--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Angela Mailander <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I was interrupted, so in my last post the sentence got garbled. "Sin" to Dante is merely an obstacle on a path, and it is an obstacle because there are consequences to be worked out. The whirlwind is a consequence of Paolo and Francesca's action. The difference between hell and purgatory for Dante was that the soul in hell suffers, but does not know that there is an end to the suffering and also does not understand why this suffering has occurred. The soul in purgatory also suffers, but it knows that there is an end to suffering and it is also very clear about why this suffering is happening. a
Then Dante's Hell is a "stupid" place -- base on retribution. Purgatory is a place of rehabilitation and and learning. Walking in the person's shoes one has hurt -- and learning from it. Sin as an obstacle and consequence. Per my last post, "take what want, take all you desire, but pay the price at the door". I like this view, because it presents a framework of self-regulating education and learning form action. And is not a pejorative threat, as in the sense of "you WILL pay the price dude!". The thing bought (sin) is not bad in and of it self. But it has consequences. And is an obstacle to buying other things. Like the economists "market basket". You can have this OR that, but not both (at your revenue line). (Gotta love those isoquants.) Buying THIS, presents an 'opportunity cost' to buying THAT. and vice versa. Neither purchase is a sin, nor a great moral action. It is a framework like any store -- or warehouse superstore. You can buy that 65" 1080p TV -- no sin in that. But you have to pay the fair price for it. That means, its not free. You have to trade so many hours of work for it. And you have to set it up. And be hassled by it when you move. The deal is -- you can enjoy it totally -- its all cool, but there is a price to pay for it. Just like anything, there is a price to pay. You can be a western yogi in India -- and may enjoy many things from that -- but there is a price for that. You can do a corporate job -- and enjoy the things from that -- but there i a price to pay for that. You can covet your neighbor's wife -- and enjoy -- but there is a price too pay for that. You can rob a bank -- and enjoy -- but there is a price to pay for that. In this view -- there is NO sin. Just payments. Some manage their credit cards wisely. Others don't. The sin is not in what is bought -- but only whether one has the resources to pay for it -- both physical payment and inner payment. And to be able to handle well any "future returning" payments. Like a dividend -- or a future balloon payment on a large loan. As written by the seers of old, "You can get anything you want, at Alice's restaurant ... "
