What is worse polygamy or Homosexuality?

[VanitasVanitatum]

Homosexuality can never be made right.

Yes, it can. All they have to do is split or stop doing whatever they are doing.

 

[ratio1]

Of course I’ll side with CCC as well. My point is I’m not sure that’s what CCC is saying. To me it just says we need to differentiate between mortal and venial sins. Nowhere does it say to rank mortal sins.

Adultery victims have to endure the consequence of the sin for the rest of their lives. Murder victims don’t as they are dead.

 

[CRV]

Adultery victims have to endure the consequence of the sin for the rest of their lives.

I know.

Murder victims don’t as they are dead.

Robbed of their life.

 

[ratio1]

Robbed of their life

Yes I know, but I see this as a different aspect altogether.
I’m not disputing that murder overall is worse than Adultery, I’m just saying if we only consider victims impact on their future living, Adultery is worse.

OK another thought experiment.
Robbing someone $10 is a sin. Robbing a poor man is worse than robbing a rich man. Robbing someone who only has $20 is worse than robbing someone who only has $30. Hence the worst is robbing someone who has only $10. (unless one want to consider robbing someone who owes money in net)
It would be absurd to suggest for the sake of this scenario to say the worst is if you kill the person with only $10. Of course it is, but that’s not the point.
This scenario also illustrates that only God has perfect knowledge. We often don’t know the exact gravit of our sins. I cannot know the exact assets of the person I’m about to rob.

So what I’m saying is in reality there is of course a rank but only God knows that. We can try our best but we have to be aware that we cannot possibly get the perfect answer.

 

[CatholicELATeacher]

The ancient Greeks are irrelevant to a discussion of Catholic hamartiology.

 

[CRV]

Adultery is worse

Sorry, don’t agree. Marriages can work through the betrayal and it is possible to continue on with the marriage - graces from a Sacramental Marriage greatly help with this. A marriage can recover from this. It also depends on the individuals involved. There’s no recovery once dead. But it is in no way worse than murder - speaking from personal experience. But thats just my experience.

Robbing someone $10 is a sin. Robbing a poor man is worse than robbing a rich man. Robbing someone who only has $20 is worse than robbing someone who only has $30. Hence the worst is robbing someone who has only $10. (unless one want to consider robbing someone who owes money in net)

As the CCC state - “One must also take into account who is wronged”.

It would be absurd to suggest for the sake of this scenario to say the worst is if you kill the person with only $10.

I don’t agree. The greater of the theft is from the one who has only $10 as this person has less. Murder of someone with 10, 20, or 30 is equal in my opinion. Robbing a poor man compared to a rich man is graver as you say.

I cannot know the exact assets of the person I’m about to rob.

Doesn’t have to be known . The appearance of a homeless person is generally sufficiently different to the averagely dressed person, therefore you at the time of the robbery would correctly judge the person to be really poor.

If you broke into a house and stole what you thought was a diamond ring - a grave theft, yes? due to the value of the item. But if you stole a fake diamond ring, the theft would be less, yes? So if you stole what you believed was a large diamond ring, you still are guilty of a grave theft, even if after some time you discovered through whatever means that it was fake. Because your intention at that time was to steal a valuable diamond ring. But, if you stole what you believed was a fake ring worth maybe $50, and you later learned that it’s value was $1000 you are guilty of a less graver theft. This is based on your judgement at the time of your decision/action.

God judges our guilt. But we can judge the gravity of actions ourselves. God gave us the ability to reason for a reason!

 

[ratio1]

The greater of the theft is from the one who has only $10 as this person has less. Murder of someone with 10, 20, or 30 is equal in my opinion. Robbing a poor man compared to a rich man is graver as you say.

Agree absolutely. That’s exactly my point. One is theft and the other is murder. They are separate categories. Just as murder and Adultery are separate categories.

 

[CRV]

Yes, they are separate ‘categories’ of sins, in which various sins can be judged according to their gravity - greater or lesser.

5th Commandment “You Shall Not Kill”
6th " "You Shall Not commit Adultery
7th " "You Shalt Not Steal

5th is graver than the 6th & 7th. Not 6th graver than the 5th.
6th is graver than the 7th, as is the 5th graver than the 7th.

Thus why God listed the 1st Commandment as the first - I am the LORD your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me.

This is the order of graveness which God gave us, and which we also adhere to.

Within each Commandment there falls graver and lesser sins.

 

[PatK63]

Sometimes I roll my eyes at the answers. Although both are grave matter homosexuality is graver. Polygamy is essentially adultery but the acts are natural. The sin is one of injustice against the sacredness of the sacrament of marriage. Homosexuality is intrinsically evil.

