Putting off problems to worry ‘bout later
Spending my days as an internet hater
Gorging on chicken with crispy fried skins
These are a few of my favorite sins

Fighting temptation with no hope of winning
Glad that just thoughts, and not actions, are sinning
Not what I do, but what’s buried within
These are a few of my favorite sins

When I succumb and by lust I am driven
Simply confess; it will all be forgiven
Tell how I romped with those Latvian twins
Those were a few of my favorite sins

When I’m prideful
When I envy
When I’m feeling mad
I simply remember my favorite sins
And then I don’t feel so bad.

CNN’s Belief Blog has a fairly frustrating article, Americans reveal their 3 favorite sins.

“Temptations and America’s Favorite Sins,” a survey conducted by the Barna Group, a Christian research firm, concludes that the moral struggles that vex most Americans aren’t the salacious acts that drive the plotlines of reality television shows. Most Americans are too worn down or distracted to get snared by those vices, the survey concludes.

The top three sins seducing most Americans: procrastination, overeating and spending too much time on media.

“You would think it would be sex, drugs and rock and roll,” said Todd Hunter, pastor and author of “Our Favorite Sins,” whose book was consulted in conjunction with the survey.

The survey focused on “temptations”, and asked what people were tempted by–from chocolate to internet porn. (BTW, they conclude that “Temptation has gone virtual”… on the basis of (wait for it) their (wait…) online survey.

Annoying already, they then get to the bit that really irritates.

Many Americans who admit to being tempted aren’t putting up a big fight. The study said that 59% of Americans admit that they don’t do anything to avoid temptation and half can’t explain why they give into temptation.

Many Americans still can’t explain what sin is, Hunter said. Worrying, for example, is not considered one of the seven deadly sins (pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth). Yet survey respondents listed it as one of their top temptations.

“There’s no agreement on what sin is,” Hunter said. “It’s one of the aspects of the world we live in. It’s becoming more relativistic. It’s hard to talk about sin when everyone disagrees about what it is.”

The listed sins are all desires, and never actions. No wonder everyone disagrees; what you actually *do* doesn’t seem to be a problem! It’s just the stuff you are thinking. Acting on my anger (or lust, or greed…) isn’t the sin; the anger itself is.

Since I have already sinned by feeling greed, I might as well act on it and rob someone. Especially since I can ask for (and receive) forgiveness afterward.

It’s exactly backward. I shouldn’t care about your motives, just your actions. Your motives don’t hurt someone; your actions do.