Seven Deadly Sillies

"I count religion but a childish toy, and hold there is no sin but ignorance." -  Christopher Marlowe

Without a doubt, for me, the most important news of the day, slipped in amongst whoring politicians, middle east bombings and $109 a barrel oil, was word that the Vatican is updating the Seven Deadly Sins. I am not sure if that means my chronic sloth, greed, and lusting no longer make eternal damnation inevitable for me or that I have an extra baker's half dozen to worry about.

Mind you, when I look at the list, I feel reasonably safe. The digital age 7 biggies are:

1. Polluting ( I consume so little I think I'd be considered a minor transgressor by any heavenly tribunal.)
2. Genetic engineering (Okay, I'll stop my basement hobby cloning.)
3. Being obscenely rich (Hmmm. Unless 'obscenely rich' is defined as having maybe $20 or $30 in your pocket, I'm safe.)
4. Drug dealing (Okay here too. I wonder if wishing I had the nerve to be a drug dealer counts.)
5. Abortion (I won't sweat this one until I grow a uterus.)
6. Pedophilia (Okay here too. I like 'em young but definitely post-pubescent.)
7. Causing social injustice (I'll have to wait until the Pope explains to me exactly what this means.)

One highly amusing thing I saw was a church official explaining that there was a need to update because confessionals are too often sadly empty these days.

These information age river-of-fire-and-feces attractors are all worthy of volumes of comment of course, but I'll leave that to those who care enough. I will mention only one because of the sublime irony in it: Being obscenely rich.

Hilarious. This from the man who oversees an estimated 10-15 billion dollars in assets in banking, insurance, chemicals, steel, construction, and real estate and pays no taxes. This from the guy who, along with his cardinal and archbishop cronies on any given day wears ceremonial clothes and adornments costing more than the annual income of millions of Filipino farmers and fishermen.

I suppose though, being the Pope and all, he shouldn't have too much trouble wrangling some sort of Papal Dispensation.

Obscene?