Are gluttony and greed sins?
I'm trying to refresh and catch up on this now... reading Diogenes again and Epicurean thought.
So gluttony and greed. Is it a sin. For us humans? That is arguable. As we have an intellect we supposedly can use to rise above those "flaws", societal norm's will place pressure on the individual to conform.
Yet, food for thought... since I just watched this the other day interestingly...I want to give you an interesting example in nature.
A fox. Watched this on a David Attenbourough special on mammals.
A fox... breaking into a hen coop.
Fox's have a reputation they say for being wanton killers I suppose.
So you may think it would kill a couple hens carry them off and feed.
Not in this case. The documentary records while the fox decimates the entire hen house (it seems) and is shown making multiple trips back and forth.
The catch. (no pun intended)
He is burying all of his kills. Hoarding it would seem... yet is it.
Is this greed and gluttony? Observed in nature?
I know I have perhaps not always accurately and maybe in a whimsical fashion, have thought to myself that nature is a thing of beauty and harmony.
So if this action is justified on a level of instinctual beast behavior with no civilization, no societal norms, the only pressure is that to survive and to survive as comfortably as possible.
If the fox will do it, is it a surprise that humans will behave the same way given the chance?
Ol' David Att narrates the special and goes on to claim, "The fox is not a wanton killer but an intelligent opportunist."
So much more is a human an intelligent opportunist?
Same as in greed and gluttony. Someone may seem like a hoarder and that is of little consequence when the group/society is prospering. Yet in the event of a zombie Apocalypse? Who laughs last?
Of course we all can make our choices. A person can choose to be a minimalist. For various reasons, the spiritual being one of the classic ones. As you could see in the example of ascetic holy men and guru's who practice self flagellation and celibacy... living off the charity of those with fortune. These paths are paths of the mind so are in themselves often unique.
Yet is it a sin for one on the path of survival to exhibit greed and gluttony.
...
I suppose that those terms could both be thrown out. The true survivor knows when to share... when to conserve and when to pounce on opportunity.
Just like the fox in the hen coop. Perhaps Greed and Gluttony... are illusions. Simply temporal qualities that last so long as one is in surplus and soon dissipates like the morning fog of harsh reality with the hot sun breaking through on a parched grassy Savannah.
And soon you find your self on the prowl once again for your next cache of chickens. Only this time lesson learned and you are no longer a fox.
But a foxy LION. And all shall hear you ROAR.
...
..
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(okay I kinda lost it there at the end. but if you don't have a clue of what I speak. So what.)
PS: I'm not arguing for greed and gluttony. Humanity I still believe can be better than that...