2116. Numerical Multiplication in Sins of Cursing.—(a) By reason of the specific difference in the evils wished (e.g., death, disgrace, poverty), one is guilty of several sins by one and the same act; for, though the act is physically one, it is morally many, as was said in the previous paragraph. But some authors add that only one sin is committed if all the evils wished are united in the mind as expressions of the one sin of hate or as means of the one purpose of injury (see 217).
(b) By reason of the different persons cursed, one is also guilty of several sins by one and the same act, or at least is guilty of one sin that is equivalent to many; for he who curses a whole family or group, formally and expressly intends evil to each member, and thus he differs from a thief who steals from many persons, but does not will individual injuries (see 218).
2117. The Cursing of Evil.—(a) It is not sinful to curse evil as such, that is, to wish that sin or wrong may be defeated. Hence, it is lawful to pray against the evil spirits, the enemies of God and man. But it is sinful to curse any creature of God, even though he is among the lost, for the nature of every creature is good, since it comes from God.
(b) It is not sinful to curse evil tropologically, that is, to curse a creature of God that is taken to represent evil, as being its cause (e.g., Job cursed the day of his birth, the beginning of many evils), or location (e.g., David cursed Mount Gelboe, the spot where Saul and Jonathan were slain), etc. But it would be a sin to curse these creatures of God in themselves.
2118. It is not sinful to curse an irrational creature on account of its relation to man, if there is a sufficient reason to curse man himself (see 2112), either on account of the good of justice (e.g., when God cursed the earth as a punishment on Adam, when Christ cursed the fig-tree as a sign of the curse on Judea), or on account of the good of utility (e.g., when one wishes that the liquor ordered by a drunkard may be lost).
2119. Unlawful Cursing of an Irrational Creature.—(a) It is unlawful to curse an irrational creature, considered precisely as a creature of God, for in so doing one reflects on God Himself, and incurs the guilt of blasphemy.
(b) It is unlawful to curse an irrational creature, considered precisely in relation to man, if there is no just cause to curse man. Thus, if one wishes that a neighbor’s cattle may die, intending only the harm that will be done the neighbor, one is guilty of sinful cursing (see 2113).
(c) It is unlawful to curse an irrational creature, considered precisely in itself, for such an act is vain and useless. Those who curse the inclemency of the weather, the infertility of the soil, the stubbornness of mules or other animals, the uselessness of a tool, etc., do not generally speaking commit a grave sin, since they intend only to voice their impatience with conditions that are displeasing.
2120. Murmuring.—Murmuring is the expression of unjust discontent or complaint by inarticulate sounds or by secret words.
(a) It is unjust, and so it does not differ essentially from the sins of speech given above. If it is an injustice to honor, it is reducible to contumely; if it is an injury to fame, it pertains to defamation, etc. The injustice of murmuring results either from the thing complained of (e.g., a child murmurs against the just orders of its parents), or from the manner of the complaint (e.g., a subordinate complains against an unjust order, but angrily, contemptuously, or uselessly).