 

[ratio1]

Thanks! You know what, I never thought of the ordering that way. Now you say it it sort of make sense now.

But how do you fit in the 4th?

 

[CRV]

Seeing as God gave the Commandments in the order He did, He willed that after Him, we should honour (and all that entails) our parents and as this includes all others to whom He has given authority and placed over us.

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you. covers many aspects of this commandment - the family in Gods’ Plan; the family & society; the duties of family members; the family & the kingdom; the authorities in civil society and the political community and the Church. I suggest you read the whole thing.

God based society on the family. The rightful functioning of the family then flows out to all of society. (I’m leaving aside all dysfunction within families/society, but am looking at how God ordered families/society).

God is God. I’m not going to question how or why He ordered things in the way He did.

 

[ratio1]

So is 4th graver than 5th?

 

[CRV]

I accept the order God gave us. (I thought the page I linked to was self-explanatory.)

If you have issues with it, then may I suggest you pray to God and ask him to enlighten you on this matter. Perhaps you could also consult your priest. Both of these I think would be helpful for you.

Edited to add as a final example -
Murdering one’s parent is graver than murdering a stranger.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

If you have issues with it, then may I suggest you pray to God and ask him to enlighten you on this matter. Perhaps you could also consult your priest. Both of these I think would be helpful for you.

He could also take the equally valid position that all grave sins are bad and to be avoided, and it is not necessary to rank them.

There is really no reason for lay people to rank their sins, other than to be aware of the distinction between “grave, possibly mortal” and “venial, not mortal” because if we’ve committed a “grave, possibly mortal” sin then we must confess it ASAP and cannot receive Communion till we are absolved. Other than that distinction, it’s a moot point.

If I have committed a grave, possibly mortal sin, it matters not whether the grave, possibly mortal sin is sacrilege, adultery, gay sex, looking at porn, theft of a very valuable item, or murder. The action I must take is the same. Repent, confess, be absolved, don’t receive Communion till I am absolved.

There is no point to me sitting around speculating that my adultery isn’t so bad because murder or gay sex is worse.

If a sin is really so awful that it needs a special procedure to absolve, like going to the Bishop, my confessor will know that and tell me what to do. I don’t need to think about it.

 

[jimXroberts]

Christian teaching is that sexual activity is the preserve of a man and a woman in a lifelong monogamous marriage, open to the possibility of children. Anything else is potentially sinful. It is not sinful to be a homosexual, only to indulge in sexual activity with a partner who is the same sex as you. Polygamy does not arise in the context of Christianity although divorce and remarriage may be regarded as serial polygamy and that was specifically forbidden by Christ. Asking which is worse is a little like saying “your sin is worse than my sin”. That can lead to all sorts of problems. Sin is what separates us from God and separating ourselves from God is a great evil whatever the means.

 

[AdamP88]

Hello everyone I’m new here. I was having a discussion with my husband and was wondering what was a greater sin Polygamy or Homosexuality? Thanks for your replies

Homosexual activity. Polygamy is in some way, though not entirely, still following the natural order and God’s plan.
Homosexuality is simply not even a vague reflection of marriage or the union between man and woman. There’s no comparison to be made.

 

[CRV]

There is really no reason for lay people to rank their sins, other than to be aware of the distinction between “grave, possibly mortal” and “venial

Some people like to remain with the basics, and that’s fine. Others prefer to dig a little deeper or explore the subject more. That’s OK too.

He asked me to provide evidence from the catechism & bible regarding gravity and I supplied it, as per my above link.

I’m getting the impression you feel my comments /discussion with this poster aren’t valid anyway…

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I’m simply saying it’s a moot point.
It may be of interest to theologians, but I think the whole premise of the thread is a moot point.
Mortal sin is mortal sin.
There is no benefit for us laypeople to say “mortal sin X is worse than mortal sin Y” at this point in Church history. It can lead to wrongly thinking mortal sin Y is not so bad.

I can see ranking of sins as serving a purpose in the early Church. The sacrament of Reconciliation was still being developed and confessors were working out various issues of how much penance to give for what type of sin, when to require public confession, and how many times someone could be absolved (often it was just once in a lifetime). Trying to figure out which sins were worse fits right in with that development. It’s likely priests today receive some training in this. So it’s relevant to the confessor, just not very helpful to the layman.

 

[ratio1]

He asked me to provide evidence from the catechism & bible regarding gravity and I supplied it, as per my above link.

Just want to say thank you again for answering my question and I do enjoy the discussion here. It doesn’t matter that we don’t all agree at the end but I’m grateful for the discussion process.

 

[CRV]

Thankyou too for the discussion. God bless you for your charity and humility.