<BI> - One can only truly grow, when Ego has been acknowledged.

Ahhh good, playing on my words, much like I have been to you - Good tactic there my fellow debater :) You seem to have gotten stuck on the titles however - "GREED" - "PRIDE"-"ENVY"- etc. What would stop a gluttonous man from realizing how deplorable his situation, and the future repercussions of their life habits? What would stop a Wrathful man from realizing they are negative influences on their surroundings? What stops a Prideful man from understanding there is more to life than that single accomplishment they have done? What stops a man from realizing his Lust is destroying relationships, affecting their families and potentially ruining their life? What would stop a greedy man from realizing that they don't need to hold onto each of their possessions? What stops an Envious man from realizing that the 'grass is not always greener on the other side'? The answer to all of the above questions is Hubris - Their Ego. All of the people who refuse to listen to reason or fact, do so because they somehow believe that they are better, or somehow 'know better' than others, which is why they are "the exception to the rule." You say it is difficult to discuss these issues with those who are currently experiencing them - You stated that I am undervaluing these problems as opposed to my definitions. I counter by saying you don't seem to grasp that I do completely understand where you are coming from - each of those vices you have listed are a serious problem - All of them affect humanity, and individuals on a daily basis. My counter-argument in Round two stated as such. I also followed to say that I do not class these as personal problems - the person who is wrathful is still physically and mentally sound - they just have a predilection that is not appreciated by society, which have in turned classed each action as a "sin" to discourage the populous from mimicking the behavior. Whilst I agree that if everyone in the world developed at least one of these traits, it would destroy us - However it isn't, it doesn't, and it will not. However, take a look around the world (Hence the Religion and President examples) - Can you not correlate the issues that are currently happening, and find the common derivative? I have, and my conclusion is Ego - People refuse to acknowledge what they are doing, they either believe themselves to be 'good' people - or people 'caught in the moment'. Both are flat-out lies. When people are wrong, in the wrong - or even remotely wrong - They can either learn from what they did, or make excuses to protect themselves (Ego). How many people accept and learn from their losses? (I don't think we have enough characters to have all the '0's' in 0.00000* to show the percentage of people that actually do this.) Alternatively, how many people would much rather find a perfect excuse to divert all attention away from what they did, so they can learn how to do it sneakier next time? ( I don't think we have enough characters to have all the '9's' in 99.9999* to show you the percentage of people doing this.) You say each of the Sins are horrible, because they are Sins - or they are negative to people. I say it is not the Sins themselves that are horrible (True, they are deplorable), it is the fact that people refuse to look into their behavior to change it - Their EGO stops this! I in no way advocate that the sins themselves are safe - they are a problem and are being dealt with over time - But the fact that each of the sins you raised to me as a problem, I can correlate to actually staying problems due to Ego - that is why Ego is much more of a threat to oneself than any of the sins combined. If you still don't understand me, answer me this : If a Person were to have ALL of the cardinal sins (As you have described) and had no Ego, they were completely open to their faults and were happy to change - How long do you think this person would retain the vices of each of these Sins? (I.e. how long would he resort to Wrath to gain what he wants, would he stay Slothful, Gluttonous, Prideful, etc.?) As it was my fault I forfeited a round, I apologise we were unable to have another Round to discuss this topic - I would like to use this time to let my opponent know of a well played Debate - I (Selfishly) thought this debate would go on another tangent, and perhaps we could clear up our difference in perspective, however I have learnt greatly on how to express what I mean regarding Ego from this debate. For that, I thank you.