A HARDENED SINNER ADVANCING TO THE UTMOST PITCH OF IMPIETY
A look at the religious and philosophical meanings of sin in the age of narcissism.
A HARDENED SINNER ADVANCING TO THE UTMOST PITCH OF IMPIETY
And I’m a little sheepish to openly discuss the sins of most others.
How can I put down words of such without being the hated hypocrite,
As I have my reservations to delve into this potentially religious realm,
Regardless of my sentiments, truthfulness demands I approach it now,
Damn if this fellow Trump might not be the worst of the so-called sinners,
Every one of his subservient followers might not necessarily disagree,
Now honesty we know that Trump’s give-a-shit behavior is what they like,
Each one marveling of what off-color remark he may next make,
Democracy’s demise is worth it to them for the entertainment value.
So many Christians are so confused about sinning and repentance,
In Donald Trump they don’t give a shit about the future of his soul,
Now they only want him to spew his venom against those they hate,
Now honest questions about right and wrong seem not to deter them,
Each one only wanting the pleasure of some put down from his lips,
Religious devotees they may claim to be, but in their world it’s twisted.
And bearing false witness as a habit seems to be always excused,
Don’t we all know that they care not one bit he is only full of shit,
Visions of him raping a woman in a dressing room disturbs them not,
As they give him a pass on all matters regardless of what they might be,
Now they especially like his crassness; perhaps wishing they too to do,
Constantly calling our southern immigrants vermin; they like that too,
Indeed they seem unperturbed when he throws anyone under the bus,
Now they never contemplate their real value in this obscene game,
Getting tossed under a future bus, they can’t seem to think this through.
Trump is a make-believe repenter of sin when the hands are laid on him,
Oh yes it’s all only a superficial spectacle among the “God-loving” godless.
Trump is only a fake, he puffs out his chest, and says the worst possible,
He is only getting more unhinged by the day; they seem not to notice,
Each one of the seven deadly sins he exemplifies; and they only applaud.
Up on the stage he looks the part of a demented predator spewing venom,
To the observer his obvious psychological disorders can’t be missed,
Maybe his insanity gives his followers a comfort - hard to understand,
Of a question I have, do they understand what a sick puppy they adore,
So down the road a ways will we look back at it all with the disbelief,
Trump has been one long, bad acid-trip for those with any sanity.
Perhaps I’m wrong to express all my vitriolic judgment of this dude,
Indeed he has been but America’s hemorrhoid for years - too many,
Trump might have fucked up some of our children’s heads possibly,
Certainly we have seen about all the gutter dwellers possible with him,
Having Trump’s mug beside the word sin is what we should eventually see.
Of those who have supported him from day one, one can only accept it,
For one can only question their actual sanity most unfortunately.
In forgiveness we will have to have when he is finally, completely gone,
Maybe it might be hard after having them shit all over our democracy,
People aren’t perfect of course, and frankly I think therapy is in order,
If they could only get a better handle upon what sin actually is,
Each of them now haven’t a clue, and doubtfully they’ll ever question it,
Trump is a walking, talking, vomiting demon spewing all his sin widely,
Yes, I’ve concluded this verse, and I think it has only upset my peace.
“A sturdy, hardened sinner shall advance to the utmost pitch of impiety, with less reluctance than he took the first step while his conscience was yet vigilant and tender.”
- Atterbury.
Francis Atterbury (6 March 1663 – 22 February 1732) was an English man of letters, politician and bishop. A High Church Tory and Jacobite, he gained patronage under Queen Anne, but was mistrusted by the Hanoverian Whig ministries, and banished for communicating with the Old Pretender in the Atterbury Plot. He was a noted wit and a gifted preacher. In 1710, the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell produced a formidable explosion of High Church fanaticism. At such a moment Atterbury could not fail to be conspicuous. His inordinate zeal for the body to which he belonged and his rare talents for agitation and for controversy were again displayed.
“Never let any man imagine that he can pursue a good end by evil means, without sinning against his own soul! Any other issue is doubtful; the evil effect on himself is certain.”
- Southey.
Robert Southey (12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a radical but became steadily more conservative as he gained respect for Britain and its institutions. Other romantics such as Byron accused him of siding with the establishment for money and status. He is remembered especially for the poem "After Blenheim" and the original version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears".
