Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Its a sin

The Oxford's new dictionary aimed at children has taken out words such as sin and added words like blog and MP3 player. While I understand the need to keep up with the times, the words they took out were important. (Read the story: here) Baudelaire wisely noted that: "the devil's best trick was to convince us he doesn't exist". In a world that is increasingly falling apart we would do well to remember the definition of sin. Of course there is the religious implications of a society that blurs the lines, but in the late 1800s Durkheim (a Sociologist) came to the conclusion that the moral confusion that comes with modernity led to higher suicide rates. This is a phenomenon he called anomie.

2 comments:

Lily said...

Oh my! I use an old, old Webster's dictionary in our home school. It has definitions that are right and true, none of this pc mumbo jumbo...elimination of sin...pfffttt.

Alexandra said...

Thanks for visiting my blog. :) Your post brings back memories! I got a B.A. in Sociology as well, albeit a long time ago('88). Some of the liberal theory made me want to gag, but it was interesting.