Introduction

The last chapter opened with the Oxford English Dictionary's definition of sin as ‘A transgression of the divine law and an offence against God, a violation (especially wilful or deliberate) of some religious or moral principle.’ Such a definition of sin has little relevance in a modern secular society where God no longer occupies a central position in most people's symbolic universe. Consequently the symbol of sin has lost its potency to identify and restrain deviant behaviour and the concept of sin is perceived as largely irrelevant. Yet on the margins of modern society other conceptions of sin emerge. Environmental pressure groups view the pollution of the earth as the prime sin of humankind. In New Age thought, the essential divine goodness of each individual is emphasised; evil is perceived as a matter of ignorance, and is transcended by the enlightened individual.

These different views of sin correspond to four types of society that Douglas identifies with her Grid and Group model, which she uses to analyse different cultures. In hierarchical societies, sin is perceived as transgression; it is regarded as irrelevant in societies which value individual competition; sin as pollution is the characteristic perspective of the sect or enclave, while sin is associated with a state of mind by those who enjoy unstructured social relations. These four different types of society Douglas plots on a matrix, the axes of which measure two variables.