How can PRIDE send you to Hell? As a sin?

[Juno Styles]

i'm developing a character in a story with a supernatual theme, and am wondering how can Pride as one of the deadly sins be one of the worse sins?

can anybody give any examples of a scenario where an act of pride could be the reason for that person going to hell?

[instant_karma]

Isn't Pride what got Lucifer the gig in Hell?

[Adam Isaac]

Here's your map, dude:

http://www.catholica.com.au/peregrinus/images/DanteInferno_400x606.jpg







PRIDE is the heart sin of each of the 7 Deadly Sins. Pride is said to be Satan's favorite sin, and God's least favorite, because it leads to the #1 thing can't stand: Blasphemy. Pride is the rampant disease within humanity that even the most humble of servants of God: their soul is just ate up with Pride. Pride is the root of every other sin in the books.

[grant]

Well the pride they're talking about in the seven deadly sins is excessive vanity and/or hubris. Something that today would probably be classified as narcissism, or even psychopathy at the extreme end. People who are excessively narcissistic or psychopathic tend to ignore the golden rule, which leads to all kinds of sins that add up.

[BattleDolphinZero]

I think you connect those last two posts. Pride is one of my favorite character flaws. It's all rooted in ego. And pride exists in the absence of humility.

Pride makes characters in movies do sh*t that sacrifices the well being of others as well as himself, and, most importantly, it makes your character do that despite a positive solution being right in front of his face.

It's a great tool to work with.

[Rantanplan]

I think you connect those last two posts. Pride is one of my favorite character flaws. It's all rooted in ego. And pride exists in the absence of humility.

Pride makes characters in movies do sh*t that sacrifices the well being of others as well as himself, and, most importantly, it makes your character do that despite a positive solution being right in front of his face.

It's a great tool to work with.

Totally agree. Lots to work with. Pride can have devastating consequences on both small, personal levels and on a large international scale. Think about assshnoles in power who lead thousands to their death because they are too proud to admit or recognize a poor military strategy. Think about all the people who lost their loved ones because they were too proud to admit they were wrong and needed to change their behavior. Or countries who will keep waging bloody war against each other for generations to come because they are too proud to forgive, forget and move forward.

I would personally venture to say that fear, pride and greed are responsible for most of the evil in the world. A lot of despicable behavior can be directly or indirectly linked to these wonderful qualities so prevailent in us miserable little humans :)

[Mac H.]

i'm developing a character in a story with a supernatual theme, and am wondering how can Pride as one of the deadly sins be one of the worse sins?

can anybody give any examples of a scenario where an act of pride could be the reason for that person going to hell?Remember too that in the Old Testament, the G-d described isn't the nice warm fuzzy loving G-d of today.

Not only does he kill people for all sorts of quite trivial actions (like collecting firewood on the wrong day) but it is quite specific that he is very jealous.

So we have the story of the Tower of Babel where people were punished for trying to reach too far.

The biggie, as mentioned, is the story of angels being cast down from heaven for pride. (That story isn't from the Bible, though - it's from a different collection of mythology from the Second Temple period - the 'Second Book of Enoch'.)

To quote:

And one from out the order of angels, having turned away with the order that was under him, conceived an impossible thought, to place his throne higher than the clouds above the earth, that he might become equal in rank to my power.
And I threw him out from the height with his angels, and he was flying in the air continuously above the bottomless.


There's a common theme here .. just having the thought of being equal in rank with the Jealous Creator is enough to be sent to Hell. (Although remember, our modern concept of Hell is different to theirs.)

I think the biggest confusion is simply the idea that our modern idea of a loving, caring G-d is somewhat at odds with the older mythologies !

Good luck !

Mac

[umo]

Totally agree. Lots to work with. Pride can have devastating consequences on both small, personal levels and on a large international scale. Think about assshnoles in power who lead thousands to their death because they are too proud to admit or recognize a poor military strategy. Think about all the people who lost their loved ones because they were too proud to admit they were wrong and needed to change their behavior. Or countries who will keep waging bloody war against each other for generations to come because they are too proud to forgive, forget and move forward.

I would personally venture to say that fear, pride and greed are responsible for most of the evil in the world. A lot of despicable behavior can be directly or indirectly linked to these wonderful qualities so prevailent in us miserable little humans :)

I think envy is the worse trait--damn ugly. :|

Fear seems to control most people's lives.

And pride makes one act stupid more than anything else. While greed, in controlled doses, can be helpful to achieve success. But once you get "it", then greed is silly.

[Juno Styles]

this is great. even though he is a good guy, i understand how my character will now suffer as a result of his pride. ;)

[NikeeGoddess]

like others have stated
a person's pride can result in more devastation than any of the other sins... which are usually more personal and just effects that one person.

[Fortean]

Woe to those attending the Academy Awards ceremonies!

[NikeeGoddess]

that's vanity, not pride

[emily blake]

what others said.

also, i think pride is the worst because it's an active and competitive sin whereas the other sins are reactive.

examples... thinking in film terms - the movie se7en covers all the sins; but, if you specifically view kevin spacey's character and the entirety of his actions, they constitute the sin of pride. the character takes pride in his certainty that he is doing the right thing for mankind. and, the subsequent result of his exertions (murder, destruction, beheading, etc) could be enough to send that character to hell.

hope this helps. :)

I think Kevin Spacey was Envy because he coveted Brad Pitt's life. Pride was that chick who he cut off her nose and superglued the phone to one hand and a bottle of sleeping pills to the other.

[asjah8]

I think Kevin Spacey was Envy because he coveted Brad Pitt's life. Pride was that chick who he cut off her nose and superglued the phone to one hand and a bottle of sleeping pills to the other.

hi em,
you're correct, within the storyline, kevin's character said he was envy and he killed the girl representing pride; but on a thematic level, he never would have done any of it without absolute belief in his right to judge, ie, he made himself god.

wasn't that a trippy way to die...? horrible but really, really creative...