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CHAPTER VI
THE DANGERS OF CONFESSION
WHEN speaking of confession, we must not neglect to say
something of its dangers. There is nothing of value that cannot
be improperly used; and the knowledge that a thing has been
abused does not provide grounds for denying its value.
Confession has certainly been grossly misused at times, and, like
many other good things, has been maligned by ignorance and
prejudice.
Self-reconciliation through confession can have its dangers.
It can be ruthless in its disregard for others. There is a form of
self-disclosure that is very harmful. It is necessary to remember
that one must not buy one’s own peace of mind at the expense
of others. To tell the whole truth may sometimes mean that in
the acknowledgement of one’s own faults and failings
opportunity is found to give free rein to a sadistic trait. It can even
happen that, without the penitent being aware of it, a sadistical
intention to injure others is concealed in the desire for
selfdisclosure. To tell the truth for these reasons is a caricature of
confession.
There is also a form of confession in which the penitent finds
satisfaction in self-torture. Just as there are people who seek the
experience of physical pain because it helps to satisfy a sexual
lust, so there are some for whom psychic pain contains a lustful
satisfaction; and not seldom it is indulged by self-humiliation in
the confessional.
People who find pleasure in talkativeness about intimate and
delicate matters make confession an excuse for indulging
themselves in this way. Spiritual candour and willingness to disclose
sins and failures with another person should never be allowed to
become an end in itself. ‘Sharing’, like confession, should always
` have a definite purpose. Sin is confessed for the purpose of
liberation, not for self-gratification.
Private confession to a spiritual adviser cannot, of course, be
an indulgence in cruelty as can sometimes a reconciliation with
a friend against whom sin has been committed, nor can self-
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