Seven Deadly Sins - Is America About to Fall?

It is clear that our country is in trouble. You can see it every night on the news. Is it too late? Can it be changed? How many of the deadly sins are we indulging in as a country?

I am not extremely religous in nature. But I do believe in sin. Sin in the sense that we all do things from time to time that we know is wrong but for what ever reason, we do it anyway. Sin is not just the act of doing something wrong. It is knowing something is wrong and still choosing to do it anyway.

As individuals, we all commit sin and in the end, our transgressions will come back to bite us. But as a nation, how many of the deadly sins are we indulging and how close to the bink are we getting?

• Greed - It is pretty clear that the government and big business are deep in bed with this one. Business likes to move jobs out of the country, buy cheap, sell high, squeeze customers at every turn. Government likes to raise taxes, provide less service and line their own pockets. Together, business and government often make back room deals to leverage their power and possition. Deals that make it legal for businesses to do bad things as long as government or at least officials within the government can get a slice of the pie.
• Gluttony - This is often thought of as over eating but really, it is the over indulging in any form to the point of causing problems. As a country, we do tend to be gluttons. We want bigger cars, more fuel than we really need, we do over eat as seen by the growing number of obese people. We often buy things we really don't need and then waste it. Our land fills over flow with the evidence of our gulttony. How many times have you though that it is cheaper to buy a new item than repair the one you have? Gluttony goes hand in hand with greed in many cases.
• Wrath - It is clear from the nightly news that we are a wrathful nation in general. Government likes to wage war on those they feel have done us wrong or might do us wrong. Some of that goes back to greed and gluttony and is vailed as defence of the nation but I don't think anyone really believes those lies but instead uses those lies to make the acts more palatable. As individuals, we are seeing more and more people getting upset and performing acts of violance not just in defence but as a way of getting even or getting back at others. Often the more desterbing acts of wrath end up impacting inocents and then entire communities feel wrathful and wish to strike back. The cycle only escelates at each turn.
• Sloth - As a nation, it seems that we have become lazy. Sure, individuals work hard all the time. But over all, we produce less in this country, we expect to get paid more but we want to do less. We are always looking for that shortcut, the easy way. Sloth combined with greed often leads to serious crimes against others. Business wants to find the cheapest, easiest way to make a buck and workers want to get paid as much as possible for doing as little as possible so jobs get shipped out of the country and companies find ways to cheat their customers. No one wants to do more than they really have to and there is nothing wrong with woring smarter instead of hearder. It becomes a problem when the desire to do less causes us to take shortcuts that cause harm to others along the way.
• Envy - We have all heard the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses" right? The desire to have all the cool toys you see your neighbor having. There is nothing wrong with seeing something that another person has and thinking "I like that and I want one" as long as it isn't taken to the extreme. Work for that nice house, earn that nice car, make your yard look good. But do these things in a posative way. Envy has been taking this country down the path to ruin for a long time. We buy homes we know we can't afford but we can finance it. We max our our credit cards to get the big screen TV we can't pay for now only to find we end up paying a much higher price in interest down the road. We desire instant gratification and want to have all the goodies we see in magazines and on TV right now that we give up our daily happiness and long term security and find ourselves deep in debt. We push on to the point where we can't take it any more and we lose it all in the end. Our envy plays right into the hands of the greedy.
• Lust - This is often thought of as carnal desires but it is much more than that. The original term meant "desire" but not just in a sexual way. Lust is the extreme desire for anything. This could mean sexual things but also money, power, fame, food or just about anything else. Lust for power has caused the government to turn on its own people and create an environment of fear. Lust for money has caused businesses to cheat and destroy the lives of millions of people stealing away their hopes of retirement. Lust for fame has caused people take guns into schools and shopping malls and cause harm to random people or blow up buildings during major events as a way to get attention.
• Pride - Well, we all know about pride. Too proud to ask for help. Too proud to say "I'm sorry". Too proud to stop and say some other country has a better idea so maybe we should change some of our policies and treat our citizens better. Pride isn't bad in itself. It is good to be proud of your children and friends and even yourself when you do something worth noting. But pride to the point of excess as with all the other sins will cause blindness of the world around you.

We are all guilty of these sins from time to time at various degrees. I don't think the average person has much to worry about. It is the collective and cumulative effect of these sins that are leading us as a nation down the path of doom.

I don't know if it is too late to change the path we are on. For my children and grandchildren, I really hope there is still time. I hope that people on mass wake up to the issues going on and can see the root causes. Small changes in the way we live our day to day lives can make a huge impact on the future.

I fear that if we don't change the road we are on soon, our country as we know it won't be around for many more generations and we will end up being just another note in some history book. That country that once was great but fell upon the sord of sin and destroyed itself from with like so many that came before it. That country that once had it all but gave up its future far too soon. That country that started out strong then lost its way when it refused to learn from the mistakes made so many times in the past by so many other great nations.

Is it too late? Lets hope not. What will you do to change things? Where will you start?