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 Eve couldn't stay away from the apple, but a new survey reveals that most Americans struggle with three other temptations.
February 8th, 2013
10:25 AM ET
Americans reveal their 3 favorite sinsBy John Blake, CNN “Lead me not into temptation. I can find it all by myself.” That line, taken from the country music song “Lead Me Not,” evokes smiles because it underscores a truth: The struggle against temptation is universal. A new survey, however, gets specific about the type of temptations most Americans battle against, and shows that men and women seem to wrestle with different vices. “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 said that 60% of Americans admitted that they’re tempted to worry too much or procrastinate; 55% said they’re tempted to overeat, and 41% said they’re tempted by sloth, or laziness. The sex, drugs and rock and roll-like vices fell dead last in the temptation categories: 11% of Americans said they were tempted by drug abuse; 9% were tempted by sexually inappropriate contact. Even young people put sex and drugs way down on their list, according to the survey, which broke down temptations by gender and age. It found that 21% of millennials (born between 1984 and 2002) considered sexually inappropriate behavior their chief temptation. It was the lowest percentage attributed to any vice by millennials. Their top two temptations were worrying too much and procrastination. The battleground for temptation has also shifted – it’s gone digital, according to David Kinnman, president of Barna Group, which based its survey on 1,021 online interviews with a representative sample of white, African-American and Latinos. “Temptation has gone virtual, ’’ Kinnman said. “Nearly half of Americans admit to being tempted to use too much media and one in nine admits to expressing their anger digitally.” Temptation also seems to affect men and women differently – more women said they’re tempted by gossip and overeating, and only 8% of women admitted to being tempted by online pornography versus 28% of men. 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.” Hunter knows a little bit about temptation. One of his is chocolate. He once shot up to 330 pounds because he overate. He said all temptations start with a desire for something good: tasty food, rest, intimacy. They become “disordered” when they enslave people and spread pain through their lives. “Disordered desires imprison us,” he wrote in “Our Favorite Sins.” “In the end they give us nothing – not one lasting shred of goodness, freedom, joy, or love.” Hunter’s advice for staying clear of temptation: fasting, praying and staying out of places and relationships that lead you toward temptation. For those who aren’t religious, Hunter recommends thinking about sports. He cites the practice habits of superstars like NBA legend Michael Jordan. They practice progress, repeating athletic exercises every day until their body complies. Little victories lead to big things, Hunter said. In his book, he quoted the legendary college basketball coach John Wooden: “When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. So don’t look for the quick, big improvement. Seek the small improvements one day at a time – that’s the only way progress happens – and when that kind of progress happens, it lasts.”
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A THOUSAND Times WORSE Than HITLER – A Man Probably Considered one of the Most Evil Monsters in HISTORY is Responsible for the Deaths of SIX MILLION. If we allow the Climate Apocalypse to Continue by the End of this Century YOU an I will Be Responsible for Famine and Drought and Flood Waters and Pestilence and Heat and Storm that could Kill SIX BILLION.
Procrastination , overeating & spending too much time on media have moved from bad habits to sin ?
( which in dogma has consequences in terms of heaven or hell )
Either someone is taking liberties with our definitions / language OR
They are wrapped wayyyyyyy too tight !
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These sound like gluttony and sloth to me. Didn't the Christians have these down as deadly sins for a good long time?
No snaky lyin' dustball educratists needed for a modern myth. Can't quit can, ya?? Too much invested.......Tweak it some more.
"Jhn 11:43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth."
"spending too much time on media."
I dont remember reading about this sin in the bible.
No, but it fits both gluttony and sloth. If people are going to choose religion over psychology in understanding behavior, we might as take full advantage of the system and see if avoiding these sins can act as a motivator.
Sin is nothing more than the imaginary disease necessary to sell you the imaginary cure that is religion.
unless you get herpes, then its a real disease.
@ mike
Unless you get it from a priest, then it's a blessing from god.
I never sin, because I don't believe there is such a thing.
There is no such thing as sin as taught by Christian Fundamentalist Churches.
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................ GODisIMAGINARY.com (please visit) .......
******************** and THANK GOODNESS because ..
.... he emanates from the EVILbible.com (please visit)
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your imaginary
I don't really think that God gives a hoot about so called "offensive content" on the internet. Narrow minded moderators aren't God even though they want everyone to think they are. I think it's offensive when they violate people's right to free speech and expression by acting like they're Gods of the internet and won't allow honest debate because honesty is offensive. According to some people, worldly facts are evil, but discrimination is o.k. It's really pathetic.
I'm tempted to tell narcissists that they're not perfect and that they're going to hell. Rebellion comes in real handy when you catch liars in the act of lying.
My biggest "sin" is knowing that God doesn't exist.
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................ GODisIMAGINARY.com (please visit) .......
