# What is the sin if you wish someone dead? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 17, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301 "2023-03-17T19:36:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/1 "2023-03-17T19:36:37Z")
I have the feeling that it’s likely to be a sin, but I’m not sure which one. It can’t be Love thy Neighbor, because someone half a continent away from me can hardly be called my neighbor. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/2 "2023-03-17T19:37:26Z")
Wrath, probably? ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/3 "2023-03-17T19:38:31Z")
It might be worth it- what ring would that land me in? ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/4 "2023-03-17T19:40:01Z")
Google says 5th. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/5 "2023-03-17T19:49:52Z")
That’s a sin? Wishing on someone the thing that is going to happen eventually? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/6 "2023-03-17T20:15:46Z")
Aren’t there plenty of lesser sins besides the seven deadlies? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/7 "2023-03-17T20:17:31Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Wrath, probably? But I’m not mad. I just think it would be a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/8 "2023-03-17T20:25:47Z")
Which sin - or whether its a sin at all - depends on your motives for wanting them dead. If you wish he died because you’re angry with him, that’d be wrath. If you wish he died because you want to get with his wife, that’d be lust. If you wish he died because you want to inherit his money, that’d be greed. If you wish he died because he’s your dad with late-stage cancer, and you don’t want him to suffer any more, I’d say that’s not a sin at all. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/9 "2023-03-17T20:28:53Z")
If you think wishing something might actually make that something happen (like a curse) then that’s witchcraft. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/10 "2023-03-17T20:29:48Z")
> [@](#): > > But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. > > -Jesus, Matthew 5:44-45 > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > But I’m not mad. I just think it would be a good idea. > [@Miller](#): > > Which sin - or whether its a sin at all - depends on your motives for wanting them dead. Yes, I think that’s a valid point. There’s a difference between wanting someone dead out of hatred or malice or greed or envy, vs. thinking the world would be better off if a particular person were dead. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/11 "2023-03-17T20:32:34Z")
Not testifying because it might incriminate you? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/12 "2023-03-17T20:37:48Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > If you think wishing something might actually make that something happen (like a curse) then that’s witchcraft. Which is probably a sin. Witchcraft has got to be a sin. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/13 "2023-03-17T20:41:09Z")
That Jesus guy sounds a little _woke_. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/14 "2023-03-17T20:46:33Z")
If you go around wishing the worst things to happen to me, and I’m out of your effective reach, you aren’t hurting me, but you’re hurting you. Which — although I’m not a Christian — I seem to recall was the classic Christian theological notion of sin, that it wasn’t like a criminal offense against someone else, it was a corruption within _you_ the sinner. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/15 "2023-03-17T20:51:41Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > It can’t be Love thy Neighbor, because someone half a continent away from me can hardly be called my neighbor. Yes, they _are_ your neighbor. Being a Christian neighbor is not about proximity, but about loving others. It is our greatest commandment–we are made in God’s image and must serve each other with the same love bestowed upon us. The Greatest Commandment, [Mark 12:28-34](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+12%3A28-34&version=NET). The Good Samaritan, [Luke 10:29-37](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A29-37&version=NET). The Judgement, [Matthew 25:31-36](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A31-46&version=NET). ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/16 "2023-03-17T20:53:18Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I have the feeling that it’s likely to be a sin, but I’m not sure which one. It can’t be Love thy Neighbor, because someone half a continent away from me can hardly be called my neighbor. When I was a single-digit-aged kid in Catholic elementary school, I was taught that for the purposes of the “love thy neighbor” rule, “everybody is your neighbor.” So yes, some asshole half a continent away, whom the world would probably be better off without, is your neighbor. [Mr. Webster would agree](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neighbor), in sense 2: “fellow man.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/17 "2023-03-17T21:01:44Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > So yes, some asshole half a continent away, whom the world would probably be better off without, is your neighbor. I’m fine with that guy, but do I still have to care about the guy who lives right next to me? ---
**Author:** ![Beesnest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@Beesnest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beesnest)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/18 "2023-03-17T21:04:27Z")
It is not just Christianity, other traditions try to make the world a better place by stopping the cycle of anger. I did not think the 7 deadly sins were biblical and they are not listed together as sins in the bible . The list was complied by an early Pope. I did read something ,in a work of fiction, that Jewish law said not to wish ill towards any other person. The example used was if you saw smoke and fire engines were racing towards your neighborhood you should not pray that it was not your house because that meant it was someone else’s home. Don’t know if that is actual doctrine but I thought it was interesting. As for wishing someone dead. Hatred radiates . Intimidation exists. Children learn without impulse control. We all need to measure ourselves but none are doing a really good job of it. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/19 "2023-03-17T21:20:29Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > > [@dirtball](#): > > > > So yes, some asshole half a continent away, whom the world would probably be better off without, is your neighbor. > > I’m fine with that guy, but do I still have to care about the guy who lives right next to me? Speaking strictly for myself, as someone who might BE the guy who lives next to you, I’m not too terribly concerned about that. I’ll just ask you to not to actually do anything worse than, say, give me the ol’ stink-eye if we happen to be outside at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2023, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301/20 "2023-03-18T11:08:38Z")
I imagine that the sin would be sloth. If you REALLY wish that person dead… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sin-if-you-wish-someone-dead/981301.md?page=2)