Is getting plastic surgery a sin?

[El_camino]

I had a wife that had a boob job while I was dating her. That made for an interesting conversation. Her boobs were fine before and after the boob job. Why she wanted it done was beyond me. She didn’t have any complications and I guess she liked the outcome. She got what she expected, no lopsided boobs or infections. So it is sinful, does it anger God because you don’t like what He gave you?

How about shaving, isn’t that telling God we don’t like what He gave us? Maybe women are looking to get back what they had before they breastfed their kids. I think we have made the decision to improve on what God gave us a long time ago and it is too late to go back. Housing is an example, look how many comforts we have now that we didn’t used to have. God didn’t give us housing at all.

The man or woman who seeks perfection in their body is no better off than the Catholic who seeks perfection in somebody else’s life. Neither is likely to find it.

Personally, I have a right arm that doesn’t work. Hasn’t worked since 1973. If there was a single good reason to chop it off it would be gone. But to me looks don’t count, because it looks pretty bad. But, if my wife wanted plastic surgery I’d get it for her. Now I don’t expect to be giving anybody plastic surgery but I do understand what it is like to have a part of you body that is pretty darn ugly.

Larry, the problem IS not in IMPROVING your image or doing things to improve your image, such as cutting your hair, nails, shaving, putting make up, dressing nice, fixing your hair, etc. That is OK and God actually wants you to maintain a good image. The problem is in going through EXCESSES to do so.

Plastic surgery to get breast implants is an EXCESS, because you 1) Unnecessarily risk your life 2) Unnecessarily have to take drugs (e.g., anesthesia, pain killers, etc) 3) Unnecessarily put stress on your family, who have to take care of you and worry about you 4) You spend over $8000 which could be used for better purposes. 5) Go through pain during recovery for the sake of looking better.

As I mentioned, if you notice the 7 deadly sins are EXCESSES of things that are good… VANITY is an excess of improving your image. The devil takes things that are good and turns them on you. Elective Surgery is an excess for the reason I have mentioned, and thus, it is VANITY.

If you were a woman, and you were to ask Jesus if he is happy that you are going to risk your life and go through surgery so that they may stick goo in your chest, only for the sake of looking good, do you think that Jesus would say that he is happy? Just think about it.

Blessings,

E.C.

 

[GreenJeans]

GreenJeans is not being silly. The pattern includes posts that are intended to be very insulting.

Dan

Of course I am not being silly. Have you been to Arkansas?

 

[Katie1723]

Plastic surgery in and of itself is not a sin. I had a breast reduction. EXCESS plastic surgery is just plain foolish.

Kathy

 

[Dan_Grelinger]

Of course I am not being silly. Have you been to Arkansas?

Why does it say “Account under Review” under GreenJeans name?

Dan

 

[El_camino]

Plastic surgery in and of itself is not a sin. I had a breast reduction. EXCESS plastic surgery is just plain foolish.

Kathy

Breast reduction is understandable in the sense that might be causing back problems in all. In that case is *corrective *plastic surgery, very different to elective plastic surgery, in which you stick goo inside yourself.

Blessings,

E.C.

 

[larry85704]

I am sorry, but the cost of plastic surgery, while high, should not be a factor in deciding if it is sinful or not. Plastic surgery is used by some people, a very small number of people, to look younger than they are to an extreme. I would think the majority of people use plastic surgery to fix something they do not like. Could be a nose, a lip, baldness, being fat, being skinny, whatever.

If you have had plastic surgery I’d bet it was elective. Is there a plastic surgery that must be performed or the person will die? I really can’t think of any, but I could be wrong. How about the idea that your disfigurement is your cross to bear in life? Is bearing crosses no longer “in”? It is so hard to keep track of these things.

Like I said before, to me looks aren’t important (such a fib, I should be ashamed). But they are to others. Other people have the courage to admit looks matter, and they do. I’ve noticed my wife gets much more help in life than I do. She is prettier. So, I don’t think plastic surgery is sinful, it is a natural progression of bra’s, makeup, girdles and hair color. What is wrong with gray, or white, snow is white and it is pretty.

 

[El_camino]

I am sorry, but the cost of plastic surgery, while high, should not be a factor in deciding if it is sinful or not.

When there are so many people dying of hunger, you spending so much money in something EXCESSIVE that you really don’t need I think the Lord would definitely NOT be very happy.

Larry85704:

Plastic surgery is used by some people, a very small number of people, to look younger than they are to an extreme. I would think the majority of people use plastic surgery to fix something they do not like. Could be a nose, a lip, baldness, being fat, being skinny, whatever.

