SEVEN DEADLY SINS?

by Robert Blumetti

Christianity claims that the basic human desires are sinful. It name seven desires and refers to them as the seven deadly sins. They are: pride, greed, anger, envy, sloth, gluttony and lust. There was never such concept as sin among pagans, and these seven desires were not necessarily consider sinful or even bad. In fact, to a pagan, these are just normal desires. Whether they are good or bad is determined by how we behavior and why.

Let us take greed. At first thought greed is wrong, and in some context it is, especially if one is willing to hurt his friends, family, neighbors and kin in the name of possessing great material possessions. The reason for this is simple–no man is an island onto himself. If we are to be happy and live a good life, a prosperous life, we need to be concern with the community we live within. The welfare of the community, which means your neighbors, should be as important to you as your own individual welfare. This is also true of the welfare of your friends, family and kin.

We are all ruled by an inner voice that motivates us on a subconscious level. It is the need to preserve our genetic make-up. Sociobiology claims that this inner voice is actually our DNA, or genes, speaking to us. It is the first primordial need to pass on our genes to the next generation. This desire is firstly manifested in our own individual need to improve out material welfare. This usually takes the form of being successful and having the ability to buy a better home, clothing, foods, means of transportation, supporting a family, the ability to entertain ourselves, to protect ourselves from enemies, the climate and so forth. Thus we want more and will seek the means obtain more. This is fine and there is nothing wrong with this desire. It is only when we will do anything to seek greater wealth, even if it means causing harm to the society we live in, to our family, friends and kin that this desire is wrong, because in the long term, we are causing harm to ourselves. By harming our environment or community, friends, family and kin, we are creating conditions that will create harmful conditions for the preservation of our genes and could even make our individual living condition worst.

What about pride? Sherlock Holmes once said the modesty is no virtue. If one is good at what one does, he should be proud of it and take credit for it. False modesty is just as wrong as false pride. Be proud of who and what you are. Be proud of your ancestry, your ethnicity, of your individual worth, of your abilities, achievements, and success. Know your worth and proclaim it.

Then there is gluttony. Is there really anything wrong in the act of eating? We need to eat to survive. So what is wrong with that? All living things must fight for nourishment to survive and pass on their genes to the next generation. So there is nothing wrong with the desire to eat and drink, but if by gluttony we mean over indulgence, then there can be case to be made. The Folk Faith believes we should be healthy, both spiritually and physically. So we should eat in moderation for health reasons. If we eat too much, we will simply get fat and that is not healthy. And we should be careful about what we eat. There are no dietary restricts in our faith–for that is nonsense. Ee are governed by the golden rule and that rule dictates that whatever we eat, we should do so in moderation, for too much of anything is bad or unhealthy for us. It is that simple.

Now let us look at anger. This is another one of those desires that could be a good or bad thing. If someone does us harm or threatens us, we should get angry. You would be a fool not too, and you would not live very long if you don't, because people would take advantage of your. But we should not let our anger control us. There is a saying: Don't get mad–get even. What this means isn't let your anger control you and cause you to do something foolish. Instead, control your anger and plan your revenge, and defense, against letting those who seek to harm. It is often a very good idea to disguise your anger with stealth. Don't let those who seek to unnerve you see that you are angry. This will have two results: first they won't have the satisfaction of "pissing you off," and secondly, they will not be expecting you to take your revenge when you are ready to do so. They will be off their guard. But there is a warning concerning anger. Don't let it cause you to lose control and thus cause harm to those you love–the very people who you would never want to hurt. That is the greatest danger of uncontrolled anger. But anger under control, is self-preservation. The thing to realize is that we must remain in control of ourselves at all times.

Envy is not necessarily bad because it can motivate you to be more ambitious. So long as your envy doesn't turn into jealousy, to be envious enough to want to do as well as others is a perfectly normal reaction. Just don't be obsessed by this desire.

