Comparing the Severity of Grooming and Watching Sinful Acts
The severity of a sin can be understood in various ways, often depending on the intent of the sinner and the harm caused. Thomas Aquinas, in the Summa Theologica, distinguishes between harm that is foreseen and intended, and harm that is foreseen but not intended [3]. When harm is directly intended, it aggravates the sin because the harm itself becomes the object of the sin [3]. This framework can be applied to comparing the severity of actively "grooming" someone for sinful acts versus passively "watching" sinful acts.
Grooming, by its nature, involves intentional action aimed at causing another to sin or to be harmed. This direct intention to cause harm or lead another into sin would, according to Aquinas, make the sin more grievous because the harmful outcome is the direct object of the sin [3]. The will is actively engaged in bringing about the sinful act or its preparation, which makes the sin committed through malice more grievous than one committed through passion [7].
Watching sinful acts, on the other hand, can range in severity. If the watching is merely passive observation without consent or enjoyment, it may be less severe than active participation or encouragement. However, if the watching involves a deliberate consent to or enjoyment of the sinful act, it takes on a different character. Aquinas notes that the gravity of a sin is measured by its species, which is determined by the good to which the sin is opposed [5]. Furthermore, sorrow for a sin should be greater for a more grievous sin, as there is more reason for sorrow due to the greater offense against God [4].
The "first movements of the sensuality," or initial involuntary thoughts or desires, are not considered mortal sins if there is no consent to them [6]. However, if watching leads to active consent or participation, or if it is done with malicious intent, its severity increases. The Bible speaks of "chaste behavior coupled with fear" (1 Peter 3:2 ASV) and warns against a "high look, and a proud heart... [which] is sin" (Proverbs 21:4 Webster) [1, 2]. While these verses do not directly address the comparison, they highlight the importance of internal disposition and outward conduct.
Sources
- I Peter “I Peter 3:2 (ASV) — beholding your chaste behaviorcoupledwith fear.”
- Proverbs “Proverbs 21:4 (Webster) — A high look, and a proud heart, [and] the plowing of the wicked, [is] sin.”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part of the Second Part (Prima Secundae), Of the Comparison of One Sin with Another, Art. 8: Article: Whether sin is aggravated by reason of its causing more harm? I answer that, Harm may bear a threefold relation to sin. Because sometimes the harm resulting from a sin is foreseen and intended, as when a man does something with a mind to harm another, e.g. a murderer or a thief. In this case the quantity of harm aggravates the sin directly, because then the harm is the direct object of the sin. Sometimes the harm is foreseen, but not intended; for instance, whe”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Supplement (Supplementum), Of the Degree of Contrition, Art. 3: Article: Whether sorrow for one sin should be greater than for another? I answer that, We may speak of contrition in two ways: first, in so far as it corresponds to each single sin, and thus, as regards the sorrow in the higher appetite, a man ought to be more sorry for a more grievous sin, because there is more reason for sorrow, viz. the offense against God, in such a sin than in another, since the more inordinate the act is, the more it offends God. In like manner, since the greater sin deserves a gre”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Second Part of the Second Part (Secunda Secundae), Of the Parts of Lust, Art. 3: Article: Whether fornication is the most grievous of sins? I answer that, The gravity of a sin may be measured in two ways, first with regard to the sin in itself, secondly with regard to some accident. The gravity of a sin is measured with regard to the sin itself, by reason of its species, which is determined according to the good to which that sin is opposed. Now fornication is contrary to the good of the child to be born. Wherefore it is a graver sin, as to its species, than those si”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part of the Second Part (Prima Secundae), Of Venial Sin in Itself, Art. 5: Article: Whether the first movements of the sensuality in unbelievers are mortal sin? I answer that, It is unreasonable to say that the first movements of unbelievers are mortal sins, when they do not consent to them. This is evident for two reasons. First, because the sensuality itself could not be the subject of mortal sin, as stated above (Question [79], Article [4]). Now the sensuality has the same nature in unbelievers as in believers. Therefore it is not possible for the mere movem”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part of the Second Part (Prima Secundae), Of That Cause of Sin Which Is Malice, Art. 4: Article: Whether it is more grievous to sin through certain malice than through passion? I answer that, A sin committed through malice is more grievous than a sin committed through passion, for three reasons. First, because, as sin consists chiefly in an act of the will, it follows that, other things being equal, a sin is all the more grievous, according as the movement of the sin belongs more to the will. Now when a sin is committed through malice, the movement of sin belon”