Confessional

Get Religion has an interesting post on the phenomenon of online confession sites.

The article, Where's the Forgiveness? , cites a recent Miami Herald news item by Jennifer Lebovich and provides links to a number of the better known sites trafficking in sins both large and small.

This is of interest to me, mostly, because it highlights the transformation going on in religiosity in response to modernity and information technology. Confession is a highly charged topic in the history of religions, and a number of different faiths have approached it from a variety of angles. It is interesting to see this most basic of social identity processes (transgression, punishment, repentance, forgiveness, acceptance) playing out anonymously online.

The significance of the alteration is difficult to be confident about. Is it the same if your confession is anonymous, performed in isolation, with an indeterminate audience? I guess it depends what tradition you look at, and whether you consider some opportunity for confession better than none at all, regardless of how flawed or unsatisfying it might be. What kind of isolation and fear would drive a person to pursue some kind of electronic redemption, rather than face their community, family, or the individual they have wronged and make their confession to them alone.

Community and sharing are not the same as absolution.

I think my Roman Catholic is showing.