Modernising sin

Can you name the Seven Deadly Sins (tm)? You'll probably struggle over some (unless you're an avid viewer of Se7en), but the answers are hidden below...

• Pride
• Envy
• Gluttony
• Lust
• Anger
• Greed
• Sloth

Well, to overcome this lack of awareness, and greater lack of relevance (for most people a sloth is probably one of those strange upside-down hanging South American creatures), sin is going the way of most things nowadays and being modernised.

Don't know if this means that the old list no longer applies but, as far as the Pope is concerned, the new Big Ones to be avoided at all costs are as follows...

• Environmental pollution
• Genetic manipulation
• Accumulating excessive wealth
• Inflicting poverty
• Drug trafficking and consumption
• Morally debatable experiments
• Violation of fundamental rights of human nature

With their suitably 'green' and anti-globalisation stance, I'm guessing more of us will agree with most of these.

But as with most acts of modernisation, the new version does lack some of the punchy almost poetic simplicity of the original...and probably their memorably as a consequence. Because for all the relevance issues, you can guarantee that, in a year, the old school version will still trip more easily off the tongue.

Lessons for everyone in the modernisation game there I would suggested. Which gets us right back to those strap line debates.