Pleasure is sin

Some glory in their birth, some in their skill;

Some in their wealth, some in their bodies’ force;

Some in their ceremony, through new fangled ill;

Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horses,

And every humour hath his adjunct pleasure,

Wherein it finds a joy above the rest.

— Shakespeare

Let’s face it, every man has his pleasure, and so does every woman. In fact, some women are men’s pleasure, but this goes beyond that. We all have our pleasures as we indulge in the things that we love to do. At times we indulge too much, and as the saying goes, too much of a good thing is bad for you. Wah sweet nanny goat a go run him belly.

As the above quote stated, some find pleasure in their wealth, others in their bodies, some in their clothes, and even in their hawks and hounds back in the day when it was fashionable to go hunting with those creatures.

Whatever your fancy, it brings pleasure, but I have discovered, much to my dismay, that usually the things that bring us pleasure are sins. It’s just not fair, as whatever we like to do, to indulge in, is usually deemed to be a sin and also bad for you.

We’ll find out exactly why pleasure is sin, right after these not so sinful responses to ‘Baby intrusion’.

Hi tony,

Babies can be cute and cuddly. When they make those baby sounds and smile at you, it just melts your heart. Feeding and burping them is a joy. Pooping, peeing and crying are accepted naturally as it comes with the territory as part of motherhood. Of course, I am talking about my own child, not those of others. On an aeroplane I am just glad that the crying baby is not sitting immediately before, beside, or behind me.

Carol

teerob,

Of course babies are an intrusion, but as you pointed out, not always a bad one. If you are the selfish type and do not want to give up any of your pastimes, then naturally the responsibility of caring for a baby will be an intrusion on your way of life. That’s why young women will leave infants at home and sneak out to go to parties. In extreme cases they will abandon them as the intrusion is too much to bear. Fortunately those instances are rare.

Jennifer

Name your pleasure, what gives you the most pleasure? Whatever it is, you can bet that it’s a sin. And yet, we are driven to it as a moth is to a flame. And you know what happens to that insect if it gets too close to that flame — poof! It’s instantly consumed by the very thing that it desired.

But mankind lives for pleasure, and the hedonistic streak in us will always seek out whatever makes us feel good. Yes, Hedonists spend their lives in the pursuit of pleasure and dedicate every waking hour to its indulgence. Hedonism has its strong points and is worth looking into.

But somehow along the way, someone, or some people decreed that having too much fun was no good, and decided to put the brakes on mankind’s pursuit of pleasure and labelled most of them sinful. Did it all begin in the Bible, or was it some scribe who interpreted and decreed that pleasure was sinful?

In the good book, that first story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden suggested that by pursuing pleasure they committed a sin and were banished from that enchanted garden. Some scholars suggested that it was because they ate an apple, which was forbidden. While others opined that it was something more egregious than simply nibbling on a mere fruit.

That apple story was perhaps allegorical some say, meant to cover up the real truth, sanitise it, as it was really sex that they indulged in that proved to be sinful. I kinda lean towards that story, for since then, anything that has to do with sex is a sin — anything.

If you have sex outside of marriage it’s a sin and also against the law. Oh yes, it’s called fornication, which means to have sex without being married. If caught in the act, you can be arrested, hauled before the courts, sentenced and thrown in jail. The irony is, that same judge and jurors may just be as guilty of the same crime.

This law is still on the books in Jamaica and also in other countries, but it’s not really enforced much in the Western world. In some other countries though, they are very strict about it. So much so that an unmarried woman is not even allowed to be in the company of a man unless another person is present.

If you’re caught with your pants down, being carnal out of wedlock, it’s a huge sin. Imagine having sex being illegal in Jamaica? Half of the country would be in prison.

“What are you in for, tiefing, murder, scamming?”

