TheEvolutionofthe
Seven
Deadly
Sins:
From
God
to
the
Simpsons
Lisa
Frank
I
can
personally
attest
that
the
seven
deadly
sinsare
still
very
much
with
us.
Today,
I
have
committed
each
of
them,severalmorethan
once,before
mylunch
hour
evenbegan.Here
is
myschedule
of
sin
(judge
me
if
you
will):
7:00
-
I
pressed
the
snoozebuttonthreetimesbefore
dragging
myself
out
of
bed.
Sloth.
7:11
-
I
took
an
obscenely
long,hot
showerwith
no
consideration
formysister,with
whom
I
live.
(Don't
even
bothermentioning
the
ecologicalimplica-
tions.)
Greed.
7:52
-
I
noticed
a
pool
of
cat
vomit
on
the
floorand
chose
to
ignore
it,
knowingthat
my
sisterwoulddutifully
clean
it
up.
Sloth.
8:22
-
I
gavesomeone
the
fingerafter
theycut
me
off
in
traffic.
Wrath.
8:33
-
I
helped
myself
totwo
complementarypastries
at
the
office
meeting(although
I
hadbreakfastonly
an
hour
before).
Gluttony.
8:42
-
I
flirtedwith
the
guy
next
tome,
ignoring
the
speakerto whom
I
wassup-
posed
to
be
listening.
Lust.
10:04
-
I
ignored
someone's
incessantknocking
on
the
door
of
theonly
restroom
in
the
building
where
I
work
in
order
to
spendmore
time
putting
on
makeup
in
front
of
the
mirror.
Pride.
10:42
-
I
liedand
told
a
homelessperson
that
I
didn't
haveany
change.
Sloth.
11:02
-
I
purposelygot
toclassearly
so
that
I
couldtake
another
student's
usual
seat,whichwasmuchbetter
thanmine.
Envy.
11:27
-
I
lied
andtold
someone
that
I
got
an
A
on
a
paper,when
in
actuality,
I
only
got
a
B.
Pride.
11:49
-
I
tookthreefreemoviepasses,although
thesign
said
toonly
takeone.
Covetousness.
Relatively
speaking,
I
am
an
averagepersonwho
commits
anaver-
age
number
of
thedeadly
sinseach
day,
giveortake
a
sin.
I
am
not
par-
ticularlymalicious
in
my
sinning,
but
it
would
be
untrue
tosay
that
they
are
committedfor
righteouspurposes,
either.
I
am
human;
therefore,
I
95
96
Journal
of
Popular
Culture
sin.
A
lot.
As
earlyChristiandoctrinerepeatedlypoints
out,the
seven
deadly
sinsare
so
deeply
rooted
in
our
fallenhumannature,that
not
only
are
they
almost
completelyunavoidable,
but
like
a
proverbial
bag
of
potatochips,
wecan
never
seem
to
limit
ourselves
to
just
one.Withthisideology,
modem
societyagrees.
However,withregard
to
the
individual
andsocial
effects
of
theconsequences
of
thesesins,
we
do
not.
The
deadly
sins
of
sevenwere
identified,revised,
and
revised
again
in
the
heads
and
classrooms
of
reportedlycelibatemonks
as
moral
and
philosophical
lessons
taught
in
an
efforttoarm
menand
women
againstthe
temptations
of
sinand
vice
in
the
battle
fortheir
souls.
These
teach-
ingswere
quicklyreflected
in
the
literature,theater,
art,and
music
of
thattime
and
throughout
thecenturies
tofollow.
Today,
theyremainpop-
ular
motifs
in
those
media,
as
well
as
havingmade
the
naturalprogres-sioninto
film
and
television.
Everyday
and
everyhour,
acts
of
gluttony,
lust,
covetousness,
envy,
pride,wrath,
and
sloth
are
portrayed
ontelevi-
sion.Socialethicshaveshifteddramatically
since
those
earlydays,
as
has
ourregardfor
the
seven
deadly
sins.
With
the
possible
exception
ofour
presidents,
we
no
longerstruggle
to
fight
our
naturaltendency
to
commit
these
sins.
Instead,
we
havechosen
not
onlytoaccept
them,but
also
to
embracethem
and
even
touse
them
to
our
advantage.
The
History
Thesevendeadly
sins
were
firstdiscussed
as
separate
entities
throughout
the
scriptures
of
theBible.
