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Parent Category: Advanced News Lessons

Category: Culture Lessons

Written by Chris Cotter

The seven deadly sins, according to traditional church doctrine, include pride, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, greed, and sloth. The church holds the belief that all people should strive to live a life free of these sins, and thereby ensure a place in heaven. The original list of deadly sins was put together quite some time ago, in the sixth century to be more exact, which led church officials to consider evils more appropriate to the modern complexities of society. The Vatican has added a number of new sins of which the faithful should be wary.

You shall not pollute the Earth. You shall avoid genetic manipulation. These are but two examples from a longer list of mortal sins which includes drug use and trafficking, and social and economic injustices. These new sins require penance, and serve to distinguish between other sinful behavior which can more easily be forgiven.

The number two man at the Vatican released the information on sins, modern evils, and forgiveness. In particular, he denounced cloning, stem cell research, and similar acts brought about through advances in biology and medicine. Apart from the stance held by the Catholic Church that stem cells represent a destroyed human life, and hence experimentation with is a deadly evil, other areas of biotechnology and genetic manipulation represent largely unforeseeable outcomes and should be avoided.

The environment received near equal mention, as the projected changes in climate signify a gravethreat to the human race. The Vatican has gone green in recent years, and has hosted a scientific conference to discuss the ramifications of global warming.

A number of priests welcomed the new list of sins, as many realize that modernization is required to fit the global world.