Enjoy Your Sins!

"Being a Baptist won't keep you from sinning, but it'll sure as hell keep you from enjoying it."

-- Jimmy Dean

Enjoy your sins! Sounds like some sort of cool pagan bumper sticker. The thing is, sin is in the eye of the beholder. Most people who are doing the act that you, or the Baptists, consider a sin, don't themselves consider the act a sin. Is making sausage a sin? Probably not to Jimmy Dean, but it may be to hardline Vegans. (Is there such thing as a Vegan Baptist?)

So what exactly is a sin? One person's sin may well be another's way of worship. Remember the old joke: "Why don't Baptists approve of premarital sex? They're afraid it will lead to dancing." Ah, but the Whirling Dervishes of the Sufi tradition dance their prayers, spin their way to spiritual ecstasy. It seems obvious that each of us must concoct our own definition of sin.

But what shall we use as guidelines? Two things -- common sense and intuition. Common sense tells us that any act that we perform that deliberately hurts another and/or deprives them of their basic human freedom could be considered a sin. I know this is a really vague category, so let's think of some examples. Murder, rape, kidnapping, physically assaulting someone -- the big heinous crimes are all sins. You get the picture.

Intuition is even trickier because it's so individualized. Perhaps the best I can do is say that in your heart of hearts you truly know whether any act that you undertake is a sin or not. Some would call this "let your conscience be your guide." And while I agree, you've got to make sure that the voice you hear is really your conscience speaking and not the ghostly vestiges of guilt implanted in your brain years ago by parents, teachers, religions, etc.

Want to move beyond Sin 101 to PhD level studies? Then use the strictest of guidelines -- anytime you see anyone else as "other," you have sinned. In other words, the primordial sin is separation. If you fracture, with either your mind or actions, the Unity of the Divine, you have sinned. I know, I know heavy stuff! If we use that as our standard most of us are just walking around sinning damn near non-stop!

But let's head back to breakfast at Jimmy Dean's. As we sit around the table enjoying our sunny side up eggs, waffles and bacon, the question arises, "Is it really a sin if nobody else is hurt?" In other words, is there such a thing as victimless sin? If two unmarried, but mutually consenting, adults decide to follow the lead of the Starland Vocal Band and partake in a little "afternoon delight," is it a sin?

Those are the types of questions and decisions that we're faced with everyday. I'll leave you to decide whether a sextracurricular romp at the No Tell Motel is a sin or not in your mind. All I ask is two small things. If you decide it is a sin, remember your definition applies only to you. As I've said many times before, you only legislate for yourself. Secondly, whether you decide such action is a sin or not, if you go there, enjoy it! The time to repent is later, not in the midst of sinning. Who knows? If you enjoy your sins enough, you may decide they're not really sins after all!