Sin to be shy?

[Rageaholic]

According to these people, yes.

Apparently, shyness is an issue of pride, being more concerned about what man thinks than what God thinks. Now I have been raised Catholic and don't recall anyone saying that shyness was a sin, but I did get the feeling that extroverts were favored. Introverts tend to be more reversed and to themselves, but you're encouraged to be more outgoing and friendly (the whole love your neighbor thing). But again, it was never called a sin.

As someone who suffers from social anxiety, I call bullshit. Of course I think the whole idea of sin is bullshit (a topic for another thread), but making shy people out to be selfish assholes is ignorant. For many people (myself included), social interraction is a constant struggle. It's already hard enough in the job market if you're an introvert, but to have these religious idiots telling people that they are sinners, heavily implying eternal damnation is not cool.

[HYHYBT]

Being shy is *prideful!?* If anything, it's the opposite! Besides, didn't Jesus say something about blessing the meek?

edit: then again, if you read though some of the other pages... even the lists of questions answered...

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

Being shy is *prideful!?* If anything, it's the opposite! Besides, didn't Jesus say something about blessing the meek?

edit: then again, if you read though some of the other pages... even the lists of questions answered...

Yes he did as part of the Beatitudes in Matthew, considered some of the most important of all the scriptures.

[Ginger Tea]

If people would genuinly be screwed out of heaven for being shy (if that's what they are getting at) then I would feel the 10 commandments to be fair game to break.
Hell go for the combo
Murderfuck the couple next door, that's murder, coverting thy neighbours wife and laying with a man as you would lay with a woman.

But as I sincerly doubt if heaven and the likes were real, that they would deny someone paradise eternal due to shyness in any of it's forms my combo plan would not really be needed.

Having said that, I doubt I would make it in anyways, I did after all try to make a combo out of the ten commandments and other scriptures.

That and everything else I've done that's sinful and plan to do again and again.

[TheHuckster]

Pride is one of the deadly sins, which contrary to its dreadful sounding name is not, in and of itself, a sin that God necessarily condemns, but instead is a trait which may lead to actual sins. Pride can lead to narcissistic behavior which can lead to doing something dishonest just in order to get ahead, for example.

Some people are shy because of their self-consciousness, which in a way is a form of pride. Being self-conscious and vain can go both ways: Either you feel you are "above" other people, but just as much you can feel you are "below" other people.

Being shy isn't in and of itself a matter of pride, however, and I think the article is doing a disservice to those who are shy as a result of having an introverted personality or who, ironically enough, simply doesn't want to stand out in a crowd which can be a form of pride. However, I do think those who are shy because they are beside themselves and are so overly concerned with their own self-image should realize that, while it's ridiculous to say they are any more sinners than everyone else in the world, it's unhealthy even from a secular point of view to have that kind of burden.

[Skunkle]

"The Bible has answers! We'll find them for you!"
I'm sorry, did you just say, "No need to come to your own understanding, we'll tell you what everything means. Just believe that our interpretations are always correct"? Because that's what I understood-- whoops, there I go again, getting my own personal understanding. Sorry 'bout that. I'll just trust that you guys have all the answers.

"Timidity, shyness and bashfulness are basically fear, and fear is the opposite of faith."
Well, I'm not so sure about that. Fear of PEOPLE isn't a lack of faith. And fear of God-- well, God is frightening in some ways, and it seems we're told repeatedly that He wants us to fear Him as well as trusting Him, so there's elements on both sides.

"Shyness is about us, but true Life is about Christ, who is our Life..."
Well, again, yes BUT-- in many cases, shyness is a psychological condition. One can easily argue that these are hurdles God gives us so that we can work at crossing them. But even so, shyness wouldn't be a sin - God may give us hurdles to overcome, but He doesn't hand us sins.

"Starting a conversation and showing interest in others can be an expression of genuine love. When we’re filled with God’s power and motivated by love, we’ll be able to reach out to others in a way that makes them feel appreciated. Then the emphasis is on others instead of on ourselves, and we can begin to live in freedom, self-sacrifice and love for others."
What about those who can do this one-on-one, but who are shy in groups or crowds? They can still make personal connections.

I think shyness is something people should strive to overcome, but a sin it is not.

[Rageaholic]

I should mention that this is one of the more extreme Christian websites. They have a question on why they don't consider liberals Christians true Christians and have several other frightening answers to common questions.

Anyway, these are the type who like to find any trait in a person they don't like and try to spin it in ways that make them bad. Like a lot of ignorant assumptions, there is a bit of truth in what they are saying. Shy people tend to be self conscious and afraid to reach out. Their problem is that they call this a "sin" when at worst, it's just psychological condition. You would think that an all knowing God would be understanding of it's own creation and not condemn people to hell for something so silly.

