Mr. Spock and The Seven Deadly Sins

My yearning to be good is totally useless. I have been living for only 28 Earth years, which is probably considered quite short from a Martian or Neptunian perspective, though I have already committed all the seven deadly sins several times. Sloth is my worst sin, and gluttony is my second worst. No matter how much I desire and try to be good, I always fail and let my dark side prevail. One day I came to realize it is because I am a human. Fickleness and fallibility are curses inflicted upon humankind. The only way I can overcome my weaknesses is to leave this human life and to be reborn as Mr. Spock of the U.S.S Enterprise. Yes, you heard me right. If I could desert this lame human existence of mine and become a fictional character, I would be Mr. Spock!

Mr. Spock, our freaky-looking hero from Star Trek, is half Vulcan, half human. He has elfish ears, a deadpan face, a dorky hairstyle and ridiculously pointed eyebrows that frown all the time. His unattractive appearance, however, does not stop me from wanting to be him at all. It is Mr. Spock’s Vulcan judiciousness and rock-solid sanity that is so appealing to me. His human emotional self rarely gets in the way of his discernment. And when it does, it is always defeated at the end by his superior Vulcan logical self. Mr. Spock, so to speak, is free from the seven deadly sins.

Anyway, let me make it clear that Spock is not a Christian. Neither am I. Mr. Spock, I believe, is actually an atheist. I’m writing about the seven deadly sins not only as Christian sins, but as univeral flaws that apply to all humans and aliens. If someone can be free from all these flaws, I respect him/her, regardless of which god, religion or cult that person believes in. In this article, kudos to Mr. Spock, a model citizen of the universe!

Now let’s look into the seven deadly sins and Mr. Spock’s character a little more deeply.

Lust

“Lust” in the seven deadly sins does not simply mean horniness but rather excessive obsession with sex. To put it another way, wanting to have sex now and then is not a deadly sin, but sex addiction is. This sin is impossible for Mr. Spock to have because Vulcan males will experience “pon farr” or a mating drive every 7 YEARS! When it takes you almost a decade to get horny, it can’t be called an addiction, can it?

Gluttony

Vulcans are vegetarians. Also, they eat in silence so that their quiet minds will be open to remember the old days when food and water were scarce, and how much their ancestors had to sacrifice in order to bring peace to their people. It is hard to imagine Mr. Spock to be a pig. Take a look at him, for god’s sake. See how slender he is? Besides, when you have to think about your ancestors’ hardship while eating, it’s probably not so appetizing.

Greed

After years and years of working diligently and risking his life for the U.S.S Enterprise, I don’t think Mr. Spock has ever gotten paid or even received an Amazon gift card from Captain Kirk! Greed for wealth, according to his superb logical mind, will be considered something utterly asinine and petty. When he does the “live long and prosper” hand-sign greeting, I think he means prosper spiritually and intellectually, rather than financially.

Sloth

The definition of sloth in the seven deadly sins is quite broad. It could mean laziness, despair, apathy and unwillingness to live up to one’s true potential. Our Vulcan hero, however, does not fit in any of those categories. According to Yesteryear, an episode in the Star Trek animation series, he prematurely participated in an important coming of age trial without his parents' permission. At a young age, he became the first and only Vulcan ever accepted to Starfleet. He risked his life to save Starfleet a number of times. After decades of working for the U.S.S. Enterprise, he was finally promoted to captain and assigned to the Starfleet Academy Faculty in 2277. Workaholic? Maybe. Lazy-ass underachiever? Absolutely not.

Wrath

Mr. Spock is incapable of getting enraged. Period. It is as simple as that. His logical mind just won’t let itself be overshadowed by such hateful emotion. At times, we may see him get slightly vexed by human irrationality and argue with his colleague, Dr. McCoy, though Spock never loses his cool. When he fights against his enemies, he never does it with the ferocious “I’m gonna crack open your skull, you pricks” kind of attitude. Vulcans are in fact peace-loving people. Spock would attack others only when it is a logical thing to do for the protection of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Envy

If Mr. Spock should envy anyone, it would probably be Captain Kirk, his commander. Seriously, Spock has all the abilities and talents that should be enough to put him in the commanding officer position instead of Kirk. He has an unbiased logical mind, an ability to communicate with creatures that do not speak the universal language and a herculean physical strength that allows him to easily attack someone with just the tips of his fingers (aka the “Vulcan Nerve Pinch”). The spotlight, however, usually shines upon Captain Kirk. Anyway, we never see Spock turn green with envy, do we? Envy is just another illogical human emotion to which our Vulcan hero will not stoop.

Pride

Pride or excessive love of self is said to be the most innate and serious of the seven deadly sins. I interpret this sin as extreme selfishness rather than proudness of one’s achievements. Does Mr. Spock have pride? Absolutely not. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, he sacrifices his own life (which is later restored) to repair plasma conduits that allows his crew to escape from the detonation of a genesis device. That is an ultimately selfless thing to do.

Now can you see why I wish I could be him?