******************** and THANK GOODNESS because ..
.... he emanates from the EVILbible.com (please visit)
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Wow. Now literally as we speak, I am putting off getting started on the day's work, while eating a large slice of chocolate cake, and reading CNN.com online.
burn in hell
feels good doesn't it?
Yes, because the bible said thou shalt not partake in more media than allowed. Media Is the devil bobby!!!
Just the fact that it could ever be considered a sin means that religion is manipulated by man. It is not like God has updated the bible to version 2.0 now has he?
It is not media itself that is sinful I am presuming, but the sloth/laziness that comes with staring at a screen for 10-16 hours a day.
Actually god might be on 3.0 but Not sharing with humans who will just slow down his service .
I-SLUM FOUNDATION OF AMERICAN CONSTI PATION, I dream about you Martha, you know? You're on a bed and there's a glaze over you with pi neapple rings. And you have my ni apple in your mouth. Then, somehow you're in a pen and hundreds of little piglets are sucking at your teats. But after that you seem quite normal my love Martha, eating a crapy really big pulled pork sandwich in front of a window. Outside of the window are dozens of starving Arabs. Then you're laughing as hundreds of young Aisha s run through the streets of Mecca starting fires while singing Mohammad is Dead. You sing with them and command the muezzin to call out the azan backward because you yourself have just told my dogh that it must be so from this day on.
Sorry that wasn't meant to be a reply to you personaly I'm just tired.
Spinoza: substance
That's good. I like it..so far. Still picking through it. I was going with the definition of "God" as "existence" but of course that depends on if "existence" exists. It might not, you never know. Apparantly on a quantum level it sort of doesn't.
They should have asked about masturbation.. That is the same as procrastination. It's just another word.
Procrasterbation
bahahahahahaha
I just spewed my coffee. BEST word evah.
A little p-ssy, more p-ssy, a ton of p-ssy.
Only for the new members of this blog:
Let us start from the beginning:
From a friend who is a Catholic Professor of Theology–
"Baptism does not erase original sin since the sin does not exist. The old "laundry of the soul," approach to Baptism is no longer accepted."
Regarding the "sins" of gluttony/overeating and laziness in the 21st century: Acts of simple stupidity with the penance of heart trouble, stroke, and/or lack of education and poor job skills resulting in unemployment. And Hell and Purgatory are not in the picture since neither exist.
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The above is a public service announcement from your local egotist.
Jesus christ was born in hell!
Everyday we christians are faced with challenges and problems that either make us better or make us worse. Today in America there is no clear vision for the faith, as there are way too many independent Christian sects. What happened to one bread and one body?? We are a family who should stick together and back each other up instead of letting others control what we think. Too many people are waiting around for someone else to take charge and lead a new crusade. Well thats not how this all works out. We as the ordinary practicing Christians must show it by the actions that we do. If we solved all the problems of the world in one day, then the next would bring even more challenges to test us. It isn't necessarily about fixing and making the world a better place, don't get me wrong. We have such a brief stay on Earth and this time is used to unlock your heart and give yourself humbly to God. To seek what love and truth really is. As a Catholic growing up through high school it has been tough because many other people including Christian brothers and sisters prejudge me or act rudely to me. I have to show them first who I am and then prove to them that being a Christian is more than a status. It is who we are and as a Catholic, I am a loving, diciplined, hard working, honest, selfless, persevering man. The true three pillars of Americas society is not procrastinating, over eating, and lazziness because these are small habits in the bigger scheme. What the three pillars of America is Individualism, Hedonism, and Minimalism. America has lost the true meaning of what it is to be free. I really wish that networks would actually interview a large pool of people throughout America of what they think, rather than make up controlled lists. That way the media would have something better to talk about. The media should really take initiative to educate rather react and report. Here's to the fourth branch of the United States.
Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.
-Denis Diderot
I'm afraid common sense and reality is replacing your mindset. In 100 years, no one will know what you refer to.
"We are a family who should stick together and back each other up instead of letting others control what we think."
Aren't you doing the same thing?
There have always been multiple sects, groups, or whatever. There were multiple groups of Jews in Jesus's time, there were many different sects of people believing all sorts of things before and after Jesus's death. The people in power won and squashed most of the others, giving the appearance of "one".
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................ GODisIMAGINARY.com (please visit) .......
******************** and THANK GOODNESS because ..
.... he emanates from the EVILbible.com (please visit)
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The biggest sin that humans in general commit is the act of choosing to be stupid.
Second to that is failing to take the time to discern for themselves.
Third is lacking manners.
Ok. I'm starting with...I'd like God to exist. Pro-theism. Now, I looked up "sin" in Wikepedia and it's anything that offends God..so that be atheistic standards is impossible.
If I go with theism I'm stuck with my original question..."What" is God?
I hate to start with that question but it's a good one.
Better one what is time ?