Definition of Mortal Sin by the Church of Circularity

In short — it’s complicated

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Most of us have heard of the 10 commandments and can agree that at least ‘though shall not kill, steal, and bear false witness’ make sense globally to most everyone in most cases. As for the rest, not so much.

Here are all of them to jog your memory:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy
5. Honour thy father and thy mother
6. Thou shalt not kill
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery
8. Thou shalt not steal
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour
10. Thou shalt not covet (neighbour’s house, neighbour’s wife, neighbour’s slaves, animals, or anything else)

And then there is a Golden Rule — do not do unto others what you don’t wish to have done unto you. This too makes a lot of sense in most cases.

Still, we live in the world where relativity plays a major role. So while it might, in most cases, be true that you shall not kill, steal or bear false witness there are cases when it’s OK to do this, such as defending or trying to save your or someone else’s life.

And while Golden Rule also makes sense in most cases, this still doesn’t mean in all cases. For instance, when one is a masochist and enjoys pain and torture that doesn’t mean that it would be OK to inflict pain and torture on those who don’t. So one needs to be careful when trying to interpret such guidelines.

The definition of a mortal sin by the Church of Circularity would thus be — it depends. Whether a deed is a mortal deed or not depends on the circumstances. Clearly, we cannot just write commandments and expect them to hold water in each and every possible case.

But how can we know whether something is a mortal sin or not then? Now that’s a good question! And an important part of worship and leading a holy life according to the Church of Circularity is pondering over it and trying to find the answer instead of blindly following rules.