“Sin first is pleasing, then it grows It should console us for the fact easy, then delightful, then frequent, that sin has not totally disappeared then habitual, then confirmed; then from the world, that the saints are the man is impenitent, then he is obstinate, then he is resolved never to be repented and then he is ruined.”
- Leighton.
Robert Leighton (1611 – 25 June 1684) was a Scottish prelate and scholar, best known as a church minister, Bishop of Dunblane, Archbishop of Glasgow, and Principal of the University of Edinburgh from 1653 to 1662. He was "noted for his Christian piety, his humility and gentleness, and his devotion to his calling". Although an ordained Presbyterian minister, in 1661 Leighton allowed himself to be appointed Bishop by King Charles II. Aware that he might be accused of seeking self-aggrandisement, he requested the post in Dunblane, the smallest and poorest see in the country.
There seem to be many thoughts on sin over time. I’ve included a few perspectives from the past that I thought might be interesting.
“If ye do well, to your own behoof will ye do it; and if ye do evil, against yourselves will ye do it.”
- Koran.
Muslims believe that the Quran was orally revealed by God to the final Islamic prophet Muhammad through the archangel Gabriel incrementally over a period of some 23 years, beginning on the Night of Power, when Muhammad was 40, and concluding in 632, the year of his death at age 61–62. Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib (c. 570 – 8 June 632 CE) is believed to be the Seal of the Prophets in all of the main branches of Islam. Muslims believe that the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, was revealed to Muhammad by God, and that Muhammad was sent to restore Islam, which they believe did not originate with Muhammad but is the true unaltered original monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. The religious, social, and political tenets that Muhammad established with the Quran became the foundation of Islam and the Muslim world.
“As sins proceed they ever multiply, and like figures in arithmetic, the last stands for more than all that went before it.”
- Sir Thomas Browne.
Sir Thomas Browne (19 October 1605 – 19 October 1682) was an English polymath and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including science and medicine, religion and the esoteric. His writings display a deep curiosity towards the natural world, influenced by the Scientific Revolution of Baconian enquiry and are permeated by references to Classical and Biblical sources as well as the idiosyncrasies of his own personality. Although often described as suffused with melancholia, Browne's writings are also characterised by wit and subtle humour, while his literary style is varied, according to genre, resulting in a rich, unique prose which ranges from rough notebook observations to polished Baroque eloquence.
“Every single gross act of sin is much the same thing to the conscience that a great blow or fall is to the head; it stuns and bereaves it of all use of its senses for a time.”
- South.
Robert South (4 September 1634 – 8 July 1716) was an English churchman who was known for his combative preaching and his Latin poetry. A zealous advocate of the doctrine of passive obedience, he strongly opposed the Toleration Act, declaiming in unmeasured terms against the various Nonconformist sects. The Toleration Act allowed for freedom of worship to nonconformists who had pledged to the oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and rejected transubstantiation.
“The greatest penalty of evil-doing men, and, growing like them, to fly from the conversation of the good, and be cut off from them, and cleave to and follow after the company of the bad.”
— Plato.
Plato (born Aristocles; c. 427 – 348 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms. He raised problems for what became all the major areas of both theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy, and was the founder of the Platonic Academy, a philosophical school in Athens where Plato taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism.
The following is a part of research in the general subject at hand. It seems that the deadly sins correlate with narcissism. Trump is definitely more of an overt narcissistic. I have personally had my experiences with a covert narcissist so I found this interesting. The images included show the questions asked and in image of the results. I included information on the correlation factor and p factor which I recommend reading if you decide to spend time on studying the results of the study.