“No, I had sex without being married.” But even if you want to get technical and insert marriage in the equation by having sex with someone else’s spouse, that’s also a sin, which is frowned upon by God and mammon. And yet there are some who say that it brings so much pleasure… partaking of forbidden fruit. There it is again, equating sex to fruit, apple, forbidden fruit… is there a correlation?

Read it any way you want to, the fact is, having sex with another person’s spouse is the sin of adultery, and it’s a big one. It’s so huge that even now, in some countries, people caught indulging in this sin are stoned publicly, or even beheaded. But guess what, in spite of these severe penalties, people still find the way, the means, the time and the will to indulge in this pleasure. No wonder they make pleasure sinful.

You would think that those severe consequences would deter people from seeking such pleasures, but it doesn’t. Sometimes even the man of the cloth himself who cast judgement on those sinners is guilty of that pleasurable sin of adultery.

Is it the fact that it brings so much pleasure that sex is decreed sinful, or is it the fact that it’s a sin why it brings so much pleasure? After all, you know what they say, it’s the excitement of doing wrong that brings so much pleasure. Even if you simply decide to look at another man’s wife it’s a sin. The Bible does decree that ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s ox, his ass, or his wife.’ Covet, of course, means to lust after, to want as your own, and that’s decreed a sin.

That being said, is it okay to covet your neighbour’s wife’s ass? Just asking. But to covet is a sin, even though the act of coveting doesn’t bring that much pleasure. It’s like looking at a car that isn’t yours, coveting it and paying the price of sinning without actually driving it. But as the old saying goes, ‘So a man thinketh he doeth.’

It’s said that there are many thieves who have never stolen anything, many murderers who never killed anybody, many rapists who never raped… but they thought it, so they sinned. So even if you covet the man’s wife and didn’t act on it, you committed a sin. Sex gives so much pleasure, and apparently illicit sex gives even more pleasure, and that’s why it’s a sin.

But even if you decide not to covet any man’s wife but pay for sex instead, doing a transaction between you and a willing merchant it’s also a sin. Buying a prostitute and being a prostitute is sin. Anything that has to do with sex is a sin, anything that brings pleasure is a sin, anything that you like to indulge in is a sin.

Eating fast food is pleasurable, yet deemed bad for you, so is drinking sodas, yet people indulge in them so much. It’s better and healthier to eat natural, wholesome foods and drink natural juices, but the lure of the junk food is strong, and the sinful lust is pervasive.

“I just can’t help it as it brings me so much pleasure.”

Be careful, for gluttony is a sin also as decreed in the Bible.

Smoking and drinking alcohol brings so much pleasure to some people, yet both in excess can be deemed sinful.

“What a sin, all the man do is smoke and drink all day and night.”

Junk food, sweets, staying out late, laziness, too much wine, women, and song all are bad for you and deemed sinful.

Somewhere along the line it was decreed that anything that brings too much pleasure shall be deemed to be sinful. Was that designed to keep us in check, to curb our naturally hedonistic ways? And yet, mankind still indulges in pleasures, wanton, illicit and lustful.

It was Shakespeare who said, “Revel the night, rob, murder and commit the oldest sins, the newest kinds of ways.”

He also said, “Thou makest me merry, I am full of pleasure, let us be jocund.’

Have a prosperous and safe new year, my friends.

More time. seido1yard@gmail.com

Footnote: My wife had surgery to remove her thyroid gland and I have nothing but praise for our medical practitioners and facilities. Much thanks to consultant Dr Charles Royes, consultant cardiologist Dr Handel Emery and especially to Dr Myrton Smith, surgeon; and anaesthesiologist Dr Melody Isaacs. Their professionalism and expertise are beyond excellent. The facilities and staff at the University Hospital of the West Indies Tony Thwaites Wing are firstclass and the nurses are exceptional, professional, courteous and caring. It’s no wonder our nurses are in such demand in foreign countries. The experience was challenging, but the excellent care by our health care providers made the burden much lighter. We are so grateful and proud of them and of the health care offered.