pharaoh
Bluelighter
- Joined
- May 8, 2017
- Messages
- 557
Look up "Catholic Guilt". Basically due to the teachings, we all have original sin which is rooted in the story of Adam and Eve. Adam was the first man and sinned (along with Eve), losing his holiness and that was inherited by humankind. Original Sin. Our sin stands before us due to the corruption of humankind's holiness. And Catholics are raised - in the churches, schools and some families if they are pious - to be guilty about basically everything. A good friend of mine told me how she would literally make things up in Confession as a kid even if she didn't have anything to say because Preachy Preach wanted to hear how much of a sinner you've been. It has an effect on people that follows them for their whole life, a guilt complex because everything can become a source of guilt. Doing a confession, confessing to your sin(s) - which is a sacred sacrament - will lead to Preach advising you to do some praying and to say a load of Hail Marys and Our Fathers and he will "absolve" you of the sin. But it affects lapse Catholics too, due to how it is drummed into people raised Catholic from such an early age - everything is a sin and every must be confessed if one is to actually follow the church which hardly anyone does now, at least where I am from (people are "culturally Catholic" or "culturally Protestant" for example). It would take me two lifetimes to confess my sins and there is no point. I wasn't christianed anyway.
It isn't a get out of jail free card but when it comes to confession, basically the priest is your line to the lord and if you confess and follow some performative tasks he has set, you can be absolved and you have to promise to not be naughty again. But it works differently in different places depending on how strict/powerful the church might be. For example, you can't have a priest at your funeral if you died when committing a crime or if you have sinned and not had it absolved before death (of course this might not always be known). People who know that they are dying and who are pious or re-discover their faith due to fearing death might spend a lot of time confessing, trying to repent, find redemption, seeking absolution and so on. Maybe even performing acts of penance to repent if they are able (i.e. physically able). Acts of penance are designed to absolve one of a sin. People will clutch on to their copy of the Catechism and read it intensely, constantly praying before passing onto face Saint Peter who judge them and either let them into the pearly gates, send them to Purgatory to do some time or they will go straight to hell for having been un-repented sinners. Also there are different kinds of sins: "Mortal Sins" (like murder I suppose) would or should lead to eternal damnation and it would take A LOT of work to be absolved of that sin, but I'm sure the church can help you find a way, especially if you are rich. There is a joke about former Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair comverting to Catholicism due to the guilt he felt after the Iraq War and other crimes (people can't become prime ministers in the UK if they are Catholic/possibly just non-Anglican in general although I'm not fully sure on the latter. Deffo true RE the first though).
I don't think that it I've explained it well but the main take away is this: Catholic Guilt is something drummed into people from a very, very young age. Catholicism works on guilt. It has been a good racket in the past hence the wealth of the church because some rich people could go and give preach a hefty donation and get a good word in with Saint Peter, back before Enlightenment obviously but also after, even to this day I imagine and certainly in some parts of the world where the church still has a hold, such as Latin American countries. And poorer people might give everything they have, even up to recent times. They might have a sick child and might give all of their savings to Preach who will pray for them and all that but if it doesn't work, it was god's plan and as we all know, "he works in mysterious ways!".
But yes, Catholic Guilt is like a heavy guilt complex instilled in people from as soon as they start learning scripture and this complex - which I would say works on the guilt inherent in human beings anyway, psychologically, neurologically, whatever - follows them for their whole life, making almost every act questionable in their mind and making them feeling guilty. Another lady friend was talking about it and saying that even sitting on the toilet, trying to take a shit the "right way" can be a source of guilt.
Also you are assuming that people who commit heinous crimes actually give a shit and that they would even bother confessing. Don't forget that some people are sociopaths and barely feel guilt. They don't give a fuck about repenting or having their sins absolved, although they might still have the old guilt complex manifest in other ways.
There are good examples of Catholic guilt in media and film: The Departed (one of the best films ever) and the great TV shows The Sopranos and also Boardwalk Empire. The latter has a whole plotline dedicated to Catholic Guilt as the wife of the protagonist tries to conduct acts of penance to make up for her own complicity in his sin. Meanwhile, the protagonist, despite not being a "believer", still suffers through Catholic guilt in his own right. Catholic Guilt runs through The Sopranos also, being a major part of Carmella's attempts at dealing with her husband's line of work and her own complicity, due to her own guilt. Even some of the mobsters show that they have this guilt complex. These are good portrayals of how it manifests although it is a shame to see women taking the burden. The Departed is a sausage fest though so maybe give that a watch to see the masculine version.
