psychiatric) 8 as irrational, nonadaptive, or mahdaptive
practices but in Perms of their
positive social, cuItural, or psychologica~ consequences.
i

9. / - .-.
Simi!arIy, the practice of Pharanoic kircumcision or fernale
genital infibu8atidn)
common in parts of Muslim Northeast Africa, involEves
slashing away n girl's clitoris and
both sets of vaginal labia. The wound is sutured together,
leaving an opening the size of a
matchstick for the passage of mine and menstrual blood. When
young women are
married, this small opening wrast be suqicwllly enlarged ta
permit sexual intercoursa In
addition to inflicting great pain, these procedures arny a
considerable risk for infection,
infertility, and even death, Nevertheless, %Re anthrops80gists
have commonly chosen to
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a
milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by
representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds
from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed
by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10
December 1948 (
General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common
standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets
out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be

10. universally protected and it has been translated into over
500 languages. The UDHR is widely recognized as
having inspired, and paved the way for, the adoption of more
than seventy human rights treaties, applied today on a
permanent basis at global and regional levels (all containing
references to it in their preambles).
Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal
and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the
foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted
in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of
mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall
enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and
want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the
common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have
recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and
oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of
law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly
relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter
reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the
dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of
men and women and have determined to promote social progress
and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in
co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of
universal respect for and observance of human rights and
fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms
is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this
pledge,
Now, therefore,

11. The General Assembly,
Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a
common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations,
to the end that every individual and every organ of society,
keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by
teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and
freedoms and by progressive measures, national and
international, to secure their universal and effective recognition
and observance, both among the peoples of Member States
themselves and among the peoples of territories under their
jurisdiction.
Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act
towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in
this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race,
colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the
political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or
territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent,
trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of
sovereignty.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the
slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person
before the law.

12. Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any
discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to
equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this
Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent
national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights
granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing
by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination
of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against
him.
Article 11
1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be
presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a
public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for
his defence.
2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account
of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence,
under national or international law, at the time when it was
committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one
that was applicable at the time the penal offence was
committed.
Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his
privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon
his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the
protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Article 13
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence
within the borders of each state.
2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his

13. own, and to return to his country.
Article 14
1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries
asylum from persecution.
2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions
genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts
contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15
1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor
denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16
1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to
race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to
found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage,
during marriage and at its dissolution.
2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full
consent of the intending spouses.
3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of
society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17
1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in
association with others.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and
religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or
belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others
and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in
teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression;
this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20

14. 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and
association.
2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21
1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his
country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
2. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his
country.
3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of
government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine
elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and
shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting
procedures.
Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social
security and is entitled to realization, through national effort
and international co-operation and in accordance with the
organization and resources of each State, of the economic,
social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the
free development of his personality.
Article 23
1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of
employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to
protection against unemployment.
2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal
pay for equal work.
3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable
remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence
worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by
other means of social protection.
4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for
the protection of his interests.
Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable
limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25

15. 1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for
the health and well-being of himself and of his family,
including food, clothing, housing and medical care and
necessary social services, and the right to security in the event
of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or
other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and
assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock,
shall enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26
1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free,
at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary
education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional
education shall be made generally available and higher
education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of
merit.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the
human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote
understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations,
racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the
United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that
shall be given to their children.
Article 27
1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life
of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific
advancement and its benefits.
2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and
material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or
artistic production of which he is the author.
Article 28
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which
the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully
realized.
Article 29

16. 1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free
and full development of his personality is possible.
2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be
subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely
for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the
rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just
requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare
in a democratic society.
3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised
contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for
any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or
to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights
and freedoms set forth herein.
The Seven Deadly
Sins
Pride Envy Anger Sloth Greed Gluttony
Lust
Last updated: August 17, 2009 First appeared: June 18, 1996
"Sin creates [an inclination] to sin; it engenders vice by
repetition of the same acts. This
results in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and
corrupt the concrete judgment of
good and evil. Thus sin tends to reproduce itself and reinforce
itself, but it cannot destroy the
moral sense at its root."
Para. 1865, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994

