[betty boop]

...By this [Schoeck] means that fewer people than ever are ashamed of being envious, seemingly believing that the fact of their envy is proof that social injustice has been done, that the envious one is in fact justified in crucifying the object of his envy.

Talk about the problem of "the tail wagging the dog!!!"

Just goes to show that any expectation that "man is the measure" is doomed from the get-go.... That expectation is utterly false.

Such a belief reflects pure idiocy — a refusal to be human.

The Christian tradition teaches that Envy is a mortal sin, thus something to be shunned and feared if we find it in ourselves — because it is literally soul-killing.

Indeed, it is second only to Pride in its destructive power.

The list goes like this:

Pride
Envy
Anger
Sloth
Greed
Gluttony
Lust

That envy can be justified as a "norm" of human behavior pretty much suggests to me that the "human project" left up to the discretion and direction of envious souls is utterly hopeless.

And that those who think Envy reflects some truth about the universe of human existence are destined for the Second Death, lest they mend their ways....

[spirited irish]

Early Church Fathers held that pride + covetousness + hate = envy and when unbridled leads to the physical murder preceded by the spiritual, i.e., verbal crucifixion. This means that Abel and then much later Jesus Christ were spiritually crucified before being physically murdered.

In this light Schoeck’s concern is understandable in that the verbal (spiritual) crucifixion of the envied, i.e., straight white males, Christians, Tea Partiers, Palin, et al is already politically and even socially acceptable.