There is only 1 Sin. Everything else is ok

I know that is a strong statement.

There is no such thing as Sin.

Certainly not sin as identified by traditional religious dogma.

I know I’m going to get a bunch of negative feedback on this by moderates and extremists alike.

But if you hold your judgment on this idea for a moment and open your mind, rather than quickly react to the statement, I think you will have to question your current mindset.

What is Sin?

That’s actually a really important question. A foundational question to figuring out whether or not your behavior is sinful. A quick look online gives a wide range of the definition of sin. Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org/prayers/sin.php) defines sin as “any attachment, thought, statement, action, or inaction, that is contrary to God’s law.”

That statement in itself presupposes that 1.) the definition of God’s law is constant across individuals and 2.) the belief in a monotheistic God.

Let’s look at the 1st issue

1. ) Common definition — As disparate as religions are, and as disparate as interpretations of religious texts can be even across similar religions, I would posit that different religions claim different status for the same behavior. It is possible to find any number of religions that contradict each other at any given time for any given behavior

1a.) Additionally, various exceptions exist within religious dogma. Looking at St. Thomas Acquinas (http://www.saintaquinas.com/mortal_sin.html) and the Fifth Commandment presents “You shall not kill” but provides for the exception of self defense. However, “unnecessary aggression” in the act of self defense can be a mortal sin. Of course this leads to the interpretation of what is necessary vs. unnecessary aggression during the act of self defense which seems like a very slippery slope

2.) Belief in God — the definition of a mortal sin as an “offense against God” implies a belief in God itself. This doesn’t leave any room for non-believers and Atheists. Consequently figuring out what is a sin for anyone outside of your religious beliefs much less outside of ANY religious belief is practically impossible since the definition itself is built on non-believed assumptions.

There is ONLY 1 true sin

Alright, so defining what is sinful is going to be tough since sometimes some things are sinful in certain contexts and in certain religious, and sometimes not. Too arbitrary to truly define ANYTHING as a sin

Even the 7 Deadly sins, the mortal sins:

1. Lust
2. Gluttony
3. Greed
4. Sloth
5. Wrath
6. Envy
7. Pride

All have their own slippery slopes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins) when truly examined. And their historical context reveals the difficulty of truly boxing the real expression of these behaviors.

So why do I say?

There is ONLY 1 true sin

It’s a little bit of a linguistic trick. I posit there actually aren’t any true sins.

However, I also posit that

Self Delusion is the only true sin because it’s the only sin you don’t know your committing while you are committing it.

Everything else, and I mean EVERYTHING ELSE is just being human

Self Delusion The ONLY sin

When you are self delusional you TRULY believe your own point of view. It’s not that you are rationalizing why some behavior is good or bad. Self Delusion is beyond rationalizing. Self Delusion is the true consumption of a false belief.

A simple example is when someone believes they have been a good parent for 18 years, but upon their kid’s 18th birthday the kid stands up, tells the parent off and walks out the door.

The delusional belief of being a good parent robbed the individual for making any adjustments.

Let me say that again

Self Delusion ROBS you of your agency without your awareness

That’s why I call it a sin. Not knowing that you are doing something, WHILE you are doing it, completely removes any awareness or agency and is the MOST destructive pattern.

Everything else is just human beings … being … well … human. Please understand that I’m not condoning bad behavior. What I’m saying is that we are conscious when we do it so that in and of itself puts the behavior squarely into the “it’s just a human behaving.”

Let’s take murder for example. We typically have the commandments of “Thou shalt not kill.” But killing is itself a willful act. A humanistic act. I’m not sure how many religious followers would call soldiers in the military sinners when they are in battle. And all battles are not merely self defense. So “Thou shalt not kill” has so many exceptions as to be an unhelpful statement. And consequently just part of humanity and our choices.

This really goes to the Buddhist concept of awakening.

Wake Up

As long as you are aware of your actions, you are making a choice. And that choice is an expression of your humanity. Good, bad, indifferent, evil, whatever. It’s just an expression of your humanity. And you could make another choice.

But of course that assumes you are conscious about your choices and not tricking yourself into believing something that is not true. Self deluding yourself to the point where you truly believe there were no other options.

So just waking up. Becoming aware. Not sleepwalking through life IS the key to living a non-sinning life.

Everything else … EVERYTHING ELSE … is just a part of … being human.