What You Need to Know About Sin

Being raised in a household with a father who is Atheist and a mother who was raised Christian, I have grown up hearing two very different opinions of what is right and what is wrong. But, the truth of what is morally right and what is a sin can only come from one place: The Bible. In reading the Bible, we can learn all about sin, where sin started and what happens as a result of sin. Not every branch of Christianity follows the exact beliefs and they all interpret the Bible differently. However, one thing is consistent with the different beliefs: human beings sin. 

One of perhaps the most well known biblical stories is the story of Adam and Eve. Most people, Christian or not, know this story as two people created by God, put onto earth, who eat a fruit and are punished for it. But, not many people are careful enough to actually read into the story and what resulted from Adam and Eve’s actions. God created everything on this earth to be pure and clean. His only demand to Adam and Eve was that they could not eat from the Garden of Eden. However, when Eve is tempted by a serpent from the garden, she eats a fruit that she then shares with Adam. Christians know this act as Original Sin. The decision to eat the forbidden fruit effects humanity now and will forever, as it resulted in humans being more tempted towards sin. But, what is sin? Why does one sin? What is considered a sin and how can we be forgiven for these acts? These are things that humans must learn now and must use forever. 

Often times, anything that someone believes is wrong is quickly labeled a sin. Why? Because many people are not followers of God and do not know the exact definition of sin or what is considered a sin. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church the word “sin” is clearly defined for us so that we know exactly what a sin is. It says “Sin is an offense against God as well as a fault against reason, truth and right conscience. Sin is a deliberate thought, word, or deed, or omission contrary to the Eternal Law of God. In judging the gravity of sin, it is customary to distinguish between mortal and venial sin.” If one did not know what a sin was prior to reading this, they know now. In order to understand any aspect of sin, one must be able to define the word first. A sin is any act committed by a person that goes against the word or law of God. Jealous of the girl in class? Sin. Stealing money from your grandmother? Sin. Murdering the lady down the street? Sin. Sin varies and appears in all shapes, sizes and colors. We all sin in our lives, it happens. But, will we be sorry for our sins and ask Gods forgiveness or will we repeat the same sin within 48 hours? It’s not how we sin that shows our character, but more how we react after the sin. 

 

An important piece of knowledge that one must know about sin is the difference between mortal sin and the venial sin. These are two very different things that one must not get mixed up because they have two very different consequences. Article 13 of Christian Morality: Our response to God’s love very carefully points out the differences of the two different types of sin. The book describes mortal sin as “An action so contrary to the word of God that it results in a complete separation from God and his grace.” An example of mortal sin would be consistently cheating on exams to increase your grade with the full knowledge that what you are doing is wrong. For a sin to be mortal, the person committing it must be fully aware that the act is wrong and against God. Then, the book describes venial sin as “A less serious offense against the will of God that diminishes ones personal character and weakens but does not rupture ones relationship with God.” An example of venial sin would be cheating multiple times on tests. Once you have cheated once, it becomes a habit and a vice for cheating is formed. This vice makes the temptation to cheat irresistible. Knowing the difference between these two types of sin is important because they can affect our relationship with God. One type of sin just strains our relationship with Him, while the other completely ruins it. We must be careful of our actions and always remember that every action has a reaction, especially in the eyes of God. 

Another term that is important to know when understanding sin is “social sin”. The term social sin is defined in Article 14 as “The collective effect of many personal sins over time, which corrupts society and its institutions by creating ‘structures of sin.” Some examples of social sin are people being homeless when there are plenty of homes for everyone, people who have no job when there are people being overworked and people who are starving when there is plenty of food to go around. These are just a few examples of acts that are considered social sin. The article gives a clear example to help readers better understand the difference between personal sin and social sin. It says “…if one employer pays a woman less than he pays a man for doing the same job, this is personal sin. But if many employers in a city, state or country pay women less than they pay men for doing the same jobs they have created a situation of social sin.” Knowing what social sin is becomes important because it occurs when a group of people become so used to a sin, that it is unchallenged. This is important because it happens every single day and I believe that these sins should be called out and challenged. 

When determining if a human act is moral or immoral, there are three guidelines that one must follow. Article 12 clearly points out these guidelines we must remember to determine whether a human act is morally good or bad. The three guidelines are:
 1-  The object, that is, the specific thing the person is choosing to do
2-     The intention of the person doing the action
3-    The circumstances surrounding the act

These three things are very important to remember before we judge the act of someone else. We must use these to determine if it is good or bad and we must consider every aspect of the act and reason for the act. Everything we do as humans has a reason; we don’t just do things for no reason. But, before we judge others actions and before we label it a sin, we must review every aspect to make sure we don’t falsely label it. 

The Donkey or The Elephant?

