Avarice, Greed, Envy, Coveting, Vainglory....

WCGreen

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Fri Mar-26-10 12:45 PM
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Avarice, Greed, Envy, Coveting, Vainglory....

All biblical in nature, all human traits questioned in the bible and by virtually every spiritual doctrine of the major religions of the world.

And yet, the whole concept of our consumer driven economies rely heavily on these dangerous traditions in order to function, in order to thrive.

This is the mark of Capitalism.

This is the legacy of the US market system.

And yet we are often considered the most religious country in the Western World.

How can this be?

First and foremost, many Americans often and willingly mistake religious fervor for spirituality. The more garish and visible the display of religion, the props, the preaching , the proselytizing gives the least spiritual among us the aura of spirituality. The nasty little secret of this form of religion is that many are willing to envy the vainglorious self anointed ego driven religious leaders.

Who hasn't known people who fall under the spell of covetous followers hoping to capture the spiritual glow of a so-called called upon religious leaders.

The idea of having one announce that they have been given the call is vainglory in and of itself.

The idea that your mission in life is to accumulate converts is greed based. Being driven by spiritual greed is the same as hoarding money.

And speaking of hoarding money, wanting more more more, how can this be seen as not a vice but an admirable trait.

If we were truly spiritual we would not be running around this country worried about having the best car, the most glorious cut of fabric to strut about in or just to be driven 167 of the 168 hours in a week by greed and envy.

And this idea of having a personal relationship with Jesus is just another way of appealing to the ego of the masses who can then tell everyone and anyone about that personal relationship with the western world's godhead. This idea of asking what would Jesus do is just a way to cover the non-spiritual behavior of this country.

I remember getting all gussied up to go to church. I was taught to believe this was out of respect for the church, to match the glory of the sparkling and bejeweled priest running the show of shows up there on the alter. It only took me until the fifth grade to figure out that dressing up for church was really a peacock strut to show how successful you were.

Why am I all incensed today?

I don't really know except that I have been giving much thought lately to the future of our country, the viability of our economy and, perhaps most important, my own recent experience that drove home my mortality like a sledge hammer.

I guess I am a little vainglorious to think I have something of value to offer. I also understand that I am coveting your acceptance while greedily look at the view count with envy so avarice fits into all of this thread.

But I do not profess myself to be a spiritual person.

I think that because we are made to desire a spiritual life we are almost driven toward a deadly, dangerous duality where we are motivated by envy and all the rest and then are made to believe we need salvation from this dichotomy. You can't truly understand or appreciate the Western version of a spiritual life without succumbing and embracing the most deadliest sin of all; that we are made in the image of our god.

Freud got it wrong. It wasn't sex that drove our neurosis but religion.