Frequently Asked Question (FAQS)
Q: What is the purpose of confession?
A: Many psychologists and religious leaders feel that guilt and shame can be destructive. Shame is often self-destructive and guilt can distance the individual from family, friends, and society. Confession is one method of confronting guilt and shame. In turn, confession is the beginning of the process to relieve shame or to repair the bonds with society.
Q: What is sin?
A: Well functioning communities have norms of behavior and core values. Many of the most widely accepted norms and values are very explicitly communicated in the form of written laws such as the Constitution or the Ten Commandments. If an individual breaks the law, he or she is judged and a penalty is given. Similarly, one's family, religion, and community have a set of values and behavioral norms that seek to prevent the weakening or destruction of the respective community. Sin is the violation of a community's norms or values that weakens or destroys the community and an individual's relationship with it.
Q: What is guilt?
A: Each community has a method for communicating the actions that it believes are destructive. A community member that has violated these values and recognizes the damage may feel guilt or remorse. The feelings of guilt may come from the community's reaction to the violation or it may come from a basic or instinctive human recognition of the damage done.
Q: What causes shame?
A: If an individual violates a community's values, the community may distance itself from the individual or otherwise shut the individual off from the benefits of being a member of the community. Families "disown" , friends "disassociate," religions "excommunicate," and governments "incarcerate" wayward members in order to punish unacceptable behavior. An individual's anticipation of the community's disapproval causes shame. (e.g. If my Mother or Father knew that I stole their money to buy drugs they would be so disappointed.) Alternatively, a community that expels a member or weakens a member's ties may cause shame because that person was rejected. (e.g. When the college found out that he was the peeping Tom, they told him to leave the school.)
Q: What is the role of guilt and shame?
A: Communities rely on guilt and use shame to prevent (or at least discourage) destructive behavior. Some ethicists and philosophers believe that guilt and shame help to countermand our more base and irrational behavior.
Q: Is sin and confession strictly a Catholic practice?
A: No, the Catholic religion is widely known for practicing confession, but confessing one's transgressions has a long history and is found in many religions. Many of the terms on Confess Online come from Catholic terms because the Catholic faith a very long and well-developed history of confession.
Q: How can an individual be reconciled with the community?
A: The first step to reconciliation is the admission of the sin. That is the purpose of confession. The second step is to ask for and complete an appropriate penance. It is the belief of Confessions Online that confessing a sin is not enough to erase the sin and that guilt so easily discarded may not be useful in countermanding or suppressing sin.
Q: What is penance?
A: Penance are actions that a sinner undertakes in order to undo or makeup for a sin. Penance and punishment are not the same. The purpose of penance is to reconcile the individual with the community. Thus, both the community and the sinner need to feel that the penance is adequate. While penance is often viewed as punishment, it has many other dimensions. It is a time for the sinner to think about the sin and the harm. It is an attempt to undo the harm if possible. Learning new behaviors or other rehabilitation may be part of a penance. Lastly, the community may need to see the sinner's penance as an expression of regret and remorse. This latter role is when penance may have aspects of punishment.
Q: Does a confession here qualify as a true confession under the Catholic faith?
A: No, and it is not meant to replace a confession to a priest. A confession to a priest should compliment a confession here and any reconciliation to be made with your parish or with God is best made through the Catholic ritual of confession.
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