Gluttony and Lust

Gluttony

This chapter begins by examining magazine covers and discussing fast-food diets. Supermarket check-out lines are lined with magazines whose cover’s often depict ‘irresistible desserts’ and ‘great tips on losing weight and controlling your cravings.’ These food-obsessed articles seem to send mixed messages with pictures of delicious-looking foods and captions about avoiding eating these same foods. DeYoung also notes that the fast-food industry rakes in billions of dollars every year by offering tasty, calorie-dense foods for relatively cheap prices.

DeYoung claims that the stereotypical view of gluttony is that of an overweight man stuffed into a tight pair of pants who eats until the pants split at the seams. However, she immediately challenges this view, asking whether or not being fat is actually a sin. Is it just the extra weight? No, argues DeYoung, it is not the extra weight; the vice of gluttony, like many other vices, has “been both oversimplified and misunderstood” (DeYoung 140).

Gluttony is a habitual vice that occurs until a person no longer even notices it. Gluttony becomes so engrained in a person that they cannot even recognize it. However, it does not only manifest itself in large bellies and XXXL shirts. It is also not reserved to just eating an excess of food or drinking too much soda. Gluttony is a vice because it places an overwhelming focus on immediate and excessive self-pleasure. The ability to take pleasure in eating and the food itself is God-given, but gluttony “corrupts these pleasures when our desires for them run out of control” (DeYoung 141). This pleasure begins to dominate all other aspects of life and turns people into relentless pleasure-seekers: this is the problem with gluttony. It changes eating from a process of obtaining sustenance to nothing but a ‘pleasure fix.’ Further, it dulls a person’s appreciation for receiving food, the pleasure derived from the food and God, who created what people eat for food.

DeYoung breaks gluttony down into five categories and uses the acronym F.R.E.S.H to represent the categories.

F stands for Fastidiously: being too hard to please with food. DeYoung uses a famous example from C.S. Lewis’s “Screwtape Letters,” where two demons are discussing how one of their humans only ever wants a certain amount of tea or food. Essentially, this form of gluttony is being too picky, like sending food back to the kitchen multiple times at a restaurant for no reason or demanding a fully customized meal from someone hosting dinner in their home.

The R is much more commonly seen; it stands for Ravenous. This form of gluttony, like the previous, revolves on what is eaten. This form seeks the feeling of fullness. In particular, this type of glutton prefers rich tasting foods and the feeling of a full belly.

E, which stands for Excess, is seen everywhere; from buffet-lines to motorized scooters in Wal-Mart to television commercials. This form is simply excess and eating to the point of stomach-aches and chronic health issues.

Sumptuously and Hastily, S and H, respectively, relate to eating certain things and the amount of time spent on food. Sumptuously, in context of this chapter, means to a particular standard, whether that standard is ‘tasty,’ ‘healthy,’ ‘low-carb,’ or any other similar term. That is not to say that any of these ways of eating are bad, but that obsessing over it can interfere with life outside of food. For instance, DeYoung gives readers the personal example of attempting to eliminate sweets and snacks from her diet. In doing so, she discovered a few things about herself. She realized that she planned her days around eating, whether it was a snack at a particular time or eating a full meal right on schedule. She also discovered that by not hastily eating a snack here or there throughout the day, she appreciated simple lunches and dinners even more.

So, how does one stop from falling into gluttony? DeYoung says that fasting will help. She admits that it is difficult, both she and her students struggled with giving up simple things, like snacks, desserts, alcohol and even caffeinated beverages. However, she also notes that fasting made her realize factors that controlled her life – such as food – and allowed her to alter her lifestyle in order to not be controlled by shallow pursuits. DeYoung also states that fasting is easier in a communal setting – whether it be one other person or a whole group – and that fasting serves as a spiritual experience; time could be devoted to God instead of to food.

Lust

DeYoung opens this chapter by questioning the nature of sex. Is it the ‘forbidden fruit’ or is it the fulfillment of desire? Is it confined to marriage or acceptable on weekend encounters? Essentially, DeYoung believes that both secular culture and the church send mixed messages about anything that remotely pertains to sexual matters.

DeYoung goes back to creation, noting that God created humans with the ability to be sexually aroused and take pleasure in sexual activity. Acknowledging that there is goodness in sex is the first part of fully understanding it; it also helps in preventing it from being seen as either a purely physical act or a purely spiritual act. According to Aquinas, lust and sex are not generally malicious sins; they occur in moments of curiosity and weakness.

To understand the problem of lust, one must understand how it changes a person, especially when acting on it. It can reduce sex to nothing but a feeling of instant gratification and viewing other human beings as nothing but a ‘means’ to an end. This is different from ‘good sex,’ which DeYoung says will “ultimately bring us into a union of intimacy” in the right circumstances (163). Lust alters that dynamic, making it more about personal pleasure and receiving sexual gratification than about intimacy. Lust corrupts something – sex – that was intended for more than just pleasure and turns it into something focused solely on pleasure. It can damage relationships and cause people to view others only in terms of how much pleasure they could provide.

Like most, if not all, of the capital vices, lust is a habitual misuse of something good – sex – that warps a person’s ability to appreciate the action’s true goodness. In the correct setting, that is, within marriage, sex can enhance a person’s personal, social and spiritual life. In the wrong setting, such as the Biblical example of David and Bathsheba, it can result in sin, adultery and murder. DeYoung uses this extreme example, but just as a note of how intense this vice can become; it is not the norm.