17. Bulletins
The book list has been updated to allow clicking for easy
ordering. We have not finished all
the books yet.
There have been reports that the Seven Deadly Sins had been
replaced, doubled or updated.
None of this is true. Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic
Penitentiary, was reported as
adding these, but he was really talking to priests about new
"social" sins. The report on
FoxNews.com confused the Seven Deadly Sins with mortal sin,
implying that pollution (one
of the "new" sins and something we all do) would result in
eternal damnation. It was very
poorly written. BBC News also confused mortal and the Seven
Deadly Sins, as did
allheadlinenews.com. CNN was no better. Please check the
Vatican Web site (vatican.va), and
notice there is nothing about this. There is no list of the new
Seven Deadly Sins, just an article
recounting details of a talk by someone in the Vatican who
didn't even mention the Seven
Deadly Sins. But here is the best article on it so far, and it has
the list.
Newest page: Simplicity
Overview
The Seven Deadly Sins are really attitudes that underlie sins,
whether mortal or venial, first
identified by St. John Cassian (360 - 435) and refined by Pope
St. Gregory the Great (540 -

18. 604). They provide keys to understanding our faults and the
actions that result, and a
framework for self knowledge. If we understood how they factor
into who we have become,
we would understand much more about ourselves and our effect
on others. The Seven Deadly
Sins never occur as a list in the Bible, but occur many times
individually.
Why bother?
Before even beginning a discussion of these Seven Deadly Sins,
also known as "capital sins,"
it may be useful to discuss a few differences among Christians
on this subject. Some people
feel it is better to take a more positive approach to faith and not
dwell on sin. Others believe
all sin is equally repugnant to God, and so any classification of
sins is wrong. Still others just
want to forget the whole thing since they are saved and God
loves them and really doesn't care
about all this "stuff."
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/pride.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/envy.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/anger.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/sloth.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/greed.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/gluttony.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/lust.html
http://198.62.75.1/www1/CDHN/gravity.html#PROLIFERATIO
N
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/books1.html
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=12031
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven_deadly_sins/simplicity
.html

19. http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt3sect1chpt1art8.htm#185
4
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt3sect1chpt1art8.htm#186
2
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03404a.htm
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06780a.htm
Inscribed in ancient times at the Oracle at Delphi: "Know
thyself." Self-knowledge follows
closely behind the knowledge of God, and self-knowledge for
anyone means knowledge of
sin. "My own heart shows me the way of the ungodly." Scripture
says we are all sinners, and
we don't mind as long as the sins are nameless and faceless.
When we name a sin found in
ourselves (by Grace) it is as though we are confronted in the
back alleys of our souls with
furtive saboteurs and muggers who seek to prevent our union
with God. The sudden self-
revelation of a serious fault is one thing: the discovery of a
deadly sin which we hate very
much in others is worse. It is like finding out a spouse is
unfaithful, or worse, that we have
been blindly unfaithful to the Spouse of our soul.
The following pages on the deadly sins may lead to horrible
discoveries. Bear in mind:
1. Friends will almost never volunteer this information.
2. If they do, we will not accept it.
3. God forgives anything, even repeatedly, so do not be afraid.
A combination of good spiritual reading (nothing too recent),

20. nearly constant prayer, and
reflection on the repetitive patterns of life works well for
naming our sins. Remarks made in
job performance reviews and conversations with people who
dislike us are especially
revealing. Our enemies usually lack the false charity to deny
our sins. No wonder we are
called to love them.
The human capacity for self-delusion is nearly limitless. We
have all seen people claim great
spirituality but do evil things and then ignore or rationalize
them. Somehow we think we are
immune to this phenomenon.
The List of Capital (Deadly) Sins
The table below lists The Seven Deadly Sins (vices) in the
traditional order with the virtues
against which they are sins. The history of this list goes back at
least to Pope St. Gregory the
Great and St. John Cassian, but while the list itself is not
strictly biblical, the Bible proscribes
all seven. If one or more of these doesn't seem like a big sin to
you, it almost certainly means
you have already rationalized it. Work on that one first. By the
way, there is no set list of
Virtues corresponding to these. I've just listed the ones that
made sense at the time.
If you need additional information on Dante's views of these, it
is after the table.
Vice Virtue against which it sins Brief description
Pride (1) Humility Seeing ourselves as we are and not