Later,the
sins
weredeveloped
intoself-helpguides
bythe
earlytheologians
and
moralists,
asa
meanstosave
thesouls
of
their
local
rubesfrom
the
decay
of
immorality
andto
teach
them
some
basic
manners.
They
believed
thatthose
whowere
morally
and
ethicallysuperior
(i.e.,
monks)
were
happier
humanbeingsand,generally,
better
company.The
goalwas
to
teachmen
and
women
how
to
controltheirbehavior,
so
that
theirinnervirtuewould
dominatetheirwrongful
tendenciestoward
sex,
wine,
andsong,
thereforeguiding
themtoward
thepath
of
magneticstepford-like
happiness.
Although
thesevendeadly
sins
were
originallyclassified
as
"capital"
in
the
fourth
centuryby
some
lesser
knownmonastics,
itwasthe
finalalterationsmade
intheearlysixthcenturybyGregory
the
Great,
(whowas
so
greatthat
hewas
later
made
a
saint),
that
led
societyto
regardhim
as
thefinal
andtrue
compiler.Gregory
wasalso
notedfor
making
twoimportant
points:
1)
thatpride
is
the
root
of
all
sin;
and
2)
that
there
is
a
distinctionbetween
the
sins
of
the
spirit(pride,
envy,
wrath,sloth,andgreed)andthe
sins
of
theflesh
(lust
and
gluttony).However,
much
tothedismay
of
his
fellowChristians,
St.
Greg
failed
to
include
a
top
ten
list
of
examplesfor
each
or
any
of
theseven
deadly
sins.
The
Evolution
of
the
SevenDeadly
Sins
97
In
the
thirteenth
century,
the
well
known,anally
obsessive
St.
Thomas
Aquinas
devised
the
most
methodical
and
concise
analysis
of
sin,
virtue,
andvice
written(that
did
not,
however,include
the
name
Monica
Lewinsky)
in
his
threevolumeseries,
Summa
Theologiae.
His
teachings
werethen
translated
from
the
abstractness
of
theology
into
a
more
accommodating
languagesuited
to
the
common
man
(much
the
same
servicethat
Reader's
Digest
performstoday).
By
applying
his
teachings
to
everyday
life
situations,Christians
were
taughtpracticalmethodsforovercoming
temptation.
To
further
thecause,theseteach-ingswerethen
enumerated
intoclassic
literature,
so
they
could
be
casu-ally
namedropped
at
all
the
VIP,
socially-elitecocktailparties
of
the
day
(andforcenturies
to
follow).
ThesetitlesincludedDante
Alighieri's
The
Divine
Comedy,
Geoffrey
Chaucer's
Canterbury
Tales,
and
John
Milton's
Paradise
Lost.
In
modem
society,
we
haveaccepted
our
fate
as
sinningmachines.
We
havetakenwhat
the
Christians
regarded
as
vicesthatharmedhuman-
ity
andturnedthem
into
virtues
that
aid
mankind.
We
have
come
to
understand
the
power
thateach
of
thesevicesholds
and
how
it
can
make
us
happier
and
stronger
people.
Advertising
agencies
and
marketing
firmsknowthis
andhavetaken
full
advantage
of
it,
sellingeach
of
the
sevendeadly
sins
in
record
numbers
and
encouraging
us
to
workwith
what
we've
got
(while
still
holdingfocusgroups
onthe
development
ofsins
eight,
nine,andten).
The
Simpsons
Since
it
wascreated
in
the
late
1980s,
The
Simpsons
has
continued
to
parody
all
facets
of
American
culture
with
honesty
andwithhumor.From
our
dailymundaneactivities
tokey
events
in
world
news,
it
mir-
rors
our
society
in
a
dark
and
distorted
light,usuallywith
greatinsight,
and
always
in
jest.
Perhaps
the
mostbrilliant
aspect
of
theshow
isits
uncompromising
boldness
in
addressing
the
various
hypocrisies
of
our
culture
in
a
way
that
no
other
show
has
ever
dared
to
do
before,
includ-
ing
those
of
thesevendeadlysins.And
so
withoutfurther
delay,
I
pre-sent...
The
Seven
Deadly
Sins
Pride
[T]hatfirstarchetype
Of
pride,
and
paragon
of
all
creation
Who,
of
the
light
impatient,
fell
unripe.
-The
Divine
Comedy
46-49,
402
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