Saturday, August 7, 2010

Offline Post #4

August 7th, 2010 00:39

I don’t understand the concept of confession. I’m not a Christian and I know little about the Christian religion, but I never quite understood the concept of confession. How could I commit all sorts of sins and then confess and be forgiven? How does that work? Doesn’t God already know what I’ve done? And I know what I’ve done, so why tell someone else? What difference does it make? If I feel guilty for what I’ve done, then God may decide to forgive me. Or He may not.

I’m currently reading a book that talks a lot about clergy, monks, and priests and in this book, there are people committing atrocious crimes like rape and murder and then they confess and they are forgiven. How could that be? Could I go through life doing as I please and get away with that?

Like I said, I am not a Christian and I can’t possibly understand the religious significance of clergymen or how it works, but I could never imagine going to confession. It seems to me a lot like going to a shrink. I could imagine it must be very calming for the sinner, to let it all out, the terrible secret, and then have the guilt washed away. In a way, it is quite healing and helps give a person peace of mind, for no one is free of sin. I think that secretly, a part of me wants to go to confession, to see how it feels, to relieve myself of the guilt that I have carried for years.

And I always wonder, will I ever be forgiven? Can I ever forgive myself?

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