LIKE A DEVIL’S SICK OF SIN…

The line above is from the poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est” by World War I soldier poet Wilfred Owen. Wilfred Owen uses this image to describe a fellow soldier that was the victim of a poison gas attack. Owen describes the face of the gasping, choking man as “a hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin”.

This is one of the most powerful metaphors in the English language. And it is the kind of phrase that would carry a powerful image in any language in the Western World.

When does one get sick of sin? A faith healer might say that sin is what makes one sick. A psychologist might say that it is the sickness that makes one sin. An economist may say that even for the most dissolute, sin has declining marginal utility. If you sin too much, it is no longer fun (has utility).

WHAT IS SIN? A KNOWING WRONG, OR JUST A PLAIN WRONG?

There is an aphorism that is often ascribed to the diplomatic world, although it could be ascribed to almost any field where raw power wins out over higher ideals.

“It is worse than a sin, it is a mistake.”

An interesting situation. It acknowledges that the act is a violation of a moral code, a sin. That is a given, as in “hey, we are all sinners here”. But the sin did not work. It did not produce the desired, albeit sinful, result.

Let’s look at a few obligatory examples.

Example 1. Howard is a political operative, a political hit person. Joe is a political opponent that publically and effectively undermines Howard’s boss, Senator DeVain. Senator DeVain orders Howard to “ruin” Joe.

Howard leaks certain information about Joe’s personal life to politically-aligned news organizations. Howard says that Joe is frequently seen with young adolescent and preadolescent males in social settings. The implication is that Joe is a pederast or a pedophile.

The allegations are technically “true.” Joe spends a lot of time with young boys. But it turns out that Joe is a Scoutmaster and Big Brother. The leaked information is traced back to the source, Howard and Senator DeLie. The leak backfires and condemns Howard and the Senator DeVain for making such despicable allegations against Joe.

The sin was making unfounded allegations against Joe for political gain. But in the political world where raw power is the currency and political capital is the measure of wealth, the only bad sin is a mistake, a sin that could backfire or discredit the sinner.

Example 2. Jonetta is a conservative state representative in the state of Columbia. She is a closeted lesbian. Because of her political status, she cannot maintain committed relationships and hooks up with women as she can.

She has a 100% conservative voting record with the American Traditional Values Committee. She led the efforts to pass a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

A local TV station discovered her identity on a local networking website frequented by the Columbia GLBT community. The TV station broke the story, identifying Jonetta as the person on the website. Additionally, the TV station interviewed numerous women from the lesbian community that new of Jonetta’s sexual preference.

Jonetta resigned from the Columbia State Legislature and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is now in a committed relationship with another woman.

Jonetta has not committed a sin, in the Author’s opinion. Her constituents believe otherwise. But Jonetta has committed the greatest “wrong” in the eyes of her conservative constituency.

WHERE’S ANY OF THIS GOING?

The Author is probably just prattling on, but it seems that considering “sin” and “wrong” within the framework of Machiavellian politics is a problematic endeavor. Maybe the problem is not “sin” or “wrong”, but with the Machiavellians.

SICK OF SIN, WRONGS AND devils IN THE DESERT OF THE REAL!