Gluttony

Ways of Committing Gluttony.—There are many ways of committing gluttony, but they can all be reduced to two heads.

(a) Gluttony in food is excess in the substance, quantity, or quality of the things eaten. The gourmet is extremely fastidious about the substance of his food; he must have the most dainty or costly or rare viands, and nothing else will satisfy him. Cannibalism seems to be lawful in extreme necessity, but it is not lawful to kill human beings in order to eat them. The gorger or gourmand may not be particular about the kind of food that is given him, but he desires a large quantity, more than is good for him. The epicure is too hard to please as to quality; even when there is no festal occasion, he must have a great variety of foods and they must be most carefully prepared, so that he may get the utmost joy of the palate. We should not class among gluttons, however, those who require special foods or special cooking for a good reason, as when health or hard work forces one to observe a strict diet.

(b) Gluttony in eating is excess as to the time or manner of taking food. There is excess about the time when a person is over-eager about the dinner bell, eats before or oftener than he should, or lingers too long at table. There is excess about the manner when a person eats greedily, hurriedly, or selfishly, rushing at his food like a tiger, bolting it like a dog, or depriving others like a pig.

The Sinfulness of Gluttony.—(a) Gluttony is a mortal sin when it is so serious as to turn man away from his end itself, making him prefer his appetite to God. Thus, those sin gravely who are such high livers that they are unable to pay their debts, to the serious detriment of creditors; or who gormandize so much that they can do little work and have to spend most of their time in exercising or taking cures; or whose heavy eating is the occasion of serious sins of anger, impurity, or neglect of religious or other duties. To all these apply the words of St. Paul (Phil., iii. 19): “Whose god is their belly.” To eat until one vomits seems to be a mortal sin, if the vomit is caused by the enormous quantity of food consumed, for such an act seems to be gravely opposed to reason; but there is no grave sin if the vomit is due to the quality of the food or the weakness of the stomach.

(b) Gluttony in itself is a venial sin since it is a disorder about the means, and not a turning away from the end. This happens when one is inordinately fond of gastronomic joys, but is not prepared to sacrifice grave duties for their sakes. Thus, a person who gives too much indulgence to a sweet tooth, or who likes to stuff himself now and then, but who doesn’t disable himself or give scandal by his weakness, sins venially.

Gluttony as a Capital Sin.—(a) The first condition of a capital sin is that it be one of the main sources of evil attraction. This condition is verified of gluttony, for all seek happiness, and gluttony contains one of the ingredients of happiness, namely, pleasure in an unusual degree. Among all sensual delights those of the palate and stomach are admitted to be, along with those of sexual love, the most intense. The first of the three temptations with which Satan assailed Christ was that of gluttony (Matt., iv. 1-4).

(b) The second condition of a capital vice is that it be the final or motive cause of a large crop of sins. This condition is also verified in gluttony, since the greedy man is so in love with his pet vice that in order to pamper it he is ready to suffer various kinds of evils which he should not permit. Evils of soul that are caused by gluttony are: heaviness in the mind, for an overloaded stomach unfits the mind to reflect on higher things or to consider the duty of moderation in rejoicing, in words or in acts (Ecclus., ii. 3); absurd mirth in the will, a feeling of security and gladness and unrestraint, for the glutton thinks only of his present contentment and does not consider the evils of his sin; loquacity in word, for his mental faculties being dulled and his will hilarious the glutton gives free rein to his tongue, often sinning by detraction, betrayal of secrets, contumely, and blasphemy (Prov., X. 19); levity in act, for the glutton wishes to give vent to his animal spirits, and he does so by unbecoming jokes and clownishness. Evils of body due to gluttony are dirtiness and disease: the glutton is often filthy in his manner of eating, his breath is fetid, he is much occupied with natural necessities, excretion and exgurgitation, and he suffers from gout or indigestion or one of the numerous other maladies that are the price of overindulgence.