Opening Question:
What's you favorite musical group?

Discussion:
What do you think a sin is?
-Going against an internalized value
-The action of turning away from God

Is something that is evil automatically a sin?

Can you sin without intention? If you don't know it's wrong is it still a sin? Can all sin be subjective or is there objective sin?
The girls that don't have their heads covered; is that a sin because others say it's a sin?
That is a good example of a subjective sin, but that doesn't mean that all sin is subjective.

A good example of an objective sin is that a lot of people say "Oh my God". There are not meaning to sin but to call on God like that is a sin.

What about raping of children in Africa thinking that it will get rid of AIDS? You should know at some level that this is wrong. Does that translate to other areas though? Should you know at some level that adultery is wrong?

There are objectively wrong actions but if you don't know it is wrong that you shouldn't be held accountable for it. You might not be copable for an evil act, but the act is still evil, like a child stealing a piece of candy.

Is there such a thing as a neutral act? What about picking up a can of soda to drink? The first couple of times you do it, it is probably a good act in that you are hydrating yourself or quenching your thirst, but at the hundredth time it becomes gluttonous. Would God want us to do anything that is just neutral?

It is only really helpful to know what sin is for yourself.

A good rule to live by is "Thou shalt not stand idly by." Act of contrition even asks forgiveness for what you have done and what you have failed to do.

We also have a responsibility to form our consciences well, just like to run a car well you need to put in good fuel not honey, you need to make sure that you have the right inputs to make proper decisions.

Stop and think: are things going wrong around me, are my friends all right in what they are doing? It's our responsibility to help others if they are stumbling. But what if they don't think that they are stumbling?

Sin is whether or not it's a loving action. Look at borrowed values vs. internalized values. All your internalized values that you have developed yourself point to love.

But a good act is not necessarily a loving act, what about killing to protect your family? The intention of the situation would be to protect your family, not necessarily to kill someone else. In protecting your family if it came to the point of killing the other person you are not necessarily copable for the action because you were only acting to protect.

It is human nature to hurt others. It's the illusion of good that hurting is fun. The human nature that God intended us to have and the one that we do have are different though. The Bible says that the heart of man is evil.

If it is not done for God than it is a sin. People do good things because it makes them feel good and not because God tells them to do it.

Is God affected by your sin? It's like someone playing an instrument badly, if you know how it's supposed to sound.

We are born with a propensity towards evil. Original sin is a state of nature not an action.

Sin is the loving on oneself to the point of disgust for God.

Why should we worry about sin if we can just confess it and be forgiven? All sins harm people around us, ourselves and God, just because we heal does not mean that the scars go away.

By choosing not to sin we are in essence choosing to love God.

Should it be more "I'm not going to do these things because they hurt others", or "I'm going to do these things because they are loving actions." Look at the 10 Commandments as the 10 Commitments instead.

We should change avoiding sin to seeking good.

The idea of living for someone else to the point where your life isn't of value is a foreign concept to us.

Love for someone comes from the merit that we see in that person. Humans are made in the likeness and image of God and have merit worth loving.

Satan is the only one that God has said is absolutely undeserving of praise.

Ask yourself are my actions loving, are they creative or destructive?