DeYoung does not believe that sex education can solve this problem. Instead, she advocates that the boundaries of lust need to be better defined because doing so will also define the boundaries of chastity. Keeping one’s virginity is one thing, but Christians are also called to have chaste hearts and minds. In order to remain as lust-free as possible, DeYoung advises readers to only use computers in public areas and to keep their language and jokes clean. Most importantly, DeYoung advises learning how to give and receive love in the proper manner instead of simply pursuing shallow, physical pleasure.

Blog Post 3 – Avarice and Anger

Avarice

Before getting into a discussion on avarice, DeYoung opens the chapter with a quote from Aristotle, asking if there is any good to be found in prosperity if prosperity does not facilitate the completion of good works. The question isn’t answered, but the reader is forced into thinking about it over the course of the chapter.

Moving forward, DeYoung makes references to Santa Claus and Gordon Gecko’s “Greed is good” speech, noting that greed has become so entrenched in society that it is rarely counted as a sin anymore. She also gets into Scripture, wondering if material possessions are good or bad, especially when figures like Abraham were rich in both faith and material possessions.

Before getting too deep into avarice, the word must be defined. DeYoung focuses on the internal definition of avarice: the insatiable desire for more, the ways it undermines virtuous living and limits one’s relationship with God. Avarice is caring too much about material possessions

Avarice, like many of the other capital vices, is a habitual behavior. It can be seen in shopping carts, bank accounts, wallets and homes. It is harder to see the internal impact of avarice. But DeYoung claims that it weakens one’s relationship with God by causing people to focus on themselves. Instead of relying on God, people rely on their wealth and attempt a “do-it-yourself” approach to finding happiness.

What makes it hard to let go of wealth and possessions? According to Aquinas, there are two reasons. First, working for something makes it more difficult to give up. It is harder to give up something that has been earned through hard work than it is to give up something that was freely acquired. Second, the experience, or even knowledge, of poverty is hard to forget. DeYoung specifically mentions people’s experiences during the Great Depression, noting that people were always in a state of want. The memories and experiences are difficult, if not impossible, to forget and the fear of returning to a state of severe want leads people to hoard their possessions.

DeYoung makes it clear that living in poverty or giving away all of one’s possessions is not necessarily the solution to avarice. In fact, that could even be considered carelessness and being too detached toward material possessions; for instance, giving up all food and water does not make sense because it is necessary for survival. However, DeYoung notes two figures in her life that seemed to live in moderation. One was her mother, who grew up with two dresses. One was for school every day and the other was for church. This form of moderation was due to lack of money, but one of DeYoung’s professors lived in a state of voluntary poverty. The professor knew exactly what he needed, and anything he gained over that amount was given away. However, DeYoung does make a side note saying that this voluntary poverty was different from true poverty. The professor still had a house, a car and regular meals, which is very different from actual poverty.

So, how does someone actually overcome avarice? DeYoung offers a few practical solutions; document every single expenditure over the course of a week, a few weeks or even a month. After the time period is over, highlight all expenditures that you could do without and note how much money was spent superfluously. Did you really need to go to restaurants or bars every day of the week? Do you really need the newest phone when you just got one a few months ago? Things like these, and even things on a smaller level like a daily coffee from Starbucks, add up quickly and aren’t necessities. Conversely, if amassing wealth is an issue, keep track of how much money went into your bank account and compare it to what was spent. DeYoung’s other advice is to tithe; offering up a little bit each week can be a way to continually remind oneself to oppose avarice. This practice is not about giving to others because it should be done, but giving to others out of love and joy. DeYoung ends the chapter by commenting on an except from C.S. Lewis’s “Screwtape Letters,” saying that ownership leads to pride and serves as a way for demons to convince people that they earned all of their possessions instead of thanking God for providing those possessions.

Anger

Anger, according to DeYoung, is more complex than other issues. After all, wasn’t Martin Luther King Jr. angry at racial injustice? Doesn’t the Bible say that God was angry throughout the Old Testament and doesn’t Jesus flip some tables in the New Testament? When is anger the correct response to something and when is it misguided?

Aquinas believes that anger is a natural expression of a human emotion and even a response to injustice. However, an important distinction is drawn; anger is not inherently bad, but when it attacks the wrong person, gets out of control or becomes all-consuming, it becomes a vice. To Aquinas, this means that feelings of anger can be justified and can even serve as an instrument of justice. On the other hand, thinkers like John Cassian find that anger is rarely justified. He believes that anger blinds a person to reason and causes a person to become self-serving.

Is there a middle ground? Aquinas’s understanding of anger seems to define anger as the force or emotion that a person feels when their path to something good is blocked. The person should utilize this anger to clear the obstruction and reach that good. When properly utilized, it is a tool for justice and the protection of people/things that a person cares about. However, when it becomes vicious, it becomes that vice known as wrath. Instead of protecting others or seeking good, the wrath is nothing but rage and the desire to hurt others.

How does one deal with anger so that it doesn’t become wrath? Similarly to avarice, DeYoung says keeping a journal helps. In this journal, a person should write down how many times they were angry and give the reason for their anger. Rate each episode on a numerical scale and then shut it away for a week to cool off. Then, with a cool head, look at the journal and look for patterns. Were certain instances justified while others were not? Did certain things give rise to anger more frequently than others? DeYoung believes that many people believe their anger is justified in the moment, but appears petty when looking back at it. These journal entries are a way for people to reflect on their actions and consider different ways of approaching situations in the future as to limit feelings of anger and, if applicable, wrath.