21. comparing ourselves to others is humility.
Pride and vanity are competitive. If
someone else's pride really bothers you,
you have a lot of pride.
Avarice/Greed
(5)
Generosity This is about more than money. Generosity
means letting others get the credit or praise.
It is giving without having expectations of
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/siteindex?entry=Delphi
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/#Dante
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/pride.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/humobed.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/greed.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/generosity.html
the other person. Greed wants to get its
"fair share" or a bit more.
Envy (2) Love "Love is patient, love is kind…" Love
actively seeks the good of others for their
sake. Envy resents the good others receive
or even might receive. Envy is almost
indistinguishable from pride at times.
Wrath/Anger
(3)
Kindness Kindness means taking the tender
approach, with patience and compassion.
Anger is often our first reaction to the
problems of others. Impatience with the

22. faults of others is related to this.
Lust (7) Self control Self control and self mastery prevent
pleasure from killing the soul by
suffocation. Legitimate pleasures are
controlled in the same way an athlete's
muscles are: for maximum efficiency
without damage. Lust is the self-destructive
drive for pleasure out of proportion to its
worth. Sex, power, or image can be used
well, but they tend to go out of control.
Gluttony (6) Faith and Temperance Temperance accepts the
natural limits of
pleasures and preserves this natural
balance. This does not pertain only to food,
but to entertainment and other legitimate
goods, and even the company of others.
Sloth (4) Zeal Zeal is the energetic response of the heart
to God's commands. The other sins work
together to deaden the spiritual senses so
we first become slow to respond to God
and then drift completely into the sleep of
complacency.
MTV did a special in August 1993 on the Seven Deadly Sins
which involved interviewing
various well-known entertainers from the music and television
industry. They pretty much all
agreed these were not vices and the list was "dumb." (Sigh) Oh
well.
(Details: The MTV title was "Seven Deadly Sins: An MTV
News Special Report"; PBS
showed it as "Alive TV." First aired on MTV on August 11,

23. 1993. PBS first aired it on August
20, 1993. If you have a copy, please e-mail us.)
Additional information (based on requests from readers):
Poll
An online poll displayed the following results:
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/envy.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/love.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/anger.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/lust.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/gluttony.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/sloth.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/zeal.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/askus.html
Of the seven deadly sins, this
ONE is my biggest failing:
Lust 35%
Anger 18%
Pride 12%
Sloth 10%
Envy 10%
Gluttony 9%
Greed 6%
Origins
The Seven Deadly Sins never occur as a formal list in the Bible.
Some people say they can all
be found in Matthew's Gospel (chapters 5 through 7), but they
are not in a simple list there.

24. Others submit Proverbs 6:16-19, but this is a different list,
covering pride, lies, murder, evil
plans, swiftness in sin, lies again, causing conflict. Clearly not
the same.
These sins were identified as a group around the same time as
the Bible was being translated
into a single language. Rather than these sins being identified in
a single place in the Bible,
they are found all through it, from Genesis to Revelation. The
letters of the New Testament
mention all of these, and many others as well. The Catechism
has many Scriptural references
in the section that lists the "Seven Deadly Sins." It is well to
remember that the Scriptures
come from the Jewish and Christian Churches, not the other way
around. In both cases, faith
preceded the writing.
Lent
Lent is a special time of self-examination and thought about
how we live. More on Lent.
Dante
Dante Alighieri (1265 - 1321) was a Catholic layman who wrote
"The Divine Comedy," which
is really three epic poems in Italian: "Inferno," "Purgatorio,"
and "Paradiso," which are about
Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven/Paradise, respectively. In
"Purgatorio," Dante places each of the
seven sins on a level, with the higher levels closer to Paradise
and the lower ones closer to
Hell. The numbers in parentheses, in the above table, indicate
the level where they are found

25. in "Purgatorio." Dante considers these sins as offenses against
love, and groups them
accordingly:
Perverted Love: Pride, Envy, Wrath/Anger
Insufficient Love: Sloth
Excessive Love of Earthly Goods: Avarice/Greed, Gluttony,
Lust
Dante seems to have had a well-formed conscience. His
emphasis on love, in the sense of
Christian charity, is impressive. That is not to claim some sort
of sainthood, but his ideas were
very much in keeping with the teaching of the Catholic Church
at a time when the practice of
the clergy often fell short of the doctrine.
St. Thomas Aquinas
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs%206:1
6-19;&version=31;
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/bible.html
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/gravity.html#PROLIF
ERATION
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/lent1.html
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/aquinas1.html
The Reverend Barthlolomew de la Torre, O.P. wrote the
following on August 22, 2003:
"Thank you for your excellent web page on the Seven Deadly
Sins. A principal classical text
not to be omitted is that of St. Thomas Aquinas's Summa
Theologiae.
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/208404.htm

