What constitutes "fat?" Morbidly obese? Overweight? Chubby? Anything outside of the doctor-dictated healthy weight range?
Man, I used to be a LOT thinner and a lot healthier. We're a lot busier than we used to be, with 6 people + pets in the household, and it gets really difficult (and expensive) to eat all lean meats, veggies/fruit and organics. I've probably put on 20 lbs. since my son was born, and I was at least 30 lbs overweight when I got pregnant with him. *sigh* Do the math: my petite frame is packing 50 extra lbs. and I'm not particularly happy about it. Did I get that way by sitting down and eating whole tubs of ice cream or a full pan of brownies? Definitely not.
Here are my thoughts:
1. Food is a necessity to human survival, unlike other addictive substances. Therefore, you can't tell people to simply abstain from food, whereas you could tell them to abstain from unnecessary substances.
2. Abstinence is often easier than moderation and discernment.
3. Saying that someone who is "fat is going to hell" is like saying someone with "lung disease is going to hell." It's kind of stupid to pinpoint the symptoms of a problem as the sin when that symptom can be shared with a number of causes. A person can develop lung disease after they've quite smoking; we wouldn't say they were going to hell for having the disease, would we?
4. Americans in general are overweight and unhealthy, and it's not just portion sizes that are the problem. It's the type of foods we eat, coupled with a lack of exercise. We are increasingly bound to desks and computers instead of working outside, we drive everywhere instead of riding a bike or walking, and we ride escalators and elevators instead of taking the stairs. We even have to set aside special time for exercise that our grandparents got every day just by going about their daily routine.
5. Gluttony is a sin. Now define "gluttony." It isn't just a matter of eating an extra piece of pie on Thanksgiving is it? If it is, there are a lot of hell-bound people on this forum, and that would include the skinny ones who ate until their stomachs hurt.
(Oh, yeah, you know who you are, and you know you did.
)
Bottom line:
This is a cultural problem, not a sin problem. (for the most part)
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