Do You Believe Gluttony Is a Sin? Or Has It Become The American Way, and No Big Deal?

Hi!  Gluttony is a religious concept, not a literary one.  Most online resources have a LITTLE bit of truth to them, but it's fun to think you might have read some of those works.  Which one was your favorite?  For what it's worth, the "deadly sins" were counter-balanced with "heavenly virtues" and "contrary virtues" -- and there are more of those then there are of sins! And fortunately, murder and rape are still referred to as sins.

Charming: do you not see that you are being condescending here?  "it's fun to think you might have read some of those works."

Your superior attitude leaves me speechless. judi

Essentially what she wrote was lifted from the first websites that pop up when you google "seven deadly sins."  That is the ONLY way she could come up with the misbegotten idea that this is primarily a literary device.  Give me a break.  Give us ALL a break, she deserves to be condescended to in THIS case. 

On the other hand, if I'm wrong and If she did in fact read those great books ... all are among my favorites ... Hey, I'm an English teacher, let's form some literature circles, and chat it up.

Uh.  I like to sin. It's fun.

Most people like to sin.  This is what accounts for it's unending popularity.

Simulresponse to your simulpost: Gluttony is defined as a sin based on Biblical origins.  Since that seems to be your bent -- "Gluttony is a Sin" -- I'll address you in Biblical terms: For starters, we would ALL be DEAD and this conversation would not be happening. 
“When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.” (Proverbs 23:2) Almost all MO folks are/were gluttons.  By this logic, if you feel you are suffering from gluttony, go ahead and kill yourself now. I would also point out that according to the Catholic Church - Gluttony is the excessive indulgence in food and drink.  Excessive, by whose definition?  Matthew 7:1 reads, "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you."

I would now ask - Is Dumping a Sin?
“Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” (Proverbs 23:20-21) (Drowsiness... I wonder if that's like gluttony to the point of dumping?)
Again, according to the Catholic Church... "Clearly one who uses food or drink in such a way as to injure his health or impair the mental equipment needed for the discharge of his duties, is guilty of the sin of gluttony. (Hmmm... sound like dumping to me.)

Frankly, the smartass students are usually the teacher's favorite, because they pose such interesting questions:

" For starters, we would ALL be DEAD and this conversation would not be happening." Can you explain the rationale behind this? “When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.” (Proverbs 23:2) In Hebrew (the language in which this was written, the "what" is "who.")  "Put a knife to your throat" means, keep something sharp by your throat so that you won't open it much.  Overall -- If you are eating in front of a king, keep in mind who is in front of you, show some restraint, and prevent yourself from gorging. “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” (Proverbs 23:20-21) Do not keep as companions people who glut and gorge themselves on wine and meat, because they wind up poor, sleepy, and ragged.  This seems self-evident.  People who are wasteful and overindulge do usually wind up poor, and haggard.  This is a 1:1 correlation between the poorest states in our union, and obesity.  I am no expert on Catholicism or Christianity, but the following also seems pretty clear:  "Clearly one who uses food or drink in such a way as to injure his health or impair the mental equipment needed for the discharge of his duties, is guilty of the sin of gluttony.

I'm sorry -- are we not all WLS patients?  Did we not all wind up here because our overeating caused us to become unhealthy?  Is someone here under the deluded impression that it was because of some freak of nature unrelated to food consumption?  And if you are not aware that excessive consumption of "drink" will cause impaired mental function then ... you must HAVE impaired mental function.  Where have you been?!?!


Q.E.D.

Any other questions, grasshopper?

By your inference that you are a "teacher" you flatter yourself and amuse the rest of us.
pffffft Go flagellate yourself out of our sight.

Great...  I assume from your haughty stance, you are a teacher.  Lovely.  Is this an example of how you attempt to engage your students in intelligent dialog? 

NO we did not ALL end up here because of overeating.  MORBID OBESITY IS A DISEASE AND NOT A MORAL FAILING! MORBID OBESITY IS A DISEASE AND NOT A MORAL FAILING! MORBID OBESITY IS A DISEASE AND NOT A MORAL FAILING! You claim that there is a 1:1 correlation to the poorest states in the union and obesity.   What rock have you been hiding under?  I'm shocked and saddened that you blame the victim.  These people are not obese because they were wasteful and overinduldged -- they are obese because they are poor.  Do not blame the victim. Obesity is not an an isolated epidemic in America -- it is worldwide.

ALL recent studies indicate the #1 reason for MO is genetics, followed by environment, metabolism, eating disorders, depression and medically induced MO. Until you get the basics you are a complete waste of time and instead of WLS, you should have probably looked into one of those religious sects that spends their days practicing self-flagellation. You have established NO truths here and certainly offered NO proofs, you have simply shown yourself to be prejudiced and bias against your own kind. 

Hi there, Lola: So, what major genetic shift do you believe occurred worldwide, in the last thirty years, so that obesity has now reached epidemic proportions? Normally, genetic transitions happen extremely slowly in populations.  Over hundreds of generations, not hundreds of years, much less mere decades.  So I'm curious about your take on this. But I'm guessing you're right that it has to do with environment, depression, and medications.  We have created a cultural environment in which it is never enough to have merely enough.  And people get depressed, because they see that others have more.  We can never measure up, even when we could measure up more, by being less.  We are caught in a hideous cycle of being on the losing end, so we consume more, and more, and more, pointlessly filling ourselves up with things that can never fill us up, until we are killing ourselves.  Actually, I did not come here trying to establish truths.  I came here saying I was asking myself questions, and asking what other people thought.  But it certainly is an incendiary topic!