Scandals. If your hand is a cause for scandal, cut it off

11. “Woe to the world because of scandals, for it is necessary that scandals come; but woe to the person through whom the scandal comes.”

“If anyone  causes a scandal to one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for him if one of those millstones were hung around his neck and that he were cast into the depths of the sea.”

“Be very careful not to despise any of these little ones. I declare to you that their angels in heaven incessantly come before my Father in heaven, for the Son of Man has come to save who was lost.”

“If your hand or your foot is a cause for scandal, cut it off and throw it away from you. It is much better for you to enter life having  only one foot or one hand than to have two and be cast into eternal fire. And if your eye is a cause for scandal, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better  for you to enter life with only one eye than to have two and be thrown into the fire of hell.” (Mt. 18:6-10)

12. In its ordinary meaning, scandal means every action that shocks morality or decency in an ostensive way. The scandal does not lie in the action per se, but in the repercussion it might have. The word scandal always  implies the idea of a certain outburst. Many persons are happy to avoid a scandal because their pride would suffer and their worth would diminish in other people’s eyes. As long as their turpitudes are ignored, it is enough for them and their conscience to be at ease. According to Jesus’  words, they are “whitewashed tombs on the outside, but full of rottenness on the inside; clean vessels on the outside but dirty on the inside.” In the evangelical sense, the meaning of the frequently used word scandal is much more general, which is why its acceptation is not understood in certain cases. It is not only what offends someone else’s  conscience, but  is everything that  results from human vices and imperfections; all the wrongful actions of one individual toward another, with or without repercussion. Scandal, in this case, is the effective result of bad morals.