Sin Laundry

You've probably heard of money laundry, right? Well, in case you've heard but don't really know what that is, I'll explain you quickly. Money laundry is when you get from somewhere from where you shouldn't be getting money, and making it circulate through other places to then make it look like it comes from a legit source. The most common cases of money laundry are linked to organized crime and drugs, and in these cases the people usually wash this money by investing it in several legitimate businesses, or making pretend sales or exports-imports, to make it look like the money comes from there. However there are other cases were you can see money laundry, like politics. In these cases the most common type of money laundry comes from illegal donors, or donations of an ilegal nature, so the money is turned around a couple of times through banks and businesses until it looks legal. The point is that you take something that's bad and make it look good.

Well, actually money isn't the only thing that gets laundered. Sins and flaws also get their share of laundering, and basically everybody does it. In my opinion that's just as bad as money laundry, but socially is very accepted. If fact it's so accepted and so normal that it has it's own name. It's called "making excuses".

Either we do it for ourselves or we do it for others, making excuses isn't doing any good to anyone. For instance when someone is mean to you, maybe even abusive, and you constantly try to find excuses as to why they treat you or others poorly, what do you intend to accomplish with that? Telling someone that someone else treated them badly or hit them because the other person is [insert excuse] won't make it better. The partner that beat you purple still beat you and you are still hurt, the child that ruined your one-of-the-kind whatever, still destroyed something of your property, the person that made you look stupid or diminished you because of your gender, race, age, religion, political stand or whatever, still dealt damage on you. Is knowing that they are old, or just children or very tired, or perfectionist or suffering from an illness makes it better? It doesn't, but it actually makes sure that the same type of unwanted behavior continues without the chance to complain again, because the sin has been already laundered.

Where should we put a limit to the request of tolerance, when tolerance is requested on stuff that's a harming imposition on you?

Yes, a hard question, as there are things we might not feel comfortable with, but tolerating them is the civil way to go. Well, there's a difference between being tolerant and letting others trample on you. This limit could be put on when something directly affects you. For instance, if you are straight and in restaurant on the table next to you a gay couple is kissing, well, it doesn't really bother you, does it? But if in the same restaurant a family with unruly children start screaming and crying so hard that you can't hear your own thoughts, or they start throwing things around, then they are directly affecting you.

Often we launder sins because we think that's the nice thing to do, or because we are looking for a quick solution for a given case. You launder your shortcomings and make them look like they aren't so bad or as if they weren't even there, but happened because of an external situation. And again I ask: what do we win by doing that? We earn repetition, the eternal propagation of the sin. Wouldn't be simple to just admit to it and do something about it?

So cases are indeed hard, like when you have to admit to yourself that someone you love or someone you depend on isn't good for you, but lying about it won't fix the problem, while facing you will give you the strenght you need to fix it, either by talking to this person about what hurts you, or taking action - in case it's you - to stop doing what's causing you harm.

Hey, it's not bad to realize you have sins! They show you were you still have to work on yourself to be a better person! So go out, face them, be better and allow others to find those spots where they can perfect themselves.