Can A Catholic Be A Professional Eater?

[dells_of_bittersweet]

Is it considered the sin of gluttony to be a professional eater? As in entering a hot dog eating contest with the intention of winning a large enough purse to cover your living expenses. I think it is a sin, just interested to see other people's opinions here.

Edited May 30, 2012 by dells_of_bittersweet

[Hubertus]

That's an interesting question.. Does a sin become not a sin if you're getting paid for it? I wouldn't think so. And I wonder also about the restaurants that offer free (if you can eat it all) 72 oz. steaks. That's gotta be gluttony there, too.

[arfink]

I don't actually know anyone who does this as a profession. I have seen people participate in the contests, but I have never seen anyone make a living on this.

Have you?

[Innocent]

My hasty and not very well thought out opinion is that if you managed to perform these feats with perfect interior detachment from the enjoyment of eating, and supplemented this with regular ascetic exercises of fasting and vigils to ensure that your heart doesn't cultivate a disordered love for the pleasures of the palate, it wouldn't be a sin.



Do you think I got something right?

[Groo the Wanderer]

mebbe not if you rowlf it all up after ye win.


save the biggest chunks for dinner though

[Spem in alium]

This is actually a very interesting question. I've never really thought about professional eaters before. To be one, a person would probably have to like food very much

I do agree with what Innocent says - but I think such a thing would be difficult to pull off. Doing too much (or even a lot) of something can create disorder. I imagine such a career could create some kind of disorder very quickly if a person is not careful.

[cmotherofpirl]

Getting paid to eat is not sinful, but I would be seriously concerned about your long term health.

[MIKolbe]

this thread is about me, isn't it?

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

you don't eat,than you won't POOP!!!,if you don't POOP!!! you will die, recently i have been taking amino acid supplements and thats like 10 bannanas in the one pill and i was considering whether taking these super concentrated tablets is gluttony, paticularily so if i'm not working out or getting fit or both. In the practice of fitness and/or strength the more one needs to eat i guess. Are these guys like obesely fat or obesely muscular,it doesn't sound like much difference but possibly is evil and one is just bad. And if there delibrately regurgetating the food afterwards that sounds kinda twisted and evil. One eating competition are week is possibly good,3 is ok and 4 or more iz sinful. We used to have a huge lunch on sundays at my nanna and pops.

[Anomaly]

[quote name='dells_of_bittersweet' timestamp='1338342215' post='2437547']
Is it considered the sin of gluttony to be a professional eater? As in entering a hot dog eating contest with the intention of winning a large enough purse to cover your living expenses. I think it is a sin, just interested to see other people's opinions here.
[/quote]I would think the difference is why you are eating. Eating tons of food for the pleasure of eating would be gluttony. Eating 100 hot dogs for a contest is not about the pleaure of eating. Based on TV interviews and shows, competitive eating is a skill that requires training, practice and commitment, and isn't about the enjoyment of the actual food.

[dairygirl4u2c]

the only definitions i've seen on gluttony say that it is simply eating too much. even catholic encyclopedia defines it as "the excessive indulgence in food and drink." pleasure doesn't have anything to do with it.
i often do try to justify things like buffets where you eat way too much as they are not habits but once in awhile endeavors. but like distinguishing with "pleasure", it's mostly a rationalization. the buffets in those cases are gluttony too.
as much as one might casually think em harmless or never thought about it... those hot dog eating contests are gluttony, plain an simple.

[arfink]

My concern with eating contests has always been that it's incredibly wasteful. I would be very tempted to say it would be a sin to participate in such contests.

[quote name='Anomaly' timestamp='1338387364' post='2437775']
I would think the difference is why you are eating. Eating tons of food for the pleasure of eating would be gluttony. Eating 100 hot dogs for a contest is not about the pleaure of eating. Based on TV interviews and shows, competitive eating is a skill that requires training, practice and commitment, and isn't about the enjoyment of the actual food.
[/quote]

After all, hookers also have years of practice, training, etc. for having sex, but their actions are still wrong too.

[Anomaly]

[quote name='arfink' timestamp='1338402850' post='2437885']
My concern with eating contests has always been that it's incredibly wasteful. I would be very tempted to say it would be a sin to participate in such contests.



After all, hookers also have years of practice, training, etc. for having sex, but their actions are still wrong too.
[/quote]Other than the obvious disparity of the nature of the two actions, is the point that it is wasteful of certain resources?

[Amory]

Committing the sin of gluttony does not cause one to lose membership in the Church, so--even if being a professional eater does entail the sin of gluttony--a Catholic can still be a professional eater.

If being a professional eater necessitated the sin of gluttony, then it would be immoral for anyone, Catholic or otherwise, to be a professional eater.

[r2Dtoo]

[quote name='Innocent' timestamp='1338343951' post='2437582']
My hasty and not very well thought out opinion is that if you managed to perform these feats with perfect interior detachment from the enjoyment of eating, and supplemented this with regular ascetic exercises of fasting and vigils to ensure that your heart doesn't cultivate a disordered love for the pleasures of the palate, it wouldn't be a sin.



Do you think I got something right?
[/quote]
That would just be awful it someone did that!

[sixpence]

i dunno if its a sin...it probably is... but... I wish it wasn't

[xTrishaxLynnx]

I watched a show once about competitive eaters, and a lot of them eat like that even when they aren't competing in order to keep their stomachs stretched, but they do exercise a lot. A lot of them claim they have to do some type of meditation as well, though, so I'm not sure how that'd go over with the church...

[filius_angelorum]

My quick take on this is tha, unless it seriously impacts health, it is not a MORTAL sin, because it is not grave matter. But it is better to die than to commit even a venial sin, so my answer is still no. It sounds to me like the moral equivalent of doing any self-destructive professionally. I know of a catholic ministry that had a hamburger-eating competition, which caused scandal on the part of several people.