Posted by In high school, one of the musicals we did was the Guys and Dolls. I recently sat down and watched the 1955 movie version starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine. One of the major plot points of Guys and Dolls is the fight against sin, namely gambling and drinking. One of the first songs, Follow the Fold is as follows:
Follow the fold and stray no more
Stray no more, stray no more
Put down the bottle and we’ll say no more
Follow, follow
Before you take another swallowFollow the fold and stray no more
Stray no more, stray no more
Tear up your poker deck and play no more
Follow, follow, the fold
What a quaint notion. That private citizens would hold forth against such depravity. Even more incredible that the state would actively prosecute those seeking to gamble. Prohibition didn’t work in the United States. Outlawing gambling hasn’t worked either, as we can see by the growing legalization of casinos throughout the country.
Is there a state which, seeking to grasp ever more tax dollars, hasn’t legalized casinos?
I don’t think we live in a world that has anything close to the notions of sin that existed in the 1950’s. Or maybe even 60’s or 70’s. It’s all good and well that homosexuality is no longer considered a sin by most of the general populace.
But one of the principles of the modern capitalistic libertarian mindset (which transcends media-drive political notions of who is liberal and conservative) is that humanity isn’t forever doomed to be flawed. That we can either out-earn or transcend our base desires; whether those ends are achieved by redefining sin or by technocratic means.
Do you agree with this quote?
To be human is to live in sin, to be captive to sin, unable to free ourselves. To realize that truth, and struggle with the meaning of our lives, of goodness, of grace, of redemption, in that.
– Charles Featherstone (via TAC)
I think most people would acknowledge that they are sinful. But I think our society envisions being able rise to the point where our sins bring us no earthly pain. Or dismantling (most) notions of what is a sin and therefore what should bring shame to a person, publicly or privately.
