Online Confessional

April 20, 2003

I was curious to know, so I checked, and it’s true. I found an online confessional.

I wasn’t sure about it at first thinking how could an online confessional be the substitute for a real person… it’s just a script generating different absolutions based on what type of sin you “confess.”

I’m not catholic, but tried it anyway. I actually found the words on the screen at the end were comforting (not that that’s all I’m looking for) and I felt as if my sins were forgiven.

What do you think? Did you try it?

Posted by pablohart on April 20, 2003 08:49 PM

Comments

The scripture often referenced when speaking of 'confession' is in James 5, the relevant part of which reads:

"15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

To me there seems to be something missing in a confession to a computer. The computer can not offer prayer for you so that you may be healed. Not only that I think implicit in this text is the idea of being accountable, and present for one another. You know how much I love the Internet and believe it is an incredible tool for powerful change in the world and the Church. Still I can not believe that these faceless relationships empowered by machines are an adequate replacement for the most mystical, spiritual, and important kinds of connection we have. The connections we make with people eye to eye, face to face, and hand to hand.

Think for a moment about the number of times Jesus "lay hands" on the people he healed (Matt 8:2-4, Matt 14:36, Mark 6:5, Luke 4:40, Luke 13:13, etc) and then consider how many times his disciples did as their Rabbi had (Acts 28:8, etc) and finally let us return to James 5 where we are commended to, "call the elders of the church to pray over [us] and anoint [us] with oil in the name of the Lord". These are physical, hand-on acts that require the presence of fellow believers.

Personally I think the lesson here is all about the mystery of presence and the power of accountability.

Posted by Samuel at April 22, 2003 2:20 PM

I checked this site out. As I thought, it is not sanctioned by the Catholic Church. However, the form of responses are those that are similar to what a priest would say in response to such a confession. This "confessional" has no sacramental powers, since it is just a computer; even so, a priest offering absolution in any way other than "in person" lacks efficacy, as far as I know.

Posted by David Young at December 12, 2003 2:53 PM