Moral responsibility and coercion

[Nevarlander]

What is someone’s moral responsibility for evil acts committed under coercion? The specific instance I had in mind was a child adopted out around eight or nine who was then raised to believe that adherence to his new parents’ non-religious (morally neutral) ideology, and personal loyalty to his new father (who had thrown his own moral compass off the boat thirty years ago), were the only virtues that counted. He was rather a trusting child (abandonment issues etc. D, so of course internalized these, and did quite a few unpleasant things believing that they were right. Given, I know that the natural law is written on man’s heart, but when someone else does his best to erase it like that, how much is one’s culpability lessened?

Also, because everything on Moral Theology is about sex , and because it’s related to the first question, is there any responsibility accrued to someone who consents to sexual activity that is not definitely rape (no force or grave fear involved, complies because of coercion coming from an authority/emotional abuse)? I don’t mean children for this question, but teenagers and adults. (Don’t bring in Maria Goretti on this one, that was both heroic virtue and inapplicable to what I’m asking.)

 

[06convert]

Technically, In order for something to be wrong you have to do it willfully and knowingly. If someone is holding a gun to your head and making you do something you don’t want to do you aren’t at fault.

If an impressionable child is mislead it’s not his fault.

That being said. If someone held a gun to my head and forced me to do something I consider really wrong. I’m still going to confess this. I’m not taking any chances.

I think we worry too much about what we are and are not responsible for, what we should and should not confess. Just assume everything to be on the safe side. If you are in the confessional, why not toss in the things you aren’t sure about?

Lastly, there isn’t anything wrong with being a martyr for Christ. In theory nobody can force you to do anything. You could refuse everything someone was trying to coerce you into doing. You could do the right thing, even if it means your certain death.

 

[Nevarlander]

This isn’t me, this is a non-religious (“apatheist”, he prefers) friend who still fights over what he could and couldn’t have done different (he’s mostly better now ). I ask because this takes place in the world we live in, not the ideal world in which everyone is Catholic and has a confessor who also understands human psychology.

I ask the second question because he’s all “I was old enough to know better sdklfjasdlfjk; ” and idk what to say to that. Because it’s like yeah, he was old enough to know better in a normal situation… but it wasn’t like it was his girlfriend, it was halfway between incest and the Situation. I’d probably have done the same thing if I was that needy.

 

[06convert]

Well in that case. Have you mentioned that not having God with him to help him could be the reason he’s struggling so much?

Without God he is left to emotional seperation from what happened. His only hope is to consider what happened over and done with, in the past, can’t change it, why worry about it.

We all do things despite knowing better. I know I should have driven more careful on the ice a few weeks ago, but I didn’t and wrecked my car. I knew what I should have done and didn’t. I’m not going to bash myself for it. I’m just going to admin I screwed up and move on. What else am I supposed to do?