Visiting Sin 2

Lust

I took a fun quiz to see which one of the Seven Deadly Sins I was guilty of and was very surprised at the following results:

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Low
Sloth:	High
Envy:	Low
Lust:	High
Pride:	High

The Seven Deadly Sins Quiz on 4degreez.com

I am relieved to see a low score in 'Envy' given my previous blog and I fully expected to score the highest in 'Sloth'...I can barely raise the energy to turn a page of a book these days after a full on day at work, so I was very surprised to see 'Lust' as my own personal sin. Lusty? Moi?

Lust by Wiki:

Lust is a craving for sexual intercourse, which can sometimes assume a violent or self-indulgent character. In the three major Abrahamic religions, it is considered a sin.

I do not like this description of Lust or all the religious crap that is attached to it so I looked for a more favourable definition and found the following:

Lust - ardent enthusiasm; zest; relish: an enviable lust for life.

Thats more like it. Me to a tee. What is sinful about that eh? In fact it is the opposite of 'Acedia' which is given as a deadly sin on some lists.

Acedia:

Acedia describes a state of listlessness or torpor, of not caring or not being concerned with one's position or condition in the world. It can lead to a state of being unable to perform one's duties in life. Its spiritual overtones make it related to but distinct from depression.

So Acedia is not having enthusiasm or zest. It is Lustlessness. So how come if Acedia is a sin then Lust is also a sin? Surely the Sin Police can't have it both ways? If Lust is a sin then Acedia isn't. If Acedia is a sin, well then, Lust isn't. Is you is or is you ain't a sinner?

Final word this time to Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C:

'Of all the worldly passions, lust is the most intense. All other worldly passions seem to follow in its train'