The war against Pride — The Original Sin

Pride — Why do so may now bathe in this feeling? I have no knowledge of the past feelings, lives, or thoughts of ordinary people, but now in the age of information — should we know better?

I am a religious person, by definition, but do not owe loyalty to any institution of faith. Though I am deeply fascinated by Christianity and wanted to touch bases on the “Original sin” of Christians, and my own worst enemy, Pride.

Pride, the reason why humans, unlike other living creatures, are sinister.
How did we as conscious beings allow our worst quality to be so mainstreamed in this day and age?

Even if you are not religious — which is pretty ironic if you are an open-minded person, who believes in the value of different qualities and improvement to oneself, as religion is not just blind faith in a deity — you could argue that some bad deeds are worse than others, and go as far as saying that one trait is the root of all the bad behavior you can muster.

But hold on a second…

What is wrong with being prideful?

If you take a bite out of any of the “Deadly Sins”, it would be sure to contain a great deal of pride in it — it is their primary fuel. The delusion of one’s greatness, the feeling of being superior, smothered in satisfaction of being yourself, the amazing <Insert Name>.

I usually ask myself, what is the “opposite” of the situation I’m thinking about.
The alternative of pride, in this philosophical sense at least is humbleness.

We could argue about the negative and positive aspects of certain virtues and vices, but at the end of the day I believe Pride is the root of all Evil, therefore I consider it the worst vice to have, not just because of the gravity of evil it can unleash, but the diligence and resolute need to combat it within oneself.

People are proud of their Race, Sexuality, Political party, Gender, Nationality, Sports team, Ideology, and the biggest irony of all, Religion. Being prideful in these examples divides us, makes us blind and weak, and ripe for the picking, for the great shroud of Corruption.

How often did you hear someone having a strong opinion, even hatred, toward people who only have some different thoughts than them? Even in the pandemic, one side calling people who are paranoid — “idiots”, and the other side calling people who are endangering others — “morons”. Does this not sum up everything that is going to the potty currently?

But what Corruption am I talking about? The Corruption that lives in all of us, dormant evil. In theory and practice, as a person gains value, knowledge, and status, he is more prone to becoming prideful and Corrupt himself and the structure of society. We should avoid this by being embracing a humble life, and absorbing wisdom, or at least this is my theory.

Knights Virtues

Alternative to pride, which many people still don’t consider a truly wicked vice somehow, there are virtues that I’ve been taught even as a child ( Not successfully mind you ) that are similar to pride in a way, but are actual values to be respected.

Honor, Integrity, Nobility, Grace…

Why are these Virtues not popularized in today's society? I always thought because you cannot make money off those people. Maybe not as much as from anyone else.

I loved the movie Fight Club, it is one of my favorite movies truly, but there is one line that made me think about this particular question:

We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars, but we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.

The world has never seen a more peaceful time, at least in written history. But why are we so angry, mainly at people who think or do differently than us, clinging to group identities instead of looking within and focusing on ourselves, our values, and our lives.
I think it is because, as some Orthodox Christian fellow pointed out, we are better than those who do not think like us, who are not like us, therefore we “hate” them, and want to make them more like us.

I do believe that something that annoys us most about a person, we do or have it as well.

Waging the War

I’ve been focusing on improving myself for a while now, and thanks to many people I’ve talked to, who gave me such knowledge, ideas, and experience I’ve identified a new enemy to defeat. I realize my faults, maybe not all of them, but the greatest enemy to defeat within is my Pride.

Why is this so important to me?

What would be the duty of a normal human being through life? My belief is to seek Wisdom and to battle Corruption.
I also believe:

Wisdom is a Cure for Curroption, but the Pride is Wisdom’s cancer.

Regardless of how intelligent the person is, without clarity and wisdom, he is easily manipulated. People have done some terrible things through history and even today because they were and are deceived.

So how do I plan to live my life free?
I will seek to destroy the walls of illusions in my life, hope to realize all of my faults, weaknesses, and ill intentions, and work to overcome them. I will not be naive and believe evil is far away, it is within me and must be contained. And most important of all: I will not turn a blind eye to Corruption.

I solemnly swear by this.

I am waging a war against my wicked self, and I intend to be a victor.