Yes, all that is elective plastic surgery, it is the excess of trying to look good; therefore, it could be considered vanity.

larry85704:

If you have had plastic surgery I’d bet it was elective. Is there a plastic surgery that must be performed or the person will die?
I really can’t think of any, but I could be wrong.

Oh there are many, such as the case when a little girl is born with a deformity that does not allow her to breath properly.

And it does not really has to be life-saving. For instance, my wife gets constant nose bleeds because of having a deviated septum. It is not life-threating but it could be at some point. So she will undergo corrective plastic surgery. Her nose will look better, but that was not the primary objective. The primary objective is to fix the septum so that she does bleed anymore.

larry85704:

How about the idea that your disfigurement is your cross to bear in life? Is bearing crosses no longer “in”? It is so hard to keep track of these things.

I was a in serious car accident when I was 16. My forhead opened up like a flower and I have a huges scar that cover 95% of forhead, as well as other scars on nose, chin, cheek etc. it does not look good, but it does not bother me because it is not really a deformity out in itself. I tell you, many girls were not interested in me after that. Thank goodness I found one that is not shallow and she is now my wife.

On the other hand , I know of little boy and girls that are born with deformities, which although not life-threatening, they are threatening in the sense that they undergo cruel both PHYSICAL and psycholocial abuse from other kids. The physical abuse could be life-threatening. How many idiots you find out there who are cruel and sometimes physically abuse of people with deformities. So by fixing that deformity on those kids you are putting their life out of danger.

Then again, fixing deformities, in general, are NOT meant to LOOK GOOD, but to look NORMAL. So it could be considered a different issue.

Like I said before, to me looks aren’t important (such a fib, I should be ashamed). But they are to others. Other people have the courage to admit looks matter, and they do. I’ve noticed my wife gets much more help in life than I do. She is prettier. So, I don’t think plastic surgery is sinful, it is a natural progression of bra’s, makeup, girdles and hair color. What is wrong with gray, or white, snow is white and it is pretty.

Larry, you are AGAIN deviating from the topic… NO ONE is saying that looking pretty, looking beautiful, looking great is a sin… What is a sin is the EXCESSES you go through to look as such. Plastic surgery, where you RISK your life only to look pretty, is an EXCESS and therefore is VANITY, which is one of the deadly sins.

Blessings,

E.C.

 

[larry85704]

To me, coloring my hair is excessive. My wife has a totally different point of view. That is my point, what is excessive is a personal choice.

Murder, a sin, in not a personal choice. Drinking beer is a personal choice and not a sin.

I don’t believe the Church as drawn the line about when plastic surgery becomes excessive maybe for some of the reasons you, and the other posters to this forum, have described.

 

[RWMorris]

I think the preoocupation with looking young and beautiful is
WAY overboard, IMO. I have a cousin who is only 40 and is constantly having her lips pumped with collagen, her “wrinkles” smoothed out with Botox, had breast implants, etc. She spends thousands of dollars on stupid stuff like this. When I think of the missions in other countries who could use the money to feed poor people and evangelize them I could cry.
Yes, it is vanity and it is a sin. I’m not talking about reconstructive or necessary surgery, I’m talking about surgeries only to look a little better. It’s loco!

 

[El_camino]

To me, coloring my hair is excessive. My wife has a totally different point of view. That is my point, what is excessive is a personal choice.

Larry, when you unnecessarily put your life in danger, put stress on your family, have to take drugs, etc… that is excessive, which is exactly what plastic surgery does.

Hair coloring does not do any of those things.

Now, true, everyone has a personal choice, in fact EVERYONE has a personal CHOICE about everything. In America, women have a personal “choice” to abort their babies, but Does that make it right?

Murder, a sin, in not a personal choice.

LARRY, SIN in itself IS a personal choice. When we sin, we make a personal choice to sin, because God gave us FREE will to either turn our back on him or to collaborate with his grace.

Drinking beer is a personal choice and not a sin.

True, drinking beer is a personal choice and is not a sin, but by the same token, DRINKING a lot of beer and getting DRUNK is also a personal choice and THAT is a sin. Similarly, taking care of your body and image to try to look good is a choice and it is GOOD, but going through excesses to do so is also a CHOICE, but it is a sin.

I don’t believe the Church as drawn the line about when plastic surgery becomes excessive maybe for some of the reasons you, and the other posters to this forum, have described.

