Curious Corner

Deadly Sins

In the Christian theology, there is a concept of the Seven Deadly Sins. They were first set forth by Pope Gregory I during the 6th century AD and they are – pride, greed, lust, wrath, gluttony, envy, and sloth. The reason they are called ‘deadly’ is because they are considered as the root cause of all the other sins and it is believed that they will lead people to commit further immoral acts and thus condemning their souls. Amongst all of them the sin of  ‘pride’ is considered the deadliest. However in my opinion ‘prejudice’ is a sin far greater than ’pride’ and is even more dangerous. Moreover, teachings of various religions have failed to pay attention to evils it perpetuates. ‘Prejudice’ is the reason behind many evils of human society. 

Sin of Prejudice

The ‘sin of prejudice’ not only robs us of our ethics and moral values but is also one of the reasons behind the inequality that is present in our society. Prejudice bring with it, the many negative preconceived notions and judgments about other people based entirely on their gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or caste. We become blinded by our Ill-conceived beliefs and lose control of our rational faculty. 

Consequences

When we are blinded by prejudice, we commit more evil deeds. We start to discriminate against people and deprive them of what they deserve. We rob others from the opportunities that were rightly theirs. We become malevolent and harbor malice towards others for reasons as real as unicorns. We also start stereotyping people and mistreating them for no reason whatsoever. All this breeds inequality in our society, a grave injustice to humanity.

Word ‘Prejudice’

It is no surprise that when you uncover the etymology of the word ‘prejudice’ it owes its origin in the Latin words “prejudicium” which itself means “injustice”.  The ‘sin of pride,’ even in its worst manifestation, is no match for the injustice we do with our prejudice to the whole of humanity. Yes, ‘pride’ does fill people with arrogance and boastfulness, but when we look closely, ‘pride’ is more about showing yourself in a good light; it rarely involves portraying others in a bad light, for that is the job of ‘jealousy.’

Pride vs. Prejudice

Thus, I proclaim that if you want to, you may wear your pride like a heart on your sleeve, but never let your prejudice cloud your judgement. Prejudice causes much more meaningless harm than pride to society without any reason. We must stop this grave injustice against humanity.