Why Sin?—A Test and an Exploration of the Social and Psychological Context of Resentment and Desire
Published: 18 August 2007
Rein Nauta & Leon Derckx
The tragedy of narcissism is the more evident when its relation with sin is considered. In several publications by Donald Capps and Capps and Cole it is argued that there is a rather strong connection between this narcissistic condition and the prominence of particular deadly sins, which can be considered as narcissism-prone, namely envy and pride. Capps suggested that the deadly sins function as an early warning system against a life lost in disharmony, hopelessness and inner conflict. The deadly sins are the subtle expression of the narcissistic woundedness of even superficially well-adjusted, God-fearing citizens, regularly attending church. Researching the relevance of sin in modern society, he asked a group of ordinary parishioners which of the eight deadly sins, presented as different attitudes about life, they considered to be the worst and which of those attitudes they most closely identified with (“this, unfortunately, describes me all too well”, “this is the attitude that I have most strongly struggled to overcome”). The worst sins were considered to be melancholy (hopelessness) and lust, the most personal sins however were pride and envy. This result was many times reproduced with different classes of theology students at Tilburg University, The Netherlands. Capps interpreted the results as indicative of a lack of support and recognition, as a loss of affirmation and mirroring, as suggesting a kind of craving, covert, narcissism. Those who considered pride to be their worst personal sin were looking for recognition they did not receive. Those who identified with envy as their most personal sin were jealous of others less deserving, who got the praise and adulation they needed themselves. Although they considered their “mirror-hunger” inappropriate, at the same time they acclaimed their right for recognition. The central role of pride and envy is, however, dramatic evidence that those who participated in the research, ordinary church members, are mirror hungry people who thirst for self-objects whose confirming and admiring responses will nourish their famished self. Acknowledging their sinfulness may also act as a reflective defense against the threat of melancholia, the individual’s utter devastation when losing any hope for a better life. The sins with which both men and women struggle are not the sins that they, on objective grounds, consider the worst or most deadly. The central role of pride and envy is, however, dramatic evidence that those who participated in the research, ordinary church members, are mirror hungry people who thirst for self-objects whose confirming and admiring responses will nourish their famished self. Furthermore, they believe that they should learn to cope with and possibly overcome their hunger for admiration and their envy of others who receive such adulation. They do not feel good about their emotional neediness, and are a little ashamed that they have these needs and seem unable to satisfy these hungers in a permanent or lasting way. In particular the covert type of narcissism is reflected in the favorite deadly sins of these ordinary people. More than just an expression of what is forbidden and should not be done, their sins reveal the vulnerability of living in a culture that threatens human existence. Real sins are disorienting, fake solutions in a situation in which the person has too few capacities and capabilities to keep going in the face of a menacing, overwhelmingly powerful reality. Sins are in fact the tragic, doomed-to-fail attempts to maintain one’s self-esteem in a life that expresses the need for redemption in its sinfulness. Our research, the results of which we are about to present, aimed to find a more empirical base for the relation between sin and narcissism, so eloquently argued by Donald Capps.
The research on deadly sins, which Capps used to illustrate his argument for the depleted self, asked the respondents first to indicate which of the deadly sins, represented as attitudes, they considered the worst (i.e., the most destructive or damaging). Next they were asked to circle the one attitude with which they, personally, most closely identified (‘The attitude about which you would say: This unfortunately, describes me all to well,’ or ‘This is the attitude that I have especially struggled to overcome’). In representing the eight deadly sins a single description for each was used. After consulting with seminary students and a group of laity in a congregation in Philadelphia a definite list of eight descriptions resulted. However, the relation with narcissism remained in those research projects more or less a matter of conviction by argument. It is the purpose of this paper to report an extension of that research, incorporating measures of psychological well-being and narcissism and to use more behaviorally oriented measures of the deadly sins.
The results of the study for your interest, if you should wish to look over them. Most make very intuitive sense, with not many surprises. My appreciation for statistics is quite high, perhaps with you as well.
Using the questions apparently asked in the study I tried to anticipate what an “honest” Trump might answer. I had many questions in which I had too much of a question to answer with any certainty. Those who know him up close might be better to answer. In any case it was only a thought experiment of limited value most likely. It was entertaining to do nonetheless.
My finishing verse.
Sin and Oddball Show Biz
Do these white Christians really worry about sin,
As in Trump they see human perfection true,
It bewilders us so - we haven’t a clue,
Perhaps in Trump they can imagine a win,
And that is all that matters to save their skin,
Cultists sticking to their grand sinner like glue,
With the observer pondering what to do,
We expect coming violence - once again.
Narcissism spitting out such sinful trash,
Entertaining it inexplicably is,
Seems we don’t understand this oddball show biz,
Democracy and this Trump can only clash,
All these deadly sins deluge us every day,
Trump is a major factor - we are this way.
That’s pretty much the damage I can do today. I would be happy if you gained something from your reading. If it can stimulate only a little thought it was worth the effort. I do believe there was a time in my life when sin did get the best of me. I could clearly identify with most quotes on the subject. I tried to stay away from theology as much as I could, but certainly touched upon it a time or two. It has been my observation that the more committed one might be in any religious dogma the less flexible their mind might be in taking in new thoughts. I try to make an effort to stay flexible in such matters as we really don’t know.
189th Posting, April 10, 2024.