Most of us will have heard of the Seven Deadly Sins. They have turned up in literature and film, and will be familiar to many well beyond the Christian tradition. They are all individual vices, but of course not all sin is individual. In the Bible, God’s covenant is made with the chosen people, and their failure is often collective. Sin can be systemic and social, a matter of going wrong together rather than individually.
We weren’t very good at talking about this in the churches I grew up in, not least because personal salvation and our individual walk with God was so strongly emphasized. If we don’t talk about collective wrongdoing, we’re not well equipped to talk about social change. So much of what we want to change at Joy in Enough is systemic and embedded in social and economic structures. They’re not things individuals can fix on their own. So it’s helpful to learn from others who have tried to articulate what a ‘social sin’ might look like.
Building on the idea of 7 Deadly Sins, a number of people have written lists of 7 Social Sins, including this one from Catholic Conscience. They offer an interesting picture of how society can go astray, and therefore what our role might be as we try to articulate something better.
- Politics of fear, hate or exclusion – this would include government that stokes division or tries to drive a wedge between people for electoral gain. It might also involve military or police aggression towards minorities, the silencing of opponents, or the exclusion of certain groups – including future generations.
- Misuse of creation – abuse of the environment and animals. This would include climate change, and also farming systems that degrade the earth and mistreat animals.
- Society without love – politics should never be indifferent to others or treat anyone with contempt – whether that is tribalism, the exclusion of migrants, or prejudice based on age, class, etc.
- Unjust wealth – the sin here includes both making and hoarding unjust wealth, keeping people in poverty, or driving up the gap between rich and poor.
- Business without morality – business shouldn’t exploit workers, which is of course endemic in certain industries currently, such as fashion. Catholic Conscience also suggest the “creation and exploitation of false needs” would also apply, and the “promotion of unsustainable consumption.”
- Science without humanity – the list highlights interference with the natural process of life and death, and things like biological weapons. I wonder if we could also include technologies such as AI that makes people obsolete, or social media that are deliberately designed to be addictive.
- Exploitation of ignorance – deliberate miseducation, “entertainment without conscience”, along with misuse of news and irresponsible journalism.
I don’t think that’s a definitive list, or that attempting a definitive list would be worthwhile. I find it more helpful as a thought exercise – what is social sin? Does the idea of social sin help us to pinpoint failings in society? I think it might. When we see politicians lying, newspapers spreading misinformation, false advertising, ‘fake news’, or political parties exploiting social divisions, we often know that it’s wrong without necessarily having spiritual language to say why and how.
Whether or not it involves lists like this one, or whether or not we want to use the word ‘sin’ exactly, I can’t help thinking we would be better equipped to change the economy if we understood systemic failings better. We might be more able to look beyond individual lifestyle choices and confront the powers that shape them. That’s how we secure real and lasting change – not by accumulating lots of little personal choices, but transforming the systems for everyone.
Joy in Enough 