(October 16, 2016 at 11:12 am)mh.brewer Wrote:(October 16, 2016 at 10:26 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: I have committed the sin of dehumanizing people, but not in a sexual sense. I think it's usually men who struggle with that one.
The way I've dehumanized people in my mind is when I've seen someone who is just super weird looking... like, wearing really weird clothes, having a ton of crazy piercings, weird hair colors, super goth types.... rather than just going on about my day and reminding myself that they are people, I kinda laugh in my head about it or think for a little too long about how weird they are. I've viewed them like pawns in a freak show rather than humans and that is wrong of me.
To covet just means to be jealous/envious of what someone else has and dwelling on the wish that you had that thing instead of them. I think we've all done that. I'm sure I have.
That all seems like normal human behavior to me. I find nothing amoral in these thoughts. Just another reason why I don't understand christian sin.
If you tied these thoughts to an action, that would be another story.
Well in Christianity, it isn't just about actions. It's about what type of heart we have. Imagine a person who hates gay people for the mere fact that they are gay. This person likes to fantasize about hurting them and wishes they would all just be executed. While this person is too cowardly or whatever to actually go out and act on his desires by hurting a gay person, does the fact that he feels this way about them play a role in the type of person he is? If the answer is yes, then hopefully you can understand why we believe "thoughts" can be immoral without actions. Because it all comes down to the type of person someone is, at their core.
I also would like to add that I agree, that dehumanizing people sometimes is "normal" human behavior. But the way I see it, just because something is normal behavior, doesn't mean it's moral behavior. Likewise, when someone is in a super bad mood and going through a rough time in life, it's "normal" to lash out at a completely innocent bystander just because they happen to be close to you. But does that make it moral to do so? I would say not.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
-walsh