Democrat or Republican? Obama or Romney? Yup, it is indeed that time of year again where it seems all everyone wants to talk about is politics. It’s that time of year again where people who know absolutely nothing about politics, pretend like they do. Everyone has their own opinion now and it seems more and more people are on the edge of their seat with who will win this year’s election to run the country for four years. Do we keep the same president we have had the last four years or do we elect someone new to change things up for the country? This post isn’t meant to bash anyone’s beliefs or put down any political figure, but in my very strong opinion, it’s time for Obama to go. 

  

Lately, we hear a lot of talk about the debt our country is in and the economic crisis we are dealing with. But has anyone really put it into perspective? Many times, the Democratic Party is quick to blame President George W. Bush for the increase in the national debt. But, right now as I type this sentence the national debt stands at $58,488,258,684,141 and increases each second. The national debt increased by $4.899 trillion when Bush was president for two full terms, eight years in office. Since Obama has been elected, only four years ago, the debt has increased by more than $4.939 trillion. The day Bush gave the title as “President” away to Obama, the national debt stood at $10.626 trillion. Look at the increase now in under four years. Do we really want a president in office another four years who puts us deeper into debt rather than pulling us out of the mess of an economy?

 

While reading an article from the Republican Party, I stumbled across a sentence that really got me thinking. It read, “American companies must be more competitive in the world market, and we must be aggressive in promoting U.S. products abroad and securing open markets for them.” I don't believe i could agree with this sentence any more than I already do. As a country, the United States is very dependent on goods from other countries. We need to start exporting more goods than we import. The United States has a very large trade deficit with China and Japan and the Republicans plan to stop that. I believe it would be very beneficial to sell more American made goods in America, as well as around the globe. The republicans would put this plan into action and help to pull us out of our debt. If we are ever going to have a strong economy, we need to stop relying so much on other people’s economies and being relying on ourselves. 

In the week following the first set of presidential debates, Obama has made quite a fool of himself. While I don’t agree with the republicans plan to cut government funding for public television, I strongly disagree with President Obama’s decision to constantly discuss Sesame Street for the past week. Even though the president of PBS Paula Kerger makes $632,233 a year, government funding of PBS is not a huge issue in the United States. Why is the President, someone who is supposed to lead us out of tough times, suddenly obsessed with the idea of Big Bird and his friends? Shouldn't he be worrying more about the national debt, the unemployment rates and taxing? With elections just around the corner, this was not a smart move for Barack Obama. Being a republican, I laugh at the fact that Obama has become overly obsessed with one small idea from Mitt Romney’s plans as president. I find it funny that he has spent the last week discussing the idea and making jokes of it. Romney himself stated "These are tough times with real serious issues. So you have to scratch your head when the president spends the last week talking about saving Big Bird." There is so much truth to this statement. Do we really want someone in office who has spent a whole week discussing Big Bird, rather than actual political issues? 

Being a strong minded republican, often times it is hard for me to agree with a statement made by the Democratic Party. But, while reading a republican article, I came across a statement that I highly agree with. It said “Abortion is an intensely personal decision between a woman, her family, her doctor, and her clergy; there is no place for politicians or government to get in the way.” I myself am pro choice and I believe that every woman does have the right to choose for herself. It isn't the president’s place to tell her no, it’s no one but her own decision. If she feels that it is right, then she should be able to make that decision. It is her own decision no one else’s and no one but herself will face the consequences. I personally would never choose an abortion for me because that is who I am. But, I do believe that everyone should have the right to choose to keep the baby or abort the baby. It’s a personal choice between a woman and her body, not a government choice. 

           

 While viewing a comparison chart of Republican and Democratic views, I saw the column about gay marriage. Under the Democrat side it said “support”. I strongly agree with the democrats on this one. I believe that no one should be told who they are and are not allowed to love. If a man and a man love each other, then so be it! If a woman and a woman love each other, they should be allowed to be together! It does not affect anyone’s lives accept their own. I also believe that you are born gay, it is not a choice but that’s a whole different topic of discussion. It is not the government’s decision to tell a couple if they are allowed to marry or not. Each individual being should be able to marry the love of their life and should be able to express their love for each other without the hate and ridicule. I agree 110% with the Democrats on this topic because I don’t believe one should be told they can’t love the love of their life just because they are the same gender.




What’s one of the most debated topics in recent months? In my opinion, legalization of marijuana is talked about more than any other legal issue. The Republican Party is against the legalization of marijuana and I agree with them completely. Maybe my opinion is biased, but I have first hand watch marijuana completely rip apart a family. I've never heard such things said between people who were supposed to love and support each other. But I watched lives literally crumble all because of marijuana. I know that many people like to believe it’s so harmless and it’s simply a plant. But it’s what the plant does and causes that many others, such as myself, do not like. I would hate to see the day where you could walk into any gas station and purchase yourself some marijuana. So, I stand with the republicans when they say they oppose the legalization of marijuana. 






