Psychology/Mental Health
The Most Dangerous of Dante’s Seven Deadly Sins
It’s More Common Than You Think
As a therapist, I’m often asked what the most common sin I see in my sessions out of Dante’s seven deadly sins. To be fair, I see all the sins in various ways and that is not a negative judgment. Additionally, I’m not Christian but if I were, I would say I have my own sins to focus on as well. We all do if we’re honest.
If you look at Dante’s seven sins, pride, anger, envy, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust, I would have to say the one that is most prevalent and even most dangerous is the one that may seem to be the least striking. It is the one we have all experienced at some point in our lives. It is the main influence in many people’s lives.
The sin I’m talking about is pride. As stated in the Bible, “Pride cometh before a fall.” I believe this and have seen it in action so many times. I’ve even experienced it. Wish I could say I haven’t, but I have and I’m sure all of you have as well.
But why is it the most dangerous of all the deadly sins? If you’re looking at the seven deadly sins the ones that would most likely lead to a quicker death, in my opinion, would probably be anger and lust. Why aren’t they the most dangerous sins if they could potentially get you killed quicker?
It’s because pride is not only its own sin but is in each of the other sins as well. Pride could be the umbrella name of the other six sins. Without pride, those sins just wouldn’t exist. Think about it.
Anger is just a mask for pain and hurt. Our pride is hurt mostly. We can get angry because things don’t go the way we want them to but it’s our pride that makes us entitled to feel things ‘should’ go our way. Consider the expression, “We make plans and God laughs.” If you can’t put your pride away, then you’ll have a tough time adjusting to things you can’t control.
Envy is ALL about pride. We are jealous that we don’t have what someone else has and probably deserves. We can’t be happy for them because they outshine us with their new success or new toys. The sin of envy is a narcissist’s propeller.
Sloth. How can pride encompass sloth? These are people who don’t want to put in the work. How can you be proud of that? Have you ever tried to get a less-than-energetic person to help you with a project or do some housework?
Have you ever heard “They’re always trying to tell me what to do and control me?” from someone who usually does nothing? The desire to see the issue as control and not as a means of productivity and good deeds is pride.
Greed. I don’t have to explain how greed is a form of pride. The 1% won’t admit they display that sin, but we know who pays most of the taxes in this country. (hint: it’s not them).
Gluttony. The act of indulging in more than is necessary or appropriate, often to the point of waste. When my mother first came to this country from Viet-Nam, she couldn’t believe how much food went down the drain or in the garbage cans. Most refugees are floored by the amount of waste we create from food in this country.
Have you ever heard of the “Fleur Burger” in Las Vegas? It will cost you $5000 to try and I’m sure that’s not the most expensive thing you can find in terms of food. I’ve heard non-wealthy people say they would never spend their money like that if they became wealthy. The truth is, how do you know? Pride is a hell of a thing.
Lust. Lust is not having a crush or finding someone attractive. It is a deep desire and taking action to have some semblance of that person. To a certain point, it’s sociopathic. When we can’t have that person, we are crushed and our pride is hurt. We thought we could make them be with us but can’t if they don’t want to.
Now that you understand that pride rears its ugly head in all the other six deadly sins, let me tell you what else makes pride so dangerous: Pride will destroy humankind. It will wipe out the human race and we will cease to exist.
It’s our duty to work with one another on this planet and collaborate to have the best lives possible, and to learn the best ways of doing things. But people and countries can’t get along. We can’t learn from each other, and we can’t collaborate due to pride.
Colonization is the most perfect example of racist pride that I’ve ever learned. It still happens today. People think they need to go to remote areas of the world and ‘save’ the indigenous populations. Why? We need to meet them to learn from them and share things without forcing them to be like us.
How many people are going to try and get on the North Sentinel Island before they understand the Sentinelese tribe is going to kill them? How much pride does it take to think you’ll be the one person who will get to meet them for some reason? That’s prideful, irrational thinking.
Cultural appropriation is another form of pride and racism that has been going on since the dawn of time. The Euro-American culture dominates the behavior. I remember watching my mother brush her teeth with baking soda and toothpaste when I was very young. This was in the 70s before there was baking soda toothpaste. She told me they did this in many Asian countries.
All of a sudden, in the late '80s to early '90s, baking soda toothpaste was a ‘thing.’ Not one ad. Not one mention of learning from other people and countries. No no. OUR scientists discovered it. Nonsense.
Cultural appropriation occurred even before rock and roll was created from stolen black songs and continues to exist in all facets of our lives today. Many of the foods discovered for our health were discovered by watching various cultures practice or use those items. Rarely, do we learn about those cultures because that would give them credit, and who wants to do that?
Our population numbers are decreasing. We are raising a country of very strong women who don’t want the nuclear family life and want to have careers rather than being homemakers. They are currently outpacing men in graduation rates from college. The social climate is changing remarkably. I say more power to them.
Many of them and the women they’ve indoctrinated are freaking out and trying to get women to get back in the kitchen. They are screaming about not being able to keep up with production one day and blaming it on the women not having babies and choosing to have a career. They think it’s always the woman’s fault.
Instead of putting down their pride and collaborating with women, they insist on staying their course and trying to make women stay in a role because this role keeps men in power, and they get to show how they’re right. The truth is, that there are many ways of dealing with population reduction, but men don’t want to hear it. So instead of trying to find a solution, they hold on to their pride and stay the course.
One could say, “Well, aren’t women being prideful by not going back to the kitchen and helping with the population?” No. We never had the power so there’s nothing to be prideful about. Anytime freedom and choice are taken away, resistance is inevitable. Not because people are proud. Simply because they want and deserve the same rights and choices.
One way to combat the population reduction and need for more workers? Refugees and immigrants. We can give them positive guidance and education and they’ll fill jobs. I understand that racist, bigoted people think the worst of refugees and immigrants but what is the goal here? Is population reduction really the issue, or is it that we want a white nation, so that’s why women need to return to the kitchen?
That is only one little example of how pride will start destroying the human race if we don’t get together and start collaborating. I have seen pride destroy marriages and relationships in sessions. I see employees backstab each other and agencies go toe to toe to bring each other down.
Fortunately, I’ve also seen the opposite. And when THAT happens, it's a beautiful thing. Sharing, collaborating, and aiding everyone to achieve their goals for the good of the people is what I continually strive towards. I’m not scared that someone might make more money than me. Rather, I’m scared there aren’t enough professionals to help everyone in need.
I beg everyone to be aware of their pride. I’m not saying we can’t be proud of our achievements or someone else’s great accomplishments. But when our pride prevents us from achieving a goal or makes us think negative thoughts about others, we just give in to the most prevalent and dangerous of the seven deadly sins.
Namaste