26. Pax et fides.
Fr. Bartholomew de la Torre, O.P.
St. Dominic dedicated himself to promoting "pax et fides",
"peace and faith", because without
peace, the faith cannot flourish, and he described himself as
pursuing this goal by "singing and
gentleness, preaching, imploring and weeping" (cf. M.-H.
Vicaire, O.P., St. Dominic and His
Times, pp. 62 and nt. 7, 146, 147 and nt. 80)."
Thank you so much for providing the link! For those
unacquainted with Catholic orders, O.P.
indicates the "Ordo Praedicatorum" (Latin) or "Order of
Preachers", otherwise known as the
Dominicans, founded by St. Dominic. St. Thomas Aquinas
joined the Dominicans in 1244. It is
worth noting that St. Dominic's approach to heresy (false
teaching), was to teach and debate,
rather than take up arms.
Fulton J. Sheen
Bishop Sheen spoke on a television show, Life is Worth Living,
in the U.S. from 1951 to 1957,
and the "Bishop Sheen Program" from 1961 to 1968. He wrote
96 books and a very large
number of articles and columns, including entries in
encyclopedias. In his book, The Seven
Capital Sins (alba–house.com), he made a connection between
the Seven Deadly Sins and the
last words of Jesus on the Cross. These assignments are listed
here in the order set by Bishop
Sheen in addresses from February 26 to April 7, 1939. The
connection is not always obvious,
so the book is highly recommended for further reading.

27. Vice Words from the Cross
Wrath/Anger "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they
do."
Envy "This day you shall be with me in Paradise."
Lust "Woman, behold your son... son, behold your mother."
Pride "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Gluttony "I thirst."
Sloth "It is finished."
Avarice/Greed "Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit."
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis might well be considered a modern-day Dante. Try
reading "The Great Divorce," a
short little book, and compare it to "The Divine Comedy."
Lewis, as a professor of medieval
literature, would have been familiar with Dante's work.
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/208404.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_J._Sheen
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/lewis.html
Narnia and the Seven Deadly Sins - Dr. Don W. King,
Department of English, Montreat
College
The Dao
A little article considering the The Seven Deadly Sins from a
somewhat Daoist perspective.
Christopher Marlowe
Donna Hatsuko Reedy wrote the following on May 18, 2000:

28. "I enjoyed your site; it's quite informative. Just wanted to add
another text to your reading list:
Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. The entire play revolves
around issues of salvation,
and there's this great scene in which the seven deadly sins are
paraded for Faustus. It'll make a
great addition to your already well-supported site."
Thank you for the suggestion! I've put a link to the on-line text
here for our readers.
The Tragical History of D. Faustus
Edmund Spenser
Alan Sickler wrote the following on April 26, 2000:
"I was reading your page on the "Seven Deadly" sins and
thoroughly enjoyed your definitions
of the sins; even better though was the literary occurrences of
this that you outlined. However,
I was perplexed as to why you failed to mention Spenser's "The
Faerie Queene"; This work is
one of the greatest Middle English / Renaissance pieces ever
written, and it is maybe the
greatest occurance of the seven deadly sins. I forget which book
they are in, but Spenser
characterizes each deadly sin as a person - using physiognomy
tradition to visualize the vices,
and he even models this parade of sins after the pilgrims in
Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales".
Gluttony rides a fat pig which is symbolic of his nature and etc
etc. I don't know if you've read
the Faerie Queen or not, but its maybe the most vital occurance
of the seven deadly sins - a
must read for an enthusist like yourself. Thanks for your time -
I enjoyed your site
thoroughly."
I will read it soon, but for now I've posted your kind and helpful
comments, as well as a link to

29. a Spenser site and "The Faerie Queene."
The Seven Deadly Sins Personified In The Faerie Queene by
Lisa Hunt
From another kind visitor:
I read through some of your sources for articulations of the 7
deadly sins. One of which was
Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene. The scenario where the 7
Deadly sins are shown is FQ
I.IV.1-37 (that's FQ Book 1, Canto 4, stanzas 1-37). Thought
you might appreciate this.
-Scott M. Williams>
Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales - http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-
etexts/gchaucer/bl-gchau-can-
genpro.htm
Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton wrote a prayer to ask for help against the Seven
Deadly Sins. It is found on
page 44 of "New Seeds of Contemplation." Much of his focus is
on the illusions we have
about ourselves, and how to let God clear these away.
Stephen Sondheim
http://cslewis.drzeus.net/papers/7sins.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/dao.html
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Texts/Marlowe.html
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Texts/faustus.html
http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/spenser/main.htm
http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/spenser/main.htm
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rbear/fqintro.html
http://www.mindspring.com/~lisa-k/faeriequeen/index.html
http://mediustemporis.blogspot.com/

