I have to admit that today I have been less than productive. I have the day off and I should be doing many other things than sitting here doing nothing, I am not even writing. Instead I have been watching the daily parade of assorted characters appearing on the string of endless talk shows like Jerry, Maury, Steve, Bill and Trisha. And this means I am all worked up and am going on a discourse about what is wrong with out society today.

My first few times I saw any of these shows I would shake my head in disbelief and say these people couldn’t be real, this was certainly not the norm. However, the more I watch the more I realize this is real. These people are really out there, and these are the lives they live. It also becomes clear that this is more of a snapshot of our culture than we would like to admit. I also realized that these shows are the perfect way to teach others about the Seven Deadly Sins.

What are the seven deadly sins? In Christianity, the seven deadly sins are the top sins you can commit and if you do, your chances of going to heaven are greatly reduced. They are like the root sins and all other sins can be grouped into one of these seven categories. In the Christian sense these are all sins against God, but whether you believe in heaven and hell, God or Satan, I think it can be agreed that a “sin” can be a bad thing, usually leading to more bad things.

The characteristics that are considered to be the seven deadly sins can be described this way:

• Pride is the exaggerated opinion of one’s worth in comparison to God and others and a willful oblivion to one’s flaws.
• Envy is the unhealthy longing for the possessions, abilities, or status of another.
• Gluttony is excessive indulgence in the pleasures of food and drink.
• Lust is extreme desire for sexual and sensual gratification.
• Anger is manifested by fits of wrath and rage due to intolerance of others.
• Greed is an insatiable desire to acquire material goods.
• Sloth is an almost pathological laziness which hinders productivity and good health.

Watch any of the above mentioned shows and you will see at least one of the seven deadly sins, if not all seven, portrayed by the guests. Don’t get me wrong, I am not judging these people, after all “Judge, and you will be judged.” But what I can’t help thinking when I watch these shows is this could be the problem with the decline of morality in our society.

How many of our children, when left alone with the television as a babysitter, watch these shows and think this kind of behavior is okay, after all these people are on television, aren’t they?

But the deeper problem is not even the shows themselves other than the fact that they promote this kind of behavior (I am not saying they condone it) is it shows exactly what happens when there is no moral teaching, no moral compass in our world. This is what happens when we get rid of God and let Satan take his place. Can there be no doubt this is the case?

Here is a passage from the Old Testament:

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! – Isaiah 5: 20

Isn’t this what we have done? Look back at the list of the seven deadly sins, look around you and you can find an example of any one of these without much trouble.

Pride, Envy. Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth, they are out there every day and we reward them and call them good. The pro football star who makes millions of dollars is a hero, who care if he beats his kid. We want more and more, bigger and better things, we never have enough, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” We rejoice when a famous TV star has a baby out of wedlock. We can’t wait to see latest perverted act a popular entertainer will perform onstage.

This has become the norm in our society, We have called evil good and good evil. We have allowed Satan to get the upper hand. The question is can we reverse this?