Lust is the sexual desire. The self-righteous religions will try and convince you that your basic sexual desires are somehow wrong. Nonsense! Without lust, there would be not reproduction. The Christian Church has created "Original Sin" to make us feel guilty about our sexual desires. But as with everything, certain sexual acts are wrong because they interfere with reproduction and could be detrimental to the passing on of our genes, and this are counter to the advancement, improvement and expansion of our Folk. But don't confuse the sexual act with lust. Lust, so long as it does not cause you to betray you family or lead you into wrong or harmful behavior, is perfectly normal. In fact, one should be lustful with those you love, especially with your mate. That will ensure a healthy relationship and marriage.

Finally there is sloth. Well, there really is very little to say to defend slothfulness, especially if we mean by it to be too lazy to defend or better yourself. We need to be responsible to ourselves, family, friends and kin to do what is necessary to survive. So if we are too lazy to live up to our responsibilities–yes, then sloth is wrong. But if we simply mean that we spend time to "chill out," or simply to take a vacation or rest from the stress and grind of the everyday routine, there is not only nothing wrong with it, but it is necessary to prevent a nervous breakdown.

If you read the "myths," whether they are Norse, Celtic, Greek or any other myths, you will discover that the Gods are guilty of committing all seven of the deadly sins. Does that mean the Gods are evil? Well, that was the logic of the monotheists, but the truth is there is no sin. The lessons we must take from the "myths" or tales, is how the Gods act and why. The tales are not to be taken literally. But they are man's attempt to explain the forces of nature and the laws that govern nature, which is the contest between the force of order (the Gods) and disorder or chaos (the Giants). The truth is, our Gods act like us. They have human quality, or should I say, we have Godly qualities, because we share the same Life Force as the Gods. The same Life Force that fills the universe.

We have to ask ourselves, does anybody really believe these urges are sins? The answer is no. In the 20 th century there was a movement to humanize Christianity. In the Catholic Church, the Second Vatican Council set into motion reforms that stripped away the rituals, traditions and even many of the beliefs that were part of Catholicism for centuries. It was claimed that these devices were borrowed from the old pagan religions, and this is true, but it was also the foundation upon which the faith was based. As I've said before, Christianity was successful because it paganized itself, adjusting to the old pagan religions of Europe . But now, Christianity, both Catholicism and Protestantism, have begun humanizing their faiths so they can "keep up with the times." They have been secularized by what is referred to by many as "Liberation Theory," which is just another name for Marxism. Thus, Christianity, at least in the West, (though not in the Third World , where the reverse in happening) is being strip of its spiritual essence–which was the essence of the old pagan religions. It now has more in common with Humanism than religion.

We who belong to the Folk Faith are not advocating a new religion based on man's natural instincts and nature, and science, but are seeking to reconnect with the old religion that was based on man's nature instincts, nature, and science. Let us face the fact that more and more people today do not believe in Christianity because they DO NOT PRACTICE IT. Come on! How many of you agree with the Vatican ? How many of you practice birth control? How many of your agree with your church leaders (Protestant or Catholic), most of the time? Not every many. But most people are still AFRAID to come right out and say, "I am no longer a Christian." Well, at least in the United States . In Europe , people are more honest. Up to 70 and 80 percent of Europeans admit that they no longer belong or believe in Christianity. But in America , people are still afraid of the wrath of God. Even though most people no longer believe in what their religion teaches, they are afraid to admit it to themselves, never mind to others. But I have to ask you to ask yourself, why do you continue to support a religion whose beliefs are contradictory to your beliefs? Why do you continue to support churches whose leaders are perverts, practicing and engaging in sexual behavior that you find abhorrent and sick? Why do you still belong to a church whose members are alien to you, and whose values are foreign to your values?

I know many Catholics who have trouble accepting the new mutliculturalism of the Catholic Church. They go to their local church and discover all the priests are from Africa , Asia and Latin America . They hear they clergy preach about the revolutionary struggle of the masses in Third World countries, and speak, not only with alien accents, but with an accent that is suspiciously common to that spoken in a "Gay Pride Day" parade. They know deep down that their religion no longer has their base interest at heart, but they FEAR admitting it to themselves. The reason for people to continue to belong to a religion that is harmful to them, their family and kin, their heritage and culture, is simple–they are practicing a GUILT-RIDDEN religion.

Joy to you all,

Bob Blumetti

Hail Odin! Hail Balder!