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11:13:00 AM EST
Hearing Shallow Bay -- Breaking Benjamin
Gluttony, The Flabbiest of Sins
Just in time for Thanksgiving, the Boston Globe has an amusing essay on gluttony, which is one of the seven deadly sins, along with -- come on now, you should know these -- pride, anger, lust, vanity, envy and (my personal bugaboo, considering I go entire days in my pajamas) sloth. It notes the deadly sin nature of gluttony and and the fact that 60% of adults in the US -- a very religious country -- are overweight. You can of course speculate on the implications from there.
Americans are fat, sure, but I don't think they quite fit the definition of gluttons. Gluttony requires a pathological attachment to the sensual quality of consumption and digestion. Given the preponderance of fast food joints in our great land, the sensual aspect of food isn't really high on the minds of most Americans. Snorkeling mechanically through a mega-sized bacon cheezburger and curley fries with a 96-ounce Tub O' Pop as you transport yourself in your vehicle from one place to another isn't gluttony, it's just sad and ill-advised.
Likewise, a feast of the sort that accompanies the holiday of Thanksgiving doesn't meet the standard for gluttony either, since, among other things, it's designed to celebrate and give thanks for the good thing in our lives which we worked hard to secure in the previous year, the emphasis being on the phrase "we worked hard." A true glutton wouldn't feel the need to excuse his feasting, or if he did, it wouldn't need to be significant: It's 11:12 am? That calls for a feast! Gluttony is an end to itself, and considering what gluttony will eventually do to you, that's a fact that works on more than one level.
So go ahead and eat your huge fast food and Thanksgiving dinners. It's not gluttony. You still might think about taking a walk afterwards, though. You know. Couldn't hurt.
Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry |
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11/24/03 5:07 PM