Sin? What sin?

A newspaper columnist recently denounced a politician’s assertion of the bond between spiritual faith and civil freedom, saying that this was a dangerous repudiation of the values of the so-called Enlightenment and the Age of Reason espoused by a few of the nation’s founders.

The detachment of reason from faith, advocated by many elites during those days, did not end well (the Reign of Terror, Nietzsche, Marxism, Communism, Nazism, etc) and in fact it was doomed from the beginning, in no small part because it denied not only the relevance of God but also the reality of original sin as well as actual sin.

Sin clouds and distorts reason, leading us to reject logic in favor of rationalization.

Also, when God is removed from the equations of reason, man imagines himself the center of the universe, leading us to a skewed view of reality (and sometimes even to deny objective reality).

Today’s first reading (1 John 1:5-2:2) reminds us of the fallacy of denying the reality of sin.

If we say, “We are without sin,”
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

It also reminds us that a relationship with God is the foundation for true peace and harmony.

If we walk in the light as he is in the light,
then we have fellowship with one another,
and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

In Christ we can have true enlightenment and an eternity of perfect reason.