How can I tell if the town I live in is filled with sin?

Question

It's only had one murder in the past ~50 years (Jon Benet), but it's also >50% non-religious (according to the Denver Post).

So I'm confused about whether my hometown is really really sinful... Is it?

That is, should I evaluate its morality based on the murder rate or the church attendance rate?

Answer 1

Use neither church attendance nor the local murder rate to evaluate the sinfulness of your surroundings. Both are incorrect measures.

Church attendance records only count the amount of people walking into certain buildings. The cannot evaluate the faithfulness (or lack therof) of the people doing the walking.

Murder is "only one" sin. There are a lot of others! To only look at the murder rate, and not the rate for, say, theft, lying, adultery, and disrespecting elders, is to take an invalid sample.

Sin is not so much a "thing", as an attitude, a thought, or an action. It has its ultimate root in the selfishness of each individual person.

Since human beings are "naturally" very selfish, even when they are trying to be religious, they "naturally" fall into sin a lot.

Do you want to know how "sinful" a place is? Take a census. The larger the local population is, the more potential for sinful thought/behaviour/action. If your town is really, really, really full of people, then chances are, it is also full of sin.

Yes, I know this view is really pessimistic, and I may get a few "thumbs down" from Christians here, but it is how I feel about this topic. More people ultimately means more sin. It also holds the potential for more righteousness, but I'm pessimistic about the nature of humanity.

Answer 2

Why describe the place as sinful? In order for a town to become "sinful", wouldn't the people define what the town is? If it had good people, wouldn't it be considered a good town, or vice versa? Besides, if you're a nonbeleiver, like me, I think people either have morals or don't. If they don't, well, you have a repeat of Jon Benet.

Answer 3

Only God can give you that answer, my dear little rodent. You see, all sin is defined by God. God decided sin exists and simply means not following God's orders, which can be quite contradictory and/ or confusing at times, making it utterly impossible not to sin. This state, however, is what is presumed from the Bible and Torah, which may or may not be correct, but it does appear that sin is still God-based, so only God can know for sure. Hence, to answer your question, you need to contact God...

Good luck with that, btw, since I appear to have been put on hold for several years now. Feh! You thought government was inefficient here? Try the Celestial Bureaucracy!

Answer 4

Every one sins and falls short of the Glory of God.
Unless your city is inhabited by only God then it is sinful.
Sin is based on our separation from God not going to church or murder. Those are symptoms of Separation.

Answer 5

If Ted Haggard is pastor at your church,then your town is filled with sin.

Answer 6

I have no doubt San Antonio is full of some pretty bad people.

I think there are many more good than bad though.

Answer 7

too easy all towns qualify
we've had drug busts here several times and this is a rich area near the lake..
see my open ques on cheese in food general

Answer 8

Is Tom Tancredo your Congressman?
If so, you've got all the sin you need.

Answer 9

Baseball Caps. The more of them you see, the more holy water and steaks you'll need.

Answer 10

Judge not lest ye shall be judged.

Live in peace, without desires or attachments, no judgements.

May it be well with you.