Are sins absolute or can a sin be a virtue if it served the greater good, from atheist or theist perspective?

This argument has been ped down through-out the histories of many different cultures. It's been argued by the philosopher Syrus, Paul made veiled reference to it, it was a dilemma of moral turgidity for many of the Renaissance Popes and it has reared up blatantly in the recorded utterances of Lenin, Marx, and Mao; as well as western plutocrats such as Roosevelt, Churchill, Eisenhower, Nixon, even the Kennedy's and President Clinton have faced this paradox. What is your opinion?