Tsarren wrote: >Yes. I was taught in sunday school long ago that all sins are the same in >the eyes of the Judeo-Christian God - steal a piece of candy, steal a car - >it's the same. However, our society treats them differently with respect to >punishment. Hence the differences - there are two paradigms, which sort of >overlap in the Bible because the religion *is* the culture/society in some >places. > > > Catholicism traditionally has been more practical than that. They have mortal and venial sins. One result in moving away from traditional authority is that we are more concerned with whether the sin is intentional, whether it is a secular or church sin. Someone who kills in anger is considered less culpable than someone who kills for the insurance. But society is in more danger from the person who kills in anger. There are good Catholic girls who avoid birth control as a "planned" sin, and get backed into a corner and have abortions. But the Catholic church doesn't really care about venial sins (birth control) much - it is the mortal sins (abortion) that are the worry. Occasionally we will have a exception - it is not stylish to assign blame for drunk drivers. But in general, we are more concerned with intent than with results. We have "innocent by reason of insanity" instead of "guilty by reason of insanity". I do not recall off the top of my head of discussion of guilt and innocence in Dragaera. Instead, it is life. People seem to want revenge rather than "justice" - otherwise punishment is just a job. Where Steve discusses Heaven and Hell elsewhere, there isn't real guilt.