 

The Bullied Address Bullying

 

Bully. Bullied. Bullying. What image comes to mind from hearing such words? Horrific images of teens throwing crude words at each other. Typing false comments and labeling others with harsh words and statements. This all sounds so wrong and harsh, sometimes we prefer to ignore such things happening. But, the reality of it is that it is happening all around us, each and every day. In some cases, teens have been bullied so badly, they decide to take their own life. In what world is that okay? How can we stop such acts if no one ever tries? Bullying is a major problem in high schools all around America and it needs to have an end before it’s too late. 

A recent story that completely shocked me was from a high school in Michigan. The Traverse City high school came across students creating accounts on twitter to bash other students. These comments were made about other students appearance, significant others or just make comments about students who they didn't like for being "different". This personally disgusts me on so many different levels. The level of disrespect teenagers have for each other is so minimal now-a-days. It seems so easy for students to hide behind their computers and cell phones and talk about each other. A student from the high school quoted "I realized that most adults don't take this kind of thing seriously. They look at it as something you can ignore, when in reality it is in your face." This quote is so absolutely true. Often times, many teachers and adults will just ignore it or push it aside. They see it as something so small and stupid, just teenagers saying harmful words. But they aren't harmful! They can seriously hurt someone’s reputation or self esteem. When did students get so rude? Its even more shocking that students recognize the teachers ignoring the issues that are clearly right in front of them. 

A real inspiring story that i came across was about schools in Jamestown making efforts to put an end to bullying in their schools. A group combined together that all has one common goal: stop the hate. Every school has it, those kids who just feel the need to talk about everyone or the kid who is constantly talked about, even though they haven’t done a single thing wrong. Seeing it in the hallways is absolutely disgusting and these students at Jamestown are simple inspiring. Every school should have a group that works together to put an end to bullying. The principle at this Jamestown school said, “We chose to be proactive, we didn’t necessarily see a huge problem. We just thought, how can we do proactive? How can we make our place better? How can we handle this as a Lincoln community?” This is a school that has little bullying, but is still aiming to make the school a better place. How about the schools where bullying is a major problem? Why don't they have special programs aimed to stop bulling. I believe that every school needs a group that helps make the school a safer place. No one should ever be scared to go to school. 

When researching bullying and its effects, I came across a story of a 12 year old boy who commit suicide after being bullied. If you’re not disgusted after reading the first sentence, do you even have a heart? A poor, innocent twelve year old boy taking his own life because of the cruel words of others. This 12 year old boy from Sapporo, Japan took his own life by jumping off the top of a building. How absolutely brutal. In his note, he mentioned that he had been bullied and was regularly beaten and abused by other students. It was also mentioned in the article that teachers knew of this bullying and never stopped it. How do you see such things happening and not say anything about it? I am sickened at the fact that teachers could have helped or tried to stop these attacks and didn’t, resulting in a young boy taking his life. This boy was just starting to live his life, not even a teenager yet. How sickening that someone could push someone to take their own life. 

Another story that saddens me is about the 14 year old boy who commits suicide after being bullied. Jamey Rodemeyer was an openly bisexual student who was proud of who he was, but was bullied because of it. In an interview with his parents, Jamey’s father said "To the kids who are bullying they have to realize that words are very powerful and what you think is just fun and games isn't to some people, and you are destroying a lot of lives”. There is so much truth in the words said by his father. I don’t think that people truly understand what they do to people when they say such mean, hurtful words. How can you be so cruel to pick at the lives of others and push them to taking their own lives? What’s even sadder about Jamey’s story is the fact he covered up his pain and hurt so well. No one saw it coming and they said that Jamey looked fine in the days leading up to his suicide. In a video Jamey posted on his YouTube, he said “That's all you have to do. Just love yourself and you're set. And I promise you, it'll get better”. He was so inspiring to many other people, promising that everything will be okay. But he was driven to taking his own life because of what other people had to say. Jamey’s inspiration was the world famous Lady Gaga. He often used her words for inspiration and to keep him going. I believe that Jamey is an inspiration to many openly gay people in the world. People should take his story and learn from it and know that it does get better.  

At my school, Bishop Kearney, we have rules surrounding bullying both verbally and over the use of technology. These rules are in the front of our planners, in a small font which sometimes seems impossible to read. Is this enough? Absolutely not. I believe that we as a school community need to stand up for whats right and change whats happening. We need to stop bullying in out halls and over the internet. It isn't fair that some students dread each morning knowing they have to come to school. Everyone should feel welcome here and everyone should want to come here each morning knowing they always have someone to turn to. I hope that in due time, we will have groups that help us to put an end to bulling and stop the hate.