the nature of sin

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

It's not possible to remove the secular context of sin.  Sin is crime.  Over and over and over this legalism is expressed in old and new magic book.  Sin is to transgress against the law, or to miss the mark.  Sin asserts that there is a law to transgress, and a mark to miss.  

John tells us that whoever commits sin transgresses against the law.
In romans we read that the law is holy, that the commandments are holy, righteous, and good.
Duet, Matthew, and John (again) go to great lengths to explain that sin is a violation of the laws of love that god has bestowed upon us so that we might live in peace and harmony with god and with each other - further clarifying the transgression.

John (again, again) tells us that all unrighteousness is sin.  This particular quip is translated so many different ways in various editions that there isn't much bad stuff™ left out of what sin entails.  They're trying to translate the term adikia - the greek goddess of injustice and wrongdoing, taken to mean "actions which cause visible harm to other persons in violation of divine standards".  Magic book goes further, yet - asserting that bad attitudes lead to harmful outcomes and on the basis of this, that thought-crime is also sin.  Jesus Himeslf™ lays this out in explicit detail.

Insomuch as we can crack jokes about sin being a list of things we want to do that we disapprove of in others - it works as a primarily because of that same relationship between law and human compulsion.  The same relationship, in fact, that christians refer to as our fallen nature.  Sin as a product of who and what we are.  Inescapable to us.  We will do harm, we will have bad thoughts, we will transgress, etc etc etc.  These things will cause suffering, and the only way to deal with it is by making restitution or proper supplication.  Pay the court or plead for mercy.

Suppose I carve a graven image, bow down before it, chant to it, and burn incense to honour it. This is a religious sin under the Second Commandment. How it is a crime, or a secular transgression?

Boru