Is it the sin of sloth if I don’t do my homework?

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DallasCowboys74

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I’m in high school. I have this assignment that’s overdue and I keep on putting in off. Is this the sin of sloth? If so am I in a state of mortal or Venial sin?
 
Why are you online asking strangers to adjudicate the state of your conscience? Just do the assignment.

-Fr ACEGC
 
In the highest moral sense, sloth is referring to neglecting your faith and salvation, your duty for prayer.

Sloth also refers in an everyday way to doing your homework. Your school work is easier than working in a job will be when you are old enough to get a job. Who is going to support you? for the rest of your life? Morally, you have a duty to support your parents in their later years. How will you do that?

Best that you get used to working because you are going to be doing that for a long time.
 
strita said:
Your school work is easier than working in a job will be when you are old enough to get a job. Who is going to support you? for the rest of your life? Morally, you have a duty to support your parents in their later years. How will you do that?
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I think people should be diligent with their daily task, be it studies or job, but I think this is going a little bit far. We have one post from this person, a post that rings a little bit scrupulous for a couple of reasons, and not any indication of a history of struggling to function. Being lazy with one’s school work, while not the greatest thing in the world, isn’t a guaranteed recipe for destitution.
 
I’m not really sure why what I said warrants such a strong response. A high schooler asking one question about putting off one assignment does not automatically equate to not being able to support oneself or his parents.

My response is also based on life experience, in that I wasn’t exactly the most diligent student in the world, I turned things late in on occasion, but I’m doing just fine. And my work habits now have very little to do with my study habits in the time I was a student. It doesn’t always translate that way.

-Fr ACEGC
 
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I don’t believe that FATHER’s remark warrants your shall we say ‘attitude’.

“A little learning is a dangerous thing’. . .and all that.
 
DallasCowboys74 said:
I’m in high school. I have this assignment that’s overdue and I keep on putting in off. Is this the sin of sloth? If so am I in a state of mortal or Venial sin?
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What you need to do, more than your homework, is to find technique to manage your problem with procrastination. Because the homework assignment will come and go, but procrastination can be a real ongoing problem.
 
Well, Father, the structure of these forums gives the young person a range of responses to consider. I am 70 and was disciplined by the nuns who warned us of the danger of wasting a single sheet of paper, as I vividly recall.

We have no evidence of the significance of this assignment.
 
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strita said:
I am 70 and was disciplined by the nuns who warned us of the danger of wasting a single sheet of paper, as I vividly recall.
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Did the nuns not teach you to respect priests and how you speak to them?
 
I don’t see any disrespect in my response to the priest. What is the issue you have with my words?
 
I’m not certain whether it’s to be classified as either mortal or venial, but even less than a generation or two ago, you would have been placing your temporal corporeal self in extreme danger of double corporeal punishment via the “parental units” AND the Sisters (or Brothers). A mnemonic device, wherein an ACTION is used to impart and facilitate the learning process. Please, just DO your assignment, and don’t wound the tender consciences of those who care about you.
 
I procrastinated so bad last semester that I got an F in a course because I didn’t do over half the work. That’s probably mortal sin right there. If you have an assignment that’s gone over by a few days, you should at least start it so you don’t risk it snowballing down on you. This is just my advice though, ask a priest if you can (within reason, the world is a mess out there as of late.)
 
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DallasCowboys74 said:
Is this the sin of sloth? If so am I in a state of mortal or Venial sin?
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Sloth is one of the seven deadly sins. As one priest explained it to me, those actually aren’t sins in and of themselves, but they can be at the root of sin depending on what we do with them. So in your example, sloth can lead you into a state of sin, such as cheating to avoid doing hard work.

Whether or not you’re actually in a state of sin is for you and your confessor to determine. It’s not an appropriate question for Internet strangers.

But let me ask you something more practical: Have you finished the assignment yet? What subject is it in?

Next line of questions: Specifically what is leading you to procrastinate? Is this assignment hard, and you feel ashamed to seek help for it? Are you delaying it because you’re a perfectionist and worried about doing it poorly? Are you too busy with sports and other activities?

I recommend addressing the underlying obstacles before you start beating yourself up over how, if at all, you’re sinning.

For what it’s worth, I homeschool my own children, including a teen, so I may even be able to help if you PM me. Just not math. 😉 For math, I’ll have to tag some of our other astute CAFers. 🤔
 
BlushingOrange said:
I procrastinated so bad last semester that I got an F in a course because I didn’t do over half the work. That’s probably mortal sin right there.
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Mortal sin occurs within the context of your relationship with God. Did you procrastinate to smite or otherwise separate yourself from God? I honestly doubt it. Get it off your chest with your chest with your confessor, then get on with your life. 🙂
 
Pretty sure committing a mortal sin doesn’t only occur when you’re trying to separate yourself from God. The 3 conditions of mortal sin are grave matter, full knowledge, full consent. You can do something of grave matter with full knowledge and full consent without doing it because you willingly want to offend or cut yourself off from God, for example, through the pleasure you might feel for committing that sin. Separation from God is a mere product of mortal sin from what I’ve heard over the past few years.
 
When you’ve worked a 65 hour work week, then realize none of it was over time, you can slack off from doing your homework… until then, do your homework.
 
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