What would you call a sin?

Question

I am working up my own version of Christinaity for a story in it a sin is when an obession with a passion becomes so great you let your urges guide you instead of your mind. In otherwords anytime you let something nonrational or loving control you that is a sin. So far I have these things

Lust: When you let your desire for bodily pleasure control you
Greed: When you let your desire for material goods control you
Egoism: When you let the desire for status, respect, and looking good control you
Violence Mongering: When you let your blood lust control you or become too vengful
Pure Evil: When you only care about your happiness and satisfaction.

PLEASE READ: I AM NOT ASKING FOR THE BIBLICAL SINS I AM ASKING FOR THINGS THAT FIT MY OWN DEFINATION OF A SIN I AM AN ATHIEST!!!!!!!!

READ WHAT I SAID BEFORE YOU ANSWERED: I dont care what YOU think is sin I want to know what is sinful with MY DEFINIATION.

Answer 1

I would add the disregard for human life....torturing other people...physical, sexual, and verbal abuse.

Answer 2

Nothing.

Sin is an outdated concept. No list of rules will cover all situation.

Lust is an emotion. Even if you called it bad, it wouldn't matter. And this emotion has unfairly had a lot of bad press. You must be a bore in bed if you don't occasionally give yourself completely over to lust and let it control you. It's good to let yourself go and really FEEL once in a while.

Greed is good. It is what keeps the economy going. Anything can be taken too far, but it is OK to want stuff. Again, this is an emotion, so it is not overly controllable anyway. It's only when you take it to the extreme that it becomes harmful, but that's true of anything.

Ditto for Egotism. Everything you do is for yourself in some way. Even if you sacrifice, you give up yourself for your own causes.

Ditto for Violence. Sometimes you have to stir people up and get them to fight back if there is going to be any justice. There is a place for this emotion, too.

Pure Evil? No such thing. Your description is just extreme narcissism. If you were a hermit, would it matter if you were a narcissist? If so, how could it be called "pure evil" when it doesn't harm anybody.

A good measure of whether something is bad is to look at its opposite to see if it is good. Let's look at a few "virtues"...

Chastity: Never feeling anything sexual is called sexual repression. It is a good thing to control your sexual urges when in inappropriate venues, but to never have any such feelings is just cold and lonely. Sex is a great pleasure in life. It's a shame that some people don't enjoy it.

Charity: Charity is generally good. However, if taken to the extreme, it is just giving away everything you own to others and not taking care of yourself. That next bite of food would go to someone else, no matter how hungry you were. You have to take some things for yourself, or you will die. Charity, in its extreme form, is slavery to others or death.

Self-worthlessness: There are people who think they are worth nothing. Often, these people end up committing suicide. It is not a good thing. It is best to have a realistic idea of your worth and ambition to be better, IMO.

Non-confrontational: A person who just shies away from all confrontation doesn't grow much. These are the types that will interrupt a good argument, no matter how civil. You see this in Yahoo Answers all the time. These types tend to turn into "Yes men", and never have their own opinion on anything.

Massocist: The opposite of someone who just cares about their own happiness is someone who is self-abusive. That's not good, either.

Instead of creating such lists. Try some general heuristics and realize that nothing is really at the extremes. There's something beneficial and detrimental about anything. You have to figure out how you wish to represent youself in society and built up your own character. Don't worry if yours matches anybody else's exactly. As long as you can come to some common terms with someone, you can work with them.

Answer 3

I like the way you are developing the idea that sin is something that controls a person. Well done.
You did, however, ask people to tell you what they would call a sin. You've got to be clear with your question, if you want clear answers.
I would say that, when someone does something, for whatever reason, knowing that his action (or lack of action) will cause pain or suffering, either for other people, or for himself, that is a sin.
I am curious as to how you can be "working up your own version of Christianity" without asking about Biblical sins? Christians don't look for things that fit their own definition of sin...they are concerned with God's definition.
Good luck with the project, anyhow...
And, whether you believe in Him or not, may God bless you.

Answer 4

You are very contradictory in your question and what you have written here.

Firstly, you asked "What would you call a sin?"
When people gave you what they would call a sin, you shouted at them for giving the wrong answer.

Secondly, you said you are an atheist.
Then, why on earth would you want to write a new version of Christianity?

Thirdly, you want your OWN DEFINITION of a sin.
You said..........
>>>>READ WHAT I SAID BEFORE YOU ANSWERED: I dont care what YOU think is sin I want to know what is sinful with MY DEFINIATION.<<<<
Then, why ask us in the first place?

Who agrees with me, please show the thumbs up. Thanks.
---------very silly, very silly indeed....take a prozac---------

[edit] Ok, ok.....so those were your own definitions of sin. Yes, I agree with all your definitions. All correct. If you have asked in a more proper way, people would have understood what you really want....something like "These are my definitions of what sin is, would you consider them as sins?"
----------peace---------

Answer 5

Your own version of Christianity for a story? And you are not asking for the "biblical sins"... Then don't use the word Christianity. use the word myownanity in other words my own reality. And why use the word sin? You are not God Why not keep in in human terms. Because that is what you are human with out god just an animal without God to awaken your Spirit man.

Answer 6

The only "sin" that any Christian is able to
label as such, are sins already judged by God. Christians do not "come up with" sins.
Either God has labeled a thing "sin", and that is what a Christian may report as sin, or else we cannot state one way or the other as it is up to God to judge it.

If you want to "make up your own", go ahead, but don't ask a true follower of Christ to "pick, choose, and name" something as a sin to satisfy some athiest
need you have to make a silly list.

Answer 7

I consider being egotistical enough to ask what someone would consider a sin while at the same time limiting the answer to actions that fall ONLY within the definition of sins that the asker presents to be sinful.

Answer 8

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Someone here said ignorance is a sin, what a deadset nitwit! How can not knowing about something make you a sinner?

I would call a sin a manifestation of far right religious beliefs. It is a myth and a cultural phenomenon, which actually doesn't exist, used to instill fear into ordinary people as a method of controlling their minds and their behaviour.
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Answer 9

I agree with the violence mongering, as it leads to hurting others. That to me is the only 'sin', hurting other living beings, that includes animals, people, trees, anything living. I am pagan, so everything pretty much falls under that. In my opinion, if one is prepared to accept the consequences of ones actions, then it is up to that person to decide whether to do what they intended.

Answer 10

If you're an atheist then there are no such thing as sin for you, only what you think is morally right or wrong.

Answer 11

Ignorance is a sin...

If you truly consider yourself an atheist, then you should also make the effort to study the different religions and understand the truth rather than being affiliated to any particular religion.

If there is one definition to summarize 'sin', I say that it would be 'ignorance' as it is the original 'sin'. So original that it was ignorance than brought mankind to war and anger, to condone all kinds of hatred and ideologies.

What say you?