Identifying Different Kinds of Sin
For each question make sure to write what type of sin you think is being committed (No sin, venial sin, serious sin, or mortal sin) and to explain your answer fully. Your group will be in charge of presenting one of the stories that Mr. Leone will assign to you. Make sure you give extra attention to that story and have your full explanation ready to be shared on the due date.
1. Sam is the rich leader and CEO of a large bank who decides to make more money for himself and his other very wealthy friends by secretly scamming people. He knows this will cause thousands of people to lose their jobs and life savings but he doesn’t care because he and his close business partners will make hundreds of millions of dollars. What type of sin if any is Sam committing and why?
2. Maria has a big drinking problem. Many times has gone out to her local bar to drink heavily and later drive home. Maria knows that drunk driving isn’t good, but she thinks that it’s not that bad because her bar is only two miles away and she has never gotten into an accident before. One night as she is driving home drunk she hits a car and seriously injures the two people in the car. What type of sin if any is Maria committing and why?
3. When Jim was a young kid, he was constantly abused and beaten up by his uncle. As he grew up Jim became a violent kid and constantly beat up other kids in order to get what he wanted. When he got older, he began to turn to crime and robbery. One day while holding up a food store, Jim shoots and kills the store manager for trying to fight back against the robbery. What type of sin if any is Jim committing and why?
4. James is really hooked on a new game for his Playstation4. He knows that he is supposed to shovel out the snow for his parents before they get home from work. One snowy day, James gets so into his new game that he forgets to shovel the snow in his driveway or help his mom carry in the groceries. When his mom gets home, she slips on the ice and hurts her ankle. What type of sin if any is James committing and why?
5. Cindy and Kristen used to be close friends. After getting into an argument, Cindy and his friends kicked Kristen out of their group. They stopped calling her, eating lunch with her at school, and stopped talking to her altogether because they wanted to show Kristen how much they didn’t like her anymore. What type of sin if any, is Cindy committing and why?
6. Sara’s family is very poor. Her mom is very sick and her dad just lost his job last month and can’t find something new. Sara also has two younger brothers and a younger sister. She knows that her family has to pay the rent for their apartment at the end of the week otherwise they will be thrown out since they have been late paying the last 3 months. Sara knows that some of her friends hang out with a group of guys that deal drugs, and she knows that these guys are always looking for new people to help them deal. Sara decides to work for the dealers and sell drugs to earn money for her family. What type of sin if any is Sara committing and why?
7. Brad is supposed to baby-sit the kids of his next-door neighbor and he is running late from football practice. On his way over to the house, he sees an older boy pushing around a smaller kid down the block and it looks like they are not joking around. Brad decides that he really needs to get to his neighbors since he already has been late and knows his neighbors need to get somewhere important, so he ignores the situation. What type of sin if any is Brad committing and why?
8. One day after returning from work, Max hears that his wife and children were unfortunately killed in a serious car crash. Max is devastated and falls into a very serious depression, which is a mental illness. Max finds it extremely difficult to adjust to life without his family. Finally, the suffering becomes too much for Max to handle and he decides to take too much of his antidepressant medication which causes him to overdose and die. What type of sin if any is Max committing and why?
9. Kate promised to help her little brother study for his math final over the weekend because he has been struggling. At the last minute one of her friends asks her to go away with her family over the weekend and Kate decides to go instead of helping her brother. By the time she gets back late Sunday night, it’s too late to help her brother. The next day her brother takes the test and a few days later Kate finds out that he did very poorly. What type of sin if any is Kate committing and why?
10. Mark is a police officer and has worked in a notoriously dangerous precinct. One day he and his partner get a call about a robbery at one of the local convenience stores. When they respond to the call, Mark and his partner see a man pointing a gun at some people in the store. When they yell at the man to drop the gun, he turns and fires at them. Mark fires at the man intending just to inure the man but the wound results in his death. What type of sin is Mark committing?