The CHURCH has not given a specific pronouncement regarding Elective plastic surgery, but the CHurch has said many things that relate to it.

The catechism says:

Respect for health

2288 Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good.

Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living-conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and social assistance.

2289 If morality requires respect for the life of the body, it does not make it an absolute value.** It rejects a neo-pagan notion that tends to promote the cult of the body, to sacrifice everything for it’s sake, to idolize physical perfection **and success at sports. By its selective preference of the strong over the weak [or the beatiful over the ugly], such a conception can lead to the perversion of human relationships.

2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others’ safety on the road, at sea, or in the air.

2291 The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense. Clandestine production of and trafficking in drugs are scandalous practices. They constitute direct co-operation in evil, since they encourage people to practices gravely contrary to the moral law.

WHEN you have a plastic surgery you get into excess, which promote the cult of the body, which UNNECESSARILY make you put your life in danger, put stress on you and your family and also make you take DRUGS (ie., anesthesia, pain killer), which you really would not need.

 

[cazayoux]

Plastic surgery is vanity, if it’s done just to have bigger breasts or to look young.

What if it’s to balance out the hips?
My beautiful wife (and mother of our four sons) has previously had such a difficult time finding tops to match her bottoms… especially with bathing suits.

 

[Dan_Grelinger]

What if it’s to balance out the hips?
My beautiful wife (and mother of our four sons) has previously had such a difficult time finding tops to match her bottoms… especially with bathing suits.

Did she also desire it for her husband’s benefit? When married, we give our physical selves completely to our spouse. A decision such as this should not be made without consideration for the husband’s preferences.

Dan

 

[snowrider]

news flash-- plastic surgery is about a lot more than vanity. It is about a child having facial features restored to normal and proper function of the mouth, nose, ears and eyelids insured. It is about a burn victim’s body being restored. It is about a woman’s feminine appearance restored after masectomy. It is about a person who has undergone, at the price of great pain and self-denial, a significant weight loss having excess skin and tissue removed so they can walk and move normally.

could we please get over this preoccupation with questioning the morals and and actions of other people and return to consideration of our own sins and spiritual condition, for our own sake if not for the sake of Christian charity?

Puzzleannie,
You are 100% correct! Plastic surgery to restore what has been damaged (as you described) isn’t a sin in my opinion. However, if I agree with a previous poster. Breast implants for vanity reasons could be considered sinful especially if it’s done to “worship” ourselves, cause lust or cause us to become “objects”.

You are also correct that we REALLY should get over this preoccupation with questioning the morals and and actions of other people and return to consideration of our own sins and spiritual condition. That’s judging hypocritically like picking sawdust out of our brother’s eye while there’s a 2X4 in our own.

 

[snowrider]

I’m sure Yeshua would be quite happy to see people take risks in life and make every attempt to live it to its full capacity. He certainly did.

He doesn’t ask us to live life to it’s full capacity…he simply asks us to follow him and to do HIS will.

 

[snowrider]

Twinkies are a staple of the American diet. They are a sausage shaped light cake with a cream filling. Made by Hostess who also gave us Hostess Cupcakes and Hostess Fruit Pies.

By your own logic Twinkies are a sin. Maybe we all should only be eating manna.

 

[SheLovesGod]

I think it seems very easy to say that getting plastic surgery unless it is for reconstructive reasons is a sin, but I think it’s harshly judgmental and wrong to automatically call it a sin.

Maybe there is a vanity aspect to it if you aren’t doing it for reconstructive reasons.

Many things we do aren’t “necessary,” but we still do it, never taking into account God’s view on the subject. Do we really need to drive a Lexus over a ford escort? No, but many God fearing people will choose luxury over economy. Do you really need a 7 bedroom mansion? Is this a form of vanity? Is it vanity when a woman wears lipstick? Is that a sin too?

God cares about our hearts. He knows that when He made us, it was good and perfect in His eyes. However, we live in a fallen and broken world. Like it or not, appearance can and does matter to one’s success. And wanting to improve your appearance is not a sin.

I believe that plastic surgery is a VERY personal decision (and I’ve never had it), so I won’t say it is a sin outright. But like all things (even loving your children) if it comes between your ability to have a relationship with and serve God, it absolutely can be.

I don’t think a person desiring larger breasts, a smaller nose or thinner thighs and choosing to go have a procedure is a sinner, anymore than a person who chooses to purchase a Mercedes Benz, get their teeth whitened, wear makeup or designer clothes is a sinner. It’s available to us and if our heart is in the right place, God probably won’t be terribly disturbed.

