Christians talk about the horror of sin, but they have overlooked something. They keep talking as if everyone were a great sinner, when the truth is that nowadays one is hardly up to it. There is very little sin in the depths of the malaise. The highest moment of a malaisian's life can be the moment when he manages to sin like a proper human (Look at us, Binx--my vagabond friends as good as cried out to me--we're sinning! We're succeeding! We're human after all!) [citation needed]
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- People today are too apathetic to commit real sin, so they celebrate small transgressions as if they were moral victories.
- In plain terms
- Modern life is so flat that minor bad acts feel like big achievements.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognize when apathy dulls moral seriousness.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is your rebellion meaningful?
- Are you too comfortable?
Another view
This view assumes sin requires high energy which may not be true.
More from Walker Percy
A good rotation. A rotation I define as the experiencing of the new beyond the expectation of the experiencing of the new. [citation needed]
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