[Panacea]

According to these people, yes.

Apparently, shyness is an issue of pride, being more concerned about what man thinks than what God thinks. Now I have been raised Catholic and don't recall anyone saying that shyness was a sin, but I did get the feeling that extroverts were favored.

Sins are those actions that are destructive to the self or to the community. They are called sin because they separate the person from their community and from God.

Certainly shyness can reach a state of pathology when it gets in the way living a normal life. We call it "generalized anxiety disorder," or "social anxiety disorder," and treat it with anti-anxiety agents. Spiritually, it can get in the way of living richly and having a relationship from God. While you can stretch the word sin to cover this, the traditional understanding of the word (a terrible deed) just doesn't fit the bill. Unfortunately, sin is one of the most misunderstood concepts in Christianity, and too many people get the idea that too many minor or petty things are sinful to the point of landing you in the lake of fire. It simply isn't so. Rather than calling shyness a "sin" we would do better to focus on enriching the shy person spiritually and helping them find the confidence they need to engage fully in the Body of Christ.

Pride is one of the deadly sins,

Well, to be fair, most denominations have gotten away from the 7 deadly sins as a Catholic idea. And even Catholics have gotten away from the idea as outdated

"The Bible has answers! We'll find them for you!"
I'm sorry, did you just say, "No need to come to your own understanding, we'll tell you what everything means. Just believe that our interpretations are always correct"?

Yeah, I got that as well. And some of the supposedly Biblical things they had to say about shyness were taken out of context. For example, they say "Faith and love from God come from saturating the heart, mind, and life with the Scriptures," and cite Colossians. But what Colossians really says is something different, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." The latter simply urges followers to get into their faith. What the website says is God won't love you unless you bury yourself in the Scriptures. Two different things.

But then again, upon reading what they had to say about the Catholic Church, and the multitude of errors and misrepresentations of what Catholicism really is, it's not wonder. This is a fundamentalist Christian site, and not all Christians see things in exactly the same way.

"Timidity, shyness and bashfulness are basically fear, and fear is the opposite of faith."
Well, I'm not so sure about that. <snip>

I think shyness is something people should strive to overcome, but a sin it is not.

I'm not so sure about that either, especially when you cast sin into a context of evil. I don't think shyness is a sin, either.

I should mention that this is one of the more extreme Christian websites. They have a question on why they don't consider liberals Christians true Christians and have several other frightening answers to common questions.

You would think that an all knowing God would be understanding of it's own creation and not condemn people to hell for something so silly.

Yeah, I got quite a laugh out of their portrayals of other religious points of view. Not just their misunderstanding of my own faith, but of others as well. For example, when talking about Islam the site authors claim that Man's rightful home is in hell.

What absolute rubbish! No where in the Bible does it say this. These guys barely understand Christianity; they have no business trying to tell other people what Muslims believe.

Bottom line is I think people get too hooked up on the idea of sin and what it is when they are talking about religion. Focusing on punishment turns the relationship into something bitter and sour. Faith is about spiritual uplift, and many religions have systems within them to allow the faithful to deal with the messes we make in our lives in ways that are both socially healthy and spiritually healthy.

Focus your life trying to be a good person, and take ownership when you do wrong. Make amends with those you wrong. This is the foundation of the Golden Rule, which is a common theme in pretty much every modern religion I can think of.

[HYHYBT]

Some pages seem normal enough, others not so much. But just their inclusion of questions like "Is it OK to use musical instruments in church," even though they wind up saying yes, says a lot about where they fall on the spectrum.

Some of it seems odd even for that perspective. For example, despite every form of Christianity I've ever run across believing God to be omniscient, on a page about Cain and Abel, they say that Abel's line was intended to bring forth the Messiah, and his death meant that job fell to Seth. That would require that God be somehow *surprised* at Abel's murder, which makes especially little sense given their general framework.

[Panacea]

Some of it seems odd even for that perspective. For example, despite every form of Christianity I've ever run across believing God to be omniscient, on a page about Cain and Abel, they say that Abel's line was intended to bring forth the Messiah, and his death meant that job fell to Seth. That would require that God be somehow *surprised* at Abel's murder, which makes especially little sense given their general framework.

The Bible is really easy to twist around, to make it say what you want to say and follow your own particular prejudices.

The Bible is not history, nor is it science. The stories are a way of telling us how to have a good relationship with God and each other, and set the cultural framework of the society that gave rise to Christianity. You have to review the moral messages really carefully, and most people just don't bother and accept a point of interpretation that validates their prejudices. This is really sad, because it leads to a lot of poor behaviors towards others that can be really hurtful.