Gluttony is the eating of more food than you need. Like most of the deadly sins, this one can be brought on by stress or the holidays. The church’s view does not take into account good reasons for gluttony… like lay in a store of fat for hibernation or gaining twenty pounds to play Winston Churchill in a bio-pic. Oh, and eating contests shouldn’t count as a sin either because, by the end of the contest, NO ONE is actually enjoying themselves. We spend a LOT of money trying to determine how much of a particular food can be crammed into a human body in a set amount of time when that money would be better spent researching why some people think it is a good idea to find that stuff out.
We’ve also invented food porn—no, the OTHER kind of food porn… where we watch other people enjoy food. And, I think another form of that is the phenomena of watching cooking shows all the time WHEN YOU DON’T COOK. I won’t sleep in the same house with someone who does that. Is it gluttony if you enjoy food but don’t eat it… just fantasize about it? And, if watching people eat satisfies us on some level, maybe we should broadcast those shows in extremely impoverished nations. It’s the least we can do and I don’t mean that in a good way.
Why do we eat when we’re not hungry? We are stimulating our sense of taste. As a species, we spend a LOT of time stimulating our senses. Why begrudge the tongue? It hardly gets out anyway. And, now that we know about the fifth taste component (umami), we have a LOT of lost time to make up for. And, I don’t know about the rest of you (except the ones that I might be stalking), but I plan to walk into the nearest Japanese restaurant and consumed miso soup until I’m throwing up little tofu and seaweed bits.
In short, we need to eat to live. Gluttons are simply overachievers in that respect. Should they be revered and emulated? Should they be taunted and emasculated? I say that we NEED gluttons. How better to see that enough is enough than watching someone eating too much?
Potatoes and the Promise of More Potatoes 
Even for you that was skewed logic and now I’m anticipating the sequel … the bathroom visit 😊
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You know, Deb, when it comes to hot pepper eating contests, I always wonder about the next day…
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See a blog opportunity. I just read tonight’s blog to my partner and he seemed under impressed 😦
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Well… I’m just happy I finished the theme…
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‘the other kind of food porn’ 😀
unlike other sins, gluttony can be scientifically defined, how much food is really more? but the priests those days probably didn’t have much fun besides food
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My favorite monk-rule was the one where you could only eat when the sun wasn’t out. It’s a lot like Ramadan in that respect.
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Ah, food porn. So much more satisfying than the original kind. Less noise…. and no one worries about the lack of plot.
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“Why begrudge the tongue? It hardly gets out anyway.” – I liked your pieces on the deadly sins. So funny 🙂 “In short, we need to eat to live. Gluttons are simply overachievers in that respect.”
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Well, that took care of that theme. Now, I’m out of ideas…
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I love watching cooking shows, though I do like to cook and sometimes try to emulate various recipes I’ve seen (if I can afford the ingredients that is).
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The Great British Baking Show is one of my favorites. I’ve been dieting for several months but, when the holidays roll around, I’m a’bakin’…
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Yeh I love the The Great British Bake-Off. We also have the The Great New Zealand Bake-Off here, as well as the Australian one, but the British one is the best.
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I hate the drama in the American cooking contest shows. I just want them to cook… not cut each other down…
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I did not understand the point of eating competitions, especially when it comes to sausages WITH bread. I can compete in a spaghetti eating contest though!😄😄😄
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I think the point is to show the world you can win at SOMETHING…
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Hahaha, You’re right!😄 But I love spaghetti and sure had won!😄
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