Seven Sins: Gluttony (or waste or overindulgence)
"Gluttony is the source of all our infirmities, and the fountain of all our diseases. As a lamp is choked by a superabundance of oil, a fire extinguished by excess of fuel, so is the natural health of the body destroyed by intemperate diet."
--Robert Burton (1576-1640)
Gluttony, like all of the cardinal sins, has many different finely graduated definitions, most of which seem calculated to emphasize or absolve particular elements. I'm going to define Gluttony as "an excessive desire to indulge or consume, when it is not reasonable or necessary."
Gluttony is most often connected with food in modern society. Strictly speaking, we need only a little food to survive. Having choice in diet is something that's relatively recent in our evolution. We spent the majority of our species-life eating whatever plants and animals came to hand.
Now we have a great variety of what to eat. If I wanted to, I could go to the grocery tomorrow and purchase at least 10 kinds of fish that certainly aren't found in any of greater Kansas City rivers. I can purchase spices that originated in far off countries. I can buy cheese shipped from France. In the confines of my small kitchen, I can summon the culinary flavor of any of a dozen different cultures with just the contents of a normal grocery.
I could bake 10 dishes in a day from all these different places, but that still wouldn't be gluttony. As with every sin, it's the intent that matters. If I had one specific item and consumed it with abandon, knowingly going beyond (or in defiance against) my hunger, that would be gluttony. It doesn't even need to be a single item. If I ate and ate to the exclusion of all other hobbies and activities, that would be gluttony.
Gluttony doesn't just mean placing food in your mouth, though. Waste is a card from the same deck. Almost everyone I know seems to feel some acknowledgment whenever they throw away food. If it's moldy or rancid, that's one thing. But throwing it out when it's still good usually provokes a frown or statement of regret.
Even something as basic as wasting water is a form of gluttony. How many people leave the water running while they brush their teeth? Good clean water, necessary for survival runs down the drain and into the sewers, where it needs to be cleaned and treated again.
In most cases, leaving the tap on while brushing isn't gluttony, it's simply ignorance. Ignorance, by the way, isn't a sin. Ignorance of how much water actually gets wasted, in this case. If you mention it to people, they usually take it on themselves to STOP having the water run, because they agree it's a good idea. Again, intent.
Drugs and alcohol abuse counts as gluttony. Even hunting for sport, if applied liberally enough. Most people don't hunt in anger, they're simply looking for the chase and the kill.
The first three sins (Lust, Gluttony, and Greed) are all sins of immoderate desire, in one way or another. Gluttony is the desire for consumption. It's different than Greed, which is the desire for control and acquisition. And it's different than Lust, which is the desire for gratification. These desires are all about "bringing toward" the person. They all fundamentally embody the transfer away from Other towards Self.
Being fat does not produce a diagnosis of Gluttony. There are ways to be fat without indulging in immoderation, just as there are ways of being skinny and being gluttonous. Who is the person behind the consumption? What is the reason? What is the intent?
In these days of record overeating in our society, not everyone is guilty of Gluttony. A person who comes home and eats a lemon meringue pie in a sitting is a glutton. A person who eats all three meals at the next-door McDonald's because of working a 16-hour day on a legal brief is not a glutton, even though they may end up gaining just as much weight as (if not more than) the pie-eater.
I'm sure at some level, the desire for consumption is a parody of the desire for life. Consuming food and liquids is, after all, what keeps us alive. It is necessary, in the basest sense. Animals will overeat when again given food after being exposed to starvation conditions for too long. It is a life-affirming overconsumption; our bodies attempting to make up for lost time. But when we are close to balance and willfully persist in continual consumption in spite of our own sense of satisfaction, that's Gluttony.
--Robert Burton (1576-1640)
Gluttony, like all of the cardinal sins, has many different finely graduated definitions, most of which seem calculated to emphasize or absolve particular elements. I'm going to define Gluttony as "an excessive desire to indulge or consume, when it is not reasonable or necessary."
Gluttony is most often connected with food in modern society. Strictly speaking, we need only a little food to survive. Having choice in diet is something that's relatively recent in our evolution. We spent the majority of our species-life eating whatever plants and animals came to hand.
Now we have a great variety of what to eat. If I wanted to, I could go to the grocery tomorrow and purchase at least 10 kinds of fish that certainly aren't found in any of greater Kansas City rivers. I can purchase spices that originated in far off countries. I can buy cheese shipped from France. In the confines of my small kitchen, I can summon the culinary flavor of any of a dozen different cultures with just the contents of a normal grocery.
I could bake 10 dishes in a day from all these different places, but that still wouldn't be gluttony. As with every sin, it's the intent that matters. If I had one specific item and consumed it with abandon, knowingly going beyond (or in defiance against) my hunger, that would be gluttony. It doesn't even need to be a single item. If I ate and ate to the exclusion of all other hobbies and activities, that would be gluttony.
Gluttony doesn't just mean placing food in your mouth, though. Waste is a card from the same deck. Almost everyone I know seems to feel some acknowledgment whenever they throw away food. If it's moldy or rancid, that's one thing. But throwing it out when it's still good usually provokes a frown or statement of regret.
Even something as basic as wasting water is a form of gluttony. How many people leave the water running while they brush their teeth? Good clean water, necessary for survival runs down the drain and into the sewers, where it needs to be cleaned and treated again.
In most cases, leaving the tap on while brushing isn't gluttony, it's simply ignorance. Ignorance, by the way, isn't a sin. Ignorance of how much water actually gets wasted, in this case. If you mention it to people, they usually take it on themselves to STOP having the water run, because they agree it's a good idea. Again, intent.
Drugs and alcohol abuse counts as gluttony. Even hunting for sport, if applied liberally enough. Most people don't hunt in anger, they're simply looking for the chase and the kill.
The first three sins (Lust, Gluttony, and Greed) are all sins of immoderate desire, in one way or another. Gluttony is the desire for consumption. It's different than Greed, which is the desire for control and acquisition. And it's different than Lust, which is the desire for gratification. These desires are all about "bringing toward" the person. They all fundamentally embody the transfer away from Other towards Self.
Being fat does not produce a diagnosis of Gluttony. There are ways to be fat without indulging in immoderation, just as there are ways of being skinny and being gluttonous. Who is the person behind the consumption? What is the reason? What is the intent?
In these days of record overeating in our society, not everyone is guilty of Gluttony. A person who comes home and eats a lemon meringue pie in a sitting is a glutton. A person who eats all three meals at the next-door McDonald's because of working a 16-hour day on a legal brief is not a glutton, even though they may end up gaining just as much weight as (if not more than) the pie-eater.
I'm sure at some level, the desire for consumption is a parody of the desire for life. Consuming food and liquids is, after all, what keeps us alive. It is necessary, in the basest sense. Animals will overeat when again given food after being exposed to starvation conditions for too long. It is a life-affirming overconsumption; our bodies attempting to make up for lost time. But when we are close to balance and willfully persist in continual consumption in spite of our own sense of satisfaction, that's Gluttony.
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