Dec 28, 2011

Confessions of a Chronic Skeptic

The other day, -to be exact, yesterday- I was talking to a friend of mine and suddenly the topic went on to confessions and god and stuff like that. Well, as usual, I think a lot and come up with some observations that I thought I should record here.

Confessions : Typically, the Christian confession to priest. My theory is that, when people did serious wrongs, they were restless and could not talk about it to others for the fear of being judged and isolated and given bad PR. So, the priests were the ideal ones. They were bound by oaths to not speak about it to anyone.

They typically did the work of a counselor who gave an ear or two and some advice. Wrongs were righted and  people had peace of mind.

There is nothing in the Bible about confessions. That is, if you accept it is the'original' version of all the Bibles in the world.

My ideas against this practice : 
  • What a priest thinks is wrong, may not be my wrong. 
  • His set of rights may not suit me. His set of ideals may be still puritan for some. 
  • A counselor may work better in some cases.
  • Making it compulsory is senseless. People must go if THEY need it. Not when the church demands it.
  • It gives people an idea that you do whatever you want, go confess, its 'forgiven'. No dude, you gotta go do something about it! You cannot just talk your way out of things like that.
The second part, about God, is the age old talk about it. About how thunder and lightning decided to give humans the idea of something they cannot control and controls them. I think, years or decades or centuries from now, men would control most natural phenomenon like they control lightning with lightning conductors. And all that blah like that.

Anyway, the point is, humans seriously cannot stand anything that they cannot explain. What do they think they are? Gods?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What you said is very true. People who are feeling down should talk to a professional counselor or psychologist. They are more likely to receive advice that works and it can also help them take tangible steps to undo any bad things they might have done. As I understand it, professional codes of confidentiality are at least as well defined and followed as the oaths of a priest.

Durga Nandan said...

It is. :)
I verified. But how far do you advocate the use of medication in psychiatry and psychology to 'cure' people?

Arun said...

hey, i never knew it is compulsory to confess :P

Durga Nandan said...

The Church has made it 'compulsory'. I dont remember the last time I did it though.

Anonymous said...

@Durga: The mind is a function of the body. Sometimes chemical imbalances, deep trauma or other more complicated processes can create changes in the functioning of the brain that can effect ones behavior and personal comfort in a negative way. In the case of chemical imbalances there is no way simple talking is going to solve the problem. No amount of talking will solve a fever as there is something wrong with the hardware. Do we ever feel ashamed when we take an antibiotic to cure a raging fever or insulin to control blood sugar? Similarly sometimes it might be prudent to take some medications to take care of psychiatric problems instead of letting them fester and degrade one's quality of life.
As far as psychological problems are concerned, medications are used mostly to solve temporary but debilitating conditions like depression, anxiety, insomnia etc. arising as a natural response to deep trauma, while at the same time other means are sought to stabilize the mind. This can sometimes aid in faster recovery and pain management.
There is a lot of stigma surrounding the seeking of medical intervention for problems of the mind. What I feel is that the mind is not some separate entity. It is a function of the body and just like any other function is prone to corruption at times. Often people have no problems when they see mentally sick people seeking comfort in hardcore religion or other such lies and living in a fantasy world but deeply object to them taking medications which help them handle reality better. This is a tendency that must change as sometimes only medications can help preserve the real "you"!

Durga Nandan said...

Fair point!
But I dont think there is a 'real' you. What you are at a certain point, is the real you. What you are talking about, is 'normal' you. And yeah, people who are not 'normal', believe they are. So, it is kinda a matter of perspectives.. :)