On the other hand, if a person takes their mortgage money to get breast implants, or commits identity theft, or if they become so vain that they can’t socialize with God’s children who aren’t as “beautiful” as they are, or they can’t enjoy church or God’s children because they would rather get botox, that may signal a problem.

 

[SheLovesGod]

I had a wife that had a boob job while I was dating her. That made for an interesting conversation. Her boobs were fine before and after the boob job. Why she wanted it done was beyond me. She didn’t have any complications and I guess she liked the outcome. She got what she expected, no lopsided boobs or infections. So it is sinful, does it anger God because you don’t like what He gave you?

**How about shaving, isn’t that telling God we don’t like what He gave us? Maybe women are looking to get back what they had before they breastfed their kids. I think we have made the decision to improve on what God gave us a long time ago and it is too late to go back. Housing is an example, look how many comforts we have now that we didn’t used to have. God didn’t give us housing at all. **
The man or woman who seeks perfection in their body is no better off than the Catholic who seeks perfection in somebody else’s life. Neither is likely to find it.

Personally, I have a right arm that doesn’t work. Hasn’t worked since 1973. If there was a single good reason to chop it off it would be gone. But to me looks don’t count, because it looks pretty bad. But, if my wife wanted plastic surgery I’d get it for her. Now I don’t expect to be giving anybody plastic surgery but I do understand what it is like to have a part of you body that is pretty darn ugly.

I agree with you Larry!

 

[SheLovesGod]

Larry, the problem IS not in IMPROVING your image or doing things to improve your image, such as cutting your hair, nails, shaving, putting make up, dressing nice, fixing your hair, etc. That is OK and God actually wants you to maintain a good image. The problem is in going through EXCESSES to do so.

Plastic surgery to get breast implants is an EXCESS, because you 1) Unnecessarily risk your life 2) Unnecessarily have to take drugs (e.g., anesthesia, pain killers, etc) 3) Unnecessarily put stress on your family, who have to take care of you and worry about you 4) You spend over $8000 which could be used for better purposes. 5) Go through pain during recovery for the sake of looking better.

As I mentioned, if you notice the 7 deadly sins are EXCESSES of things that are good… VANITY is an excess of improving your image. The devil takes things that are good and turns them on you. Elective Surgery is an excess for the reason I have mentioned, and thus, it is VANITY.

If you were a woman, and you were to ask Jesus if he is happy that you are going to risk your life and go through surgery so that they may stick goo in your chest, only for the sake of looking good, do you think that Jesus would say that he is happy? Just think about it.

Blessings,

E.C.

I understand what you are saying, but I disagree. We all struggle with vanity and idolatry whether we want to admit to this or not. God cares about our heart.

I believe it’s okay to enhance our appearance. Some ways of enhancing our appearance can happen without surgery, and some can only happen through surgery. The bible teaches us to love the things that God loves. That means taking care of the body that he gave us. Just keep in mind that it also teaches us to focus more on our inner qualities. (Acts 3:3,4

 

[SheLovesGod]

Well, how about make-up? Sin? What’s the reason plastic surgery is a sin? Doesn’t the same principle apply to make-up?

Why is permanence a factor? I suppose we could also say make-up is done thousands of times and plastic surgery only once. How does the frequency or permanancy of the action matter to the principle involved?

I agree with you GreenJeans. It doesn’t matter what you do. People are going to say it’s about the money or danger. We risk our lives everytime we get in a car, put food in our bellies (bacteria like E-coli, etc.). We have to accept the fact that people can make certain decisions. Ultimately I believe that God is concerned with our hearts.

 

[SheLovesGod]

Is make-up free? What does it cost the averege woman per year? Is there a problem with make-up if lifetime expenditure exceeds $2000?

How about hairstylists? What do they cost? What does the average woman spend in a year? What does the average appointment cost? Lifetime? More or less than $2,000?

Some plastc surgery uses general anesthetic. Some uses local. Some, like lip work uses none. So are lips OK?

Pain varies with procedure. Few have weeks of pain. But how about high heels? How comfortable are they? Women wear them all day long, five days a week, fifty-two week per year. How much pain do they inflict in a lifetime? Girdles? Push-up bras? Clothes two sizes too small?

What drugs does one have to take because of plastic surgery? It’s usually Tylenol or Advill.

Sometimes it’s hard to see what’s right in front of us in our own mirror.

Bottom line: both plastic surgery and make-up are personal choices and nothing more. It’s silly to worry about either.

Tell them GreenJeans!