30. http://mediustemporis.blogspot.com/
http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/gchaucer/bl-gchau-
can-genpro.htm
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/sevenprayer.html
In the play: Getting Away With Murder (or The Doctor is Out),
Patrick Phenicie says the
following characters appear to represent the seven deadly sins.
Here are the characters and
sins:
Lust Pride Greed Envy
(NV) Anger Sloth Gluttony
Dossie
Lustig
Pamela
Prideaux
Gregory
Reed
Nam-
Young
Voung
Dan
Gerard Chistholm Vassili
Laimorgos
As you may have noticed, the names seem to form anagrams of
the sins (or contain the
anagram; some are obvious, some are less so). Patrick and I

31. were unable to figure out how the
name "Laimorgos" fits into Sonheim's naming scheme, but
Christopher Sabatowich has an
idea: Vassili Laimorgos can be rearranged (with some letters
omitted) to form the word
"sm�rg�s," which is Norse/Swedish for "bread and butter," as
in "smorgasbord." In English,
"smorgasbord" can be applied as a "varied collection" of
anything, and Gluttony does not
apply (exclusively) to food.
T. Nickson writes: "Vassili Laimorgos is a Greek Name -
Vassili links with the Greek word for King and
Laimorgos translates literally as Glutton. Sondheim was being
clever!"
John Gower
Confessio Amantis
Robert Mannyng
Handling Synne
Hieronymus Bosch
Table of the Seven Deadly Sins (about)
George Balanchine (Dance)
CiCi Houston writes: I found this website very useful for a
current project I am working on.
Perhaps it would be of interest to your readers to hear how this
list has crept into the arts. The
New York City Ballet had a production entitled "Seven Deadly
Sins." It was originally
choreographed by George Balanchine in Europe around 1933 for

32. Tilly Losch. He restaged it
in the late 50's for Allegra Kent, and in both productions Lotte
Lenya participated. The ballet
focused on Anna 1 and Anna 2. Lotte (1) was the talking half,
and would order around
Allegra (2), the silent but dancing half. 1 would make 2 commit
the sins, or set double
standards. For instance, one famous picture of the ballet shows
Lotte with an ice cream cone
(a clever disguise for the microphone she sang into) pointing a
finger at Allegra, who is on the
floor pushing herself through a series of stretches and exercises
under Lotte's rule. I'm sure
there is much more information than what I have access to, but
I'm sure that readers interested
in this will enjoy gaining the extra knowledge on a rather
hidden piece of work (it was never
restaged since Allegra last performed it), whether they approve
of the concept or not.
Thanks again for the useful website - CiCi Houston
Thank you, CiCi!
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Confess/
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/9/0,5716,51829+1,0
0.html
http://sunsite.dk/cgfa/bosch/bosch16.jpg
http://www.mcu.es/prado/villanueva/4_eng.html
Other Art
http://www.kb.nl/kb/manuscripts/highlights/11M_uk.html
The Movies
There was a movie entitled "Se7en," starring Morgan Freeman

33. and Brad Pitt. You can read
about it at IMDB.
Other Helps Toward Virtue and Peace
Description of Thomas More by Erasmus - St. Thomas More
was a man of great virtue and
integrated faith
Faith and Reason (Fides et Ratio) - "Know thyself"
On Spiritual Direction - How can I get help?
Lectio Divina - A way to get closer to God
Other Information About The Seven Deadly Sins
In art, a different set of seven virtues is set in opposition to The
Seven Deadly Sins. These
virtues did not correspond on a one-to-one basis, though, and
the focus was on good art rather
than spiritual instruction for combating specific vices. See "The
Cardinal Virtues" and "The
Theological Virtues," below.
Pointless Controversy
Originally, the advice, "Know Thyself", was attributed to the
Greeks in a general sense. A
reader complained that it was Socrates, not Plato that originated
it, and that the author "should
get an education before creating web pages." I researched this
and found that Socrates wrote
nothing, and that Plato attributes this saying to Socrates. So it
was changed to:
Plato quotes Socrates as saying: "Know thyself."

