Catullus

I was thinking about this, and I'm not sure it's as clear-cut as it seems. I think it takes more effort and force of will to be a sinner.

Obviously, you'd think a 'sinner' would just give in to temptation and that would be that, while a Christian would have to work to keep himself/herself pure. But is it so?

Think of the hard-paryting type of sinner. Having been to that scene, i can tell you, it's not easy. it requires quick thinking, physical stamina, and the ability to go without much sleep.

Is it easier or harder to have pre-marital sex? i should say harder; you have a great deal more to worry about, in terms of emotional attachment and anxiety.

As for homosexuals, i can't speak about actually being one, but it doesn't seem like a picnic, given the societal stigmas and pressures they deal with.

In comparison, a christian need only go to church, pray regularly, and deal with sex inside of marriage.

This is not to say one is worse than the other; most 'sinners' would tell you the rewards outweigh the effort.

Obviously I've greatly simplified things, but I think the main premise is still valid.

Never

It seems to me that a discussion about sinners implies a framework of religion (or you have no such thing as sin), therefore I'm moving this thread to General Religious discussion.

Catullus

I should clarify that I mean 'sin' as it is commonly understood by the three major monotheisms.

Ojuice5001

It seems clear that sinful and low-sin lifestyles both come in easy and difficult varieties. And some low-sin lifestyles are easier than some sinful lifestyles. Your example does prove this.

On the other hand, it seems likely that the easiest lifestyles of all involve enough shirking of duty to commit the sin of sloth, and quite a bit of it. It does depend on what you find easy, but most of them would. Meanwhile, many of the hardest lifestyles of all are religiously suspect, like the professions of soldier or workaholic banker.

What about the saints? They do avoid some of the stresses that other people are subject to; nevertheless, they're not known for having easy lives. Whether they do have easy lives depends on your point of view, but if most Catholics found the life of a saint easy, then more of them would probably be saints.

johntheapostate

I dont know what you mean by sinner. Do you believe that non believers are all hopeless sinners while christians by virtue of there belief are all saints I think that the statistics show that as a percentage of the population atheists are underrepresented in the inmate population. I also read somewhere that huminists have a higher success rate than christians when it comes to marriage. I guess it is harder for the non believers, since they have to come to a worldview using there cognetive ability rather than simply accepting one on faith.

newtype_alpha

According to the three Abrahamic religions, just looking at a pretty woman makes you a sinner :huh:

I guess if you want to talk about the real hardcore sleep-with-your-mother-and-then-stab-her-in-the-face type sinners, that would take a bit more effort, but more than that it really depends on the person. Some people find it natural to be bad, others to be good, and some just feel a compulsion towards one or the other for whatever reason.

On that note, I just have to ask, why are Catholic girls so much easier than atheist girls?

Catullus

I put 'sinners' in quotes to avoid giving that impression.

I meant to ask if a life of sex, carousing, etc. was really as 'easy' as simply livng in to temptation.

I'm an agnostic myself, you know.

johntheapostate

It was difficult for me to be a Christian. But not becouse I was always fighting some sinfull inclinations, but rather the logical part of my brain was always in conflict with my faith. Even as a child I could not reconcile a loving god with the concept of eternal damnation. I also lived in constant fear of hell becouse of the doubts that I had. Finally in my late twenties I decided that I had to study the scriptures for myself. I gave myself two rules 1 I was going to disassociat the fear of hell (as much as it was possible) from my study 2 I was not going to make excuses for the inconsistantcies in the bible.(the appologetic technique of insisting that any solution no matter how improbable autimatically dismisses any biblical contradiction) It took several years but I gradually began to acknowledge that the bible certainly was not the word of god as I had been taught. As a christian that had believed that the bible was the inerrant word of god, the new disbelief left little room for compromise with christianity. The relief that I felt in finally unburdening myself from all the negitive associations that I had with christianity was euphoric. As I had never entertained the thought of any other gods existing, the rejection of the one god concept I had believed left me for all intent and purpose an atheist.