The Gospel of Luke, chapter 1:51

The sin of pride is the greatest of all sins, and is exposed by Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a conceit of the heart. The following commentary by Sidney J. Harris draws our attention to the corrosive effects of pride and it’s foolishness upon individuals and society.
                                                                                                                                                            
Fr. Hugh Duffy

“During the hearings on civil-rights in Chicago, one of the city’s homosexual spokesmen was quoted as saying, “I’m proud of being gay.”

But there is nothing to be proud of in being gay, just as there is nothing to be proud of in being straight. Blacks, too, are fond of stressing “black pride,” which is as silly as white pride or red pride or speckled pride.

“I’m —- —- and proud of it,” is the kind of remark children make when their ancestry is questioned or denigrated. It is not a sensible adult retort, or attitude, because there is nothing to be especially proud of even in being a human being.

Our conduct as a species can be nearly as high as the angels or lower than the beasts. It is our individual actions and motives that we can be proud of, or ashamed of, not the fact that we belong to any sub-group, geographically, racially, or even religiously.

I am proud of my country when it behaves with generosity and intelligence, and ashamed of it when we are crude or boastful or bullying. “My country right or wrong” is the worst slogan known to man.

If one is willing to share in pride for accomplishments of any particular group, one must be equally willing to accept censure for its misdeeds, errors, and defects. There is no group on earth that is not a patchwork of contrasting and conflicting conduct.

“Pride” indeed, is considered the deadliest of sins in scripture, and it is the trait that moved the highest angel into rebellion against God. It is an ambiguous word in English, for while one should properly take pride in doing his job well, one should not be proud of anything he was not personally responsible for doing.

As we commonly use it, it is a defensive word against the derogation of others who deem themselves superior to us in some identifiable way. No gay, for instance, would ever think of being proud of his penchant unless society at large scorned him for it.

We have a right to be proud, in one sense, when we act up to our fullest potential as a human being; it is only then that we are fulfilling our nature. To be proud of anything we have inherited or acquired without any merit on our part is as silly as strutting because we have blue eyes or can play a piano with our nose.”
                                                                                                                                                      
Sydney J. Harris.