34. As viewers of the movie, "The Matrix," know, this was
inscribed at the Oracle at Delphi, a
sacred place dating from the 9th century B.C. to the late 4th
century A.D. Another reader
pointed out that it was not Plato or Socrates. I don't know, but
as many people have seen the
movie, the text has been altered to the current form. Please
don't write to make corrections
about who said (or carved) it first. One way to avoid personal
growth is to get caught up in the
medium and neglect the message. It is a good saying; think
about it, and question why people
are more interested in the origins of good advice than in
following it.
Addendum, 27 June, 2004: Blaise Pascal said, "One must know
oneself. Even if that does not
help in finding truth, at least it helps in running one's life..."
Pensees, 72
More Information from the Catholic Catechism
The Seven Deadly Sins FAQ #1 - What questions do we get?
Signs & Symbols in Christian Art, by George Ferguson, has a
few notes on The Seven Deadly
Sins. It sometimes omits details, but is otherwise a very useful
book.
Other lists
http://www.kb.nl/kb/manuscripts/highlights/11M_uk.html
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0114369
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Freeman,+Morgan
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Pitt,+Brad
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0114369
http://pw2.netcom.com/~rjs474/thomasmore/1519lett.html

35. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/doc
uments/hf_jp-ii_enc_15101998_fides-et-ratio_en.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/higher/spirdir.html
http://www.valyermo.com/ld-art.html
http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/2f.htm#meno
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/gravity.html#PROLIF
ERATION
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/faq1.html
There are also lists of virtues, not directly associated with
particular vices: The Theological
Virtues and The Cardinal (pivotal) Virtues. We don't have pages
on them yet, but they are
covered well in "Mere Christianity," by C.S. Lewis. These and
other lists from the Church are
described (briefly) below, or you can search.
The Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope and Charity
These are from 1 Corinthians 13:13
The Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Temperance and
Fortitude
These are from Wisdom 8:7
The Ten Commandments: With Ten Calls to Freedom
Go here for a different take on the Ten Commandments. It uses
the Catholic list, but it can be
adapted for other traditions.
The Evangelical Counsels: Poverty, Chastity and Obedience
From the Beatitudes and Philippians 2:8. The name means they

36. are suggested by the Gospel,
both the words and the example of Jesus.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel,
Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety,
and Fear of the Lord.
See also the Catechism, #1831. The term "Fear of the Lord"
refers to an "awesome respect"
not abject or servile fear.
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience,
Kindness, Goodness, and
Faithfulness
These are from Galatians 5:22. The Church has a tradition of
twelve also, which adds:
Generosity, Gentleness, Modesty, Self-control, and Chastity
(Catechism #1832)
The Spiritual Works of Mercy: Kindnesses to the spirits of
others
http://www.ceeme.com/prayers/works.htm
The Corporal Works of Mercy: Kindnesses to the bodies of
others
http://www.ceeme.com/prayers/crpwork.htm
The Precepts of the Church: Expectations of Catholics (it's
another list, so I put it here)
http://www.cin.org/precept.html
Links to other sites: They aren't always pretty, but here they

37. are:
http://www.le.ac.uk/arthistory/seedcorn/contents.html
http://www.le.ac.uk/arthistory/seedcorn/faq-sds.html
http://hometown.aol.com/MaryPulver/Sins.htm
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/lewis.html
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/#SEARCH
http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-
bin/bible?language=English&version=NIV&passage=1+Corinthi
ans+13:13&matchno=0&restrict=1+corinthians
http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-
bin/bible?language=English&version=NIV&passage=1+Corinthi
ans+13:13&matchno=0&restrict=1+corinthians
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/wisdom/wisdom8.htm
http://www.whitestonejournal.com/tencommandments/
http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-
bin/bible?language=English&version=NIV&search=&passage=
Matthew+5
http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-
bin/bible?language=English&version=NIV&search=&passage=P
hilippians+2:8
http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-
bin/bible?language=English&version=NIV&passage=Galatians+
5:22&matchno=0
http://www.ceeme.com/prayers/works.htm
http://www.ceeme.com/prayers/crpwork.htm
http://www.cin.org/precept.html
http://www.le.ac.uk/arthistory/seedcorn/contents.html
http://www.le.ac.uk/arthistory/seedcorn/faq-sds.html
http://hometown.aol.com/MaryPulver/Sins.htm
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010601.html
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010601.html
http://www.thesevendeadlysins.org

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