Morality in Thought

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Meggie

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(FYI: this is not a thread on impurity, pleas don’t turn it into such)

Is it immoral to entertain thoughts of being in a situation that you know would be bad for you? Or more importantly to entertain thoughts of returning to a situation that you know is bad?

Is it immoral to discuss these thoughts with others?

What happens if you act on these thoughts? Is it a moral or venial sin?

When does sin become yor sin and not others?

Is watching people sin or letting them hurt you a sin?
 
Your questions are quite general. I think that you would need to be more specific and ask a good confessor to determine whether such things are sinful or not.

Nothing would be sinful if ideas just pop into your head, without your consent. Re-direct your thoughts to something else.

And of course, there would be circumstances in which people must think about sinful things. For example, if you were on a jury, or if you were a police detective, you would need to think about all the details of some sordid crime. That would not be sinful.

When I have a choice, I personally would avoid dwelling in my thoughts on things that are wrong or unedifying. St. Paul offers very good advice in his Epistle to the Phillipians 4:8:

“Your thoughts should be wholly directed to all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous, or worthy of praise.” (New American Bible)
 
It is a little hard to respond with the little information that you gave us, since you were obviously not speaking about sexually impure thoughts. If you entertain thoughts of yourself doing something sinful then I suppose it would be quite similar to someone having an impure thought. I do know that it is a sin to purposely put yourself in an occasion of sin. Also, if you accompany others while they engage in sinful behavior then your are at the very least causing scandal to them just by being there. Your presence is a sign of approval or at least acceptance, which is sinful; venial or mortal probably depends on the particular act.
 
ok without saying everything I left a fairly bad home situation for college. Lately I have been considering going back and going to a local community college.
–so thats the thinking part–
–now I have told some of my close friends and now this board–obvously the saying part–
–so if I actually go back is that a sin, more specifically a mortal sin?–
–if you enable others to commit a sin (such as misuse) is it your sin if you should not be there?–
 
I think you are going to have to discuss the particulars with a priest or someone that you really trust. The only behavior that you revealed was “misuse”, and to be honest I do not even know what that is. It could be the misuse of a child which would actually be “abuse” and that is a serious enough problem that should be dealt with by someone trained in that area. I am only speculating still because I dont know if that is what you meant. The bottom line is this, if people (especially children) are being hurt then you have a responsibility to do everything you can to get them help. I appologize if I am getting way off track in regards to the issue, but the answer to your question really lies in the nature of the sin taking place at your house. I wish I could be more helpful!!! 🙂
 
Thinking about or actually changing colleges and living at home?? That has nothing to do with sin, as far as I can see.
 
yes our thoughts can be sinful, that is why we have the 9th & 10th commandments about coveting the possessions and persons of others. Coveting is much more than wanting to own and use it also entails deliberate thoughts we know to be contrary to God’s laws, for the purpose of breaking those laws.

The proper place to discuss one’s personal spiritual life and struggle with sin is the confessional, not these forums.
 
Im not coveting or anything else…its more about thinking about doing something that would cause someone else to sin as a side affect…
 
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