Of course, one man's sin is another man's natural human inclination.

Look at those seven vices through the right lens and they might not seem so terrible after all. In fact, they could even be good for you...

Pride

According to Christian theology, pride is the worst of all the seven deadly sins.

It's wrapped up in arrogance and selfishness and acts as a gateway sin, leading you to lust, envy, and all the rest.

The idea was borne out by a recent literature review from the University of Missouri, which found that arrogance is on a spectrum.

It starts with individual arrogance, which is an inflated view of oneself, moves to comparative arrogance, where that inflated view fuels a feeling of superiority and ends at antagonistic arrogance when superiority leads people to treat others poorly.

However, a hint of pride could also be a good thing. After all, loving oneself is associated with feelings of confidence, self-worth, and assertiveness. Many people who lack those qualities would say it's better to have them than not.

Indeed, a recent study from Queen's University Belfast found that narcissism, or excessive pride in oneself, increased mental toughness, which helped to offset symptoms of depression. People who scored highly in tests for grandiose narcissism were also less stressed.

Dr Kostas Papageorgiou, from Queen's School of Psychology, said: "This research really helps to explain variation in symptoms of depression in society. If a person is more mentally tough they are likely to embrace challenges head-on, rather than viewing them as a hurdle.

"While of course not all dimensions of narcissism are good, certain aspects can lead to positive outcomes." Continue reading

Trolling and other antisocial behaviors are widespread online. They can even be found in devout Catholic circles, though outright trollery and the "culture of hate" are perhaps more easily recognized and avoided than a more subtle but related phenomenon: what might be called a culture of wrath, of rage.

Wrath is one of the seven capital sins. Not all anger amounts to the sin of wrath; there is such a thing as righteous anger, as Jesus' own example demonstrates.

For those of us who are not Jesus, though, righteous anger easily slides into the unrighteous kind — and the more we are provoked to anger and outrage, the likelier it is that we will do so.

How much we are provoked to anger and outrage — how much mental energy we give to topics that we find outrageous, scandalous and offensive — is thus an important concern. If there is one biblical exhortation most commonly transgressed on social media by otherwise sincere believers, I suspect it is these well-known, well-loved words of St. Paul:

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8).

These words mustn't be taken too absolutely. There is a place for naming and resisting evil, for alerting and warning others of danger, for outrage, for righteous anger. St. Paul does not mean that dishonorable, unjust, impure things, things worthy of condemnation rather than praise, shouldnever be thought of.

We cannot take Paul's words seriously, though, without taking stock of just how much of our attention and energy we give to thinking about dishonorable, unjust, impure things that are worthy of condemnation, as opposed to honorable, just, pure things that are worthy of praise. Continue reading

Sources

• The Catholic World Report article by Deacon Steven D. Greydanus, a veteran film critic and creator of DecentFilms.com.
• Image: The Wrap