There’s a lot of talk of the “obesity epidemic” and this is often discussed in scientific terms, about “counting calories” to lose weight, or fad weight loss diets (which can work), or just “exercising more and eating less”
But I’ve thought from time to time that maybe this is more of a spiritual problem of the sin of gluttony, and as such it may not be as easily solved by self-will and discipline, but by the grace of God through people undergoing holy fasts for the good of soul and body
What do you think about the spiritual dimension of the “obesity epidemic”, or the traditional idea of the sin of gluttony?
Catholic encyclopedia on gluttony: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06590a.htm
Aquinas on gluttony: https://www.newadvent.org/summa/3148.htm
No our food is garbage. The food plate or pyramid is flipped. People need to eat real food not stuff from a box. Faith is going down for sure. But so is the food.
I believe it’s both-and.
I recently saw a NOVA episode on the drug epidemic. One issue we run into is that we’ve been treating the drug problem as a moral problem. This causes people to feel ashamed of their drug addiction, not seek treatment, then die on the street from an overdose. If we treated drug addition as an illness, we wouldn’t have that problem. It’s very rare someone would equate having a broken arm to a moral problem–nope, if you have a broken arm you go to the doctor to get a cast on it…no shame involved.
That’s not to say morality isn’t involved. But if you look at Jesus’ ministry, he didn’t want people to feel shame–that’s Satan’s job. He wanted people to repent and turn to him.
So with gluttony…yes, it can absolutely be a moral issue. But what is leading to that gluttony? Treat the underlying condition, then the sin won’t be an issue.
Food gluttony is something I struggle with. It’s emotional. If I don’t feel I’m getting my emotional needs met, I eat and eat and eat. While I often feel guilty afterward I focus on my efforts on solving the underlying issue without guilt or shame.
