Sin vs. Immorality
Difference between Sin and Immorality:- Both the term “sin” and “immorality” are used to describe transgressions that each person may commit at any given time in his or her life; however, these two concepts, despite being related, present some contextual differences that must be known in order to not to use them indistinctly and give way to possible confusion.
Difference between Sin and Immorality
If you do not know the difference between immorality and sin, read below, because then we explain in detail.
Sin
The word sin is generally related to the religious context. When sin is transgressed the divine commands, therefore, it is considered that sin is in one way or another offend or insult God.
Those who sin does things that are contrary to the divine will and, according to many religions, sinners (depending on the severity of the sin committed) will be punished at the end of their lives. The type of punishment they are supposed to receive also depends on the religion in question, in some cases there is the belief of a hell in which sinful souls who do not repent are eternally tormented; while in other cases it is believed that punishment consists in not being resurrected to live in the new paradise.
Traditionally, there are seven capital sins, which are:
- Pride
- Go to
- Gluttony
- Sloth
- Envy
- Avarice
- Lust
Some sins are not considered crimes within society, but another is; for example, pride (despite being a serious sin) is not penalized by law, however, homicide is.
Immorality
On the other hand, when a person’s actions are not only offensive to God, but also to society in general, they speak of immorality. As the name implies, it consists in transgressing the moral norms that prevail in a given context.
Immorality includes any behavior condemned by society and does not always appear related to the concept of sin. For example, a non-religious person or even an atheist may consider immoral the fact that someone is unfaithful to his partner or dawn drunk on the street.
While what is considered sin depends mostly on religion, what is considered immoral depends more than anything on culture. For example, wearing a bikini on the beach is not immoral in a large number of cultures (especially Western ones); however, in other social contexts it is by no means acceptable.
Unlike sin, immorality has a more subjective feature; as it is sometimes beyond cultural and depends on personal preferences. It may be the case that people belonging to the same culture have different moral values, something that hardly happens when determining what is sinful and what is not; since the latter does not depend on particular considerations, but is supposed to have been stipulated by God or the divinity to which one worships. In short, the main difference between immorality and sin is that the former has to do with norms and beliefs within a society, while the latter is of a purely religious character.
