Gluttony in the USA

[jason197754]

Hello everyone. I was wondering why do you think the sin of Gluttony/overeating is so widespread and prevelant today in our culture and in our society??? I mean about 60% of the USA is overweight. I mean all the fast food, Starbucks and stuff like that…

Why is our culture/society idolatrzing food/eating? Are people trying to stuff their feelings or what???

What do you all think?

Thanks…

Jason

 

[puzzleannie]

Hello everyone. I was wondering why do you think the sin of Gluttony/overeating is so widespread and prevelant today in our culture and in our society??? I mean about 60% of the USA is overweight. I mean all the fast food, Starbucks and stuff like that…

I think overeating and gluttony are not the same thing
I think there are many causes of overweight besides overeating
I think not all fast food or not everything sold by Starbucks contributes to obesity, nor is consuming food from such places classed as gluttony.
It may be fair to say there could be a correlation but if this turns into another “fat people are guilty of the sin of gluttony” thread I think you are going to get an earful and I for one will try to get the thread closed as soon as possible if it heads in that direction.

 

[shelby2014]

It is not just food. think about all the sexual immorality. Peole in debt because they overspend. There is no impulse control in our society.

On the other hand, I see commercial after commercial for anti-depressants. It could be related.

We are over-worked, under-exercised, under-socialized, and most importantly, losing our collective faith. Why wouldn’t we turn to food for happines?

One more thing - when I work long or travel we eat out a lot, and that is not healthy. So you have that segment of the population gaining weight. Then junk food is cheaper than healthy food, so anyone trying to save money or unable to afford fresh food is going to eat cheap junk.

 

[littleladysadie]

As was mentioned before, these actions that you describe are not gluttony. Gluttony is not eating more than the recommended diet, gluttony is eating grossly excessively beyond personal need and comfort.

In the USA today most (not including the impoverished) people can afford to feed themselves and have easy access to fast food and supermarkets that will provide food on demand. Children are raised eating this stuff that isn’t good for them, and companies continue to produce it because it brings in money. As a result it is very, very easy… and far from sinful… to develop harmful eating habits and a lack of self control. I consider myself to be pretty in line with the faith in what I do… that doesn’t mean I can turn down a piece of cake or that I won’t grow fat on soda pop.

Now, as Catholics and Christians, we know that we do not live on bread alone. We do not believe in this theory of living life fully, and getting all you can get. Therefore we fast, we restrict our eating habits, and do not allow ourselves to become overindulged or over dependent on our bodily wants. If you are not raised with the understanding that we are destined for heaven, then this is a difficult concept to grasp. Why not eat? Why not overindulge our other desires? Why not concentrate on being the fashion models with the excellent personalities that everyone likes? If we were only meant for this short life, these would seem perfectly alright. But we are not, we are made in the image and likeness of God and we are all destined for sainthood, if only we will foster goodness in ourselves and in our lives. The lack of God in our lives results in many evils, and one of these is slavery to our wants.

Sadie
seekingavocation.blogspot.com/

 

[WetCatechumen]

Our society is filled with overindulgent people. Gluttons abound - not fat people. Some people have metabolic disorders and maintaining their weight is difficult.

These are the ways that gluttony was expressed by St. Thomas Aquinas:

Praepropere - eating too soon.
Laute - eating too expensively.
Nimis - eating too much.
Ardenter - eating too eagerly (burningly).
Studiose - eating too daintily (keenly).
Forente - eating wildly (boringly).

Praepropere - Eating when you’re not hungry? Well, it’s not necessarily sinful - but if you eat a full meal because of how delicious it is when you’re not hungry, you’re probably sinning. It doesn’t mean that eating a candy bar because it tastes good is wrong, even if you’re not hungry. God doesn’t want us to reject the good things in life.

Laute - Americans, going out to eat all the time. There’s nothing wrong with going out to eat. If you’re doing it all the time and your money could go toward much better things - there’s a problem.

Nimis - Overeating. Yes, it’s a sin. Overeating every once in a while? Not really a big deal. Don’t overanalyze, but if you’re wasting food by stuffing your face, cooking too much, and not exercising control, this is a sin. Many people in the US are overweight as a direct consequence of this sin.

Ardenter - you’ve been hard at work, you’re tired, hungry, and the food is delicious. There’s nothing wrong with exulting in God’s gifts. However, when the food becomes the celebration and your pleasure from eating is the whole deal, you’re missing something.

I don’t know what St. Thomas meant by the others. However, I see these sins all the time. Americans are so rich it makes gluttony very easy.

The way to counteract gluttony is with fasting. Make yourself abstain. The way that eastern churches fast is remarkable and very strict. It’s been very meaningful to mean in teaching myself self-control and revealing to me how deep my sin of gluttony runs.

Americans could all use a good dose of fasting. And not just from meat. It aggravates me when I hear Catholics moan about not eating meat on Fridays, or skipping a meal on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday. So many people have next to nothing or nothing at all to eat. Learn some self-control. It’s for one day and it doesn’t take much effort at all.

 

[CDNowak]

Hello everyone. I was wondering why do you think the sin of Gluttony/overeating is so widespread and prevelant today in our culture and in our society??? I mean about 60% of the USA is overweight. I mean all the fast food, Starbucks and stuff like that…

Why is our culture/society idolatrzing food/eating? Are people trying to stuff their feelings or what???

What do you all think?

I definitely agree that there is something wrong in our approach to food, the “Over the Hedge” movie puts it well (movie clip). And a fast food culture with burgers reaching healthy daily- total caloric counts? Yes, we can say there is an issue with Gluttony here.

However, along with that you have Sloth (also factors into fast food culture), Greed, Lust, Pride, Wrath, Envy: all do seem more widespread now than a few generations ago. More likely they are lived more openly, the sense of sin and shame has been eroded.

 

[rskempf]

Gluttony is a sin. Advertising promotes consumption because businesses want to sell more. Advertising grows because it works - people consume more. Sadly, many citizens have no faith life to protect them from the temptation to consume beyond their bodily needs. They are focused on the here and now instead of life everlasting.

Life everlasting is more satisfying. It is up to you and me to spread the Good News.

 

[Student09]

St. Thomas Aquinas was extremely overweight but he was not a glutton. Being overweight doesn’t mean you are a glutton, and one can be a glutton and be thin also. It depends largely on one’s metabolism. I can eat voraciously and still lose weight, other people gain weight while eating almost nothing.

 

[flyingfish]

You don’t even need to overeat to become overweight. Fast food meals, which are not very large in size, contain a ridiculous amount of calories because of the kinds of ingredients that are in them.

You don’t even need to go very far above your calorie limit to gain weight. Say you go above by 100 calories a day (that’s like 1 extra apple). That’s 10 pounds a year. And in 10 years that becomes 100 pounds extra!