It annoys me, too. Occasionally, someone will have a really valid dilemma that they are asking, but many times, they are only seeking validation for something that they’ve already decided about.
What confuses me is this: If someone is a practicing Catholic, presumably s/he would have access to some kind of examination of conscience literature, or should know where to find one (the individual probably googles everything else.) Additionally, s/he should be going to confession at least once a year by Church law, and if something is really bugging that individual, I would think that would be a stimulus for getting to confession sooner rather than later. I’ve had a couple of things in my life that were “iffy,” and I wasn’t really sure whether or not I should confess them. Guess what? I did, anyways. The worst that’s going to happen is that the priest will tell the penitent that the particular thing is not a sin. And if it’s a long-standing pattern of confessing “tiddlywinks,” he may warn the individual about a tendency to scrupulosity, and advise spiritual direction, counseling, or both. Maybe someone doesn’t want to hear what good advice the priest is giving them.
With anonymous and completely secret confession available to Catholics, I don’t know why rational people with a good intention would want to run something potentially embarrassing or damaging out here on what at times seems to be the “Internet Curia!” Hello, people! It’s completely secret! Even medical records with a psychiatrist aren’t! Why blab about it here?
The other thing that irritates me is when someone has confessed something already and then puts it out here, trying to second-guess the priest. I don’t know about anyone else, but if I needed heart surgery, I’d trust a cardiac surgeon’s opinion more than I would a plumber’s! It seems that some people are listening to the plumber spiritually when they try to second-guess the priest’s absolution.
I’m with you on this one.
