Question on whether I am in sin again?

[Steven87]

Ive been told i’m a bit scrupulous and so this might seem like nonsense to you but i’m not sure.

I confessed my sins on saturday and am trying again this week to be good and stop with my sinful habit’s, the thing is every sunday I usually miss an episode of a show I watch and download it when I come home, and as I was going to download it I came across another download that happened to be pornography and it had a very graphic title which I will not say in here. I didn’t download it or even think about doing so, but I heard reading sexually explicit material is a sin, and this title was like 10 words long of very graphic stuff and I didn’t stop myself from reading the rest. Does this sound a bit scrupulous?

 

[DavidFilmer]

Steven87:

Does this sound a bit scrupulous?

Maybe. Maybe not. What went through your mind as you read the description? Did it titillate you? Did you fantasize about it? Did your conscience tell you it was wrong to do this?

Sin is not in the act, it is in the heart. One man (a doctor, for example) might view a naked woman and think only of her health concerns. Another man might view the same woman and entertain lustful thoughts. Both men did the same act, but only one man sinned.

Did you sin in your heart? Only you can answer this question. If so (or if in doubt) another visit with a priest is recommended.

 

[Fidelis]

I concur with DavidFilmers advice. The mere circumstance of it coming across your line of sight is not sinful in itself. It’s what you do with the though afterwards that could make it sinful. I guess you can say that, like an unloaded gun, the image is merely potentiality until you start carelessly handling it. The best thing to do, say spiritual writers, is to not give it a chance to grow: turn off the image (or avert your eyes), start thinking of something else entirely, start a distracting task, etc. The longer you allow yourself to dwell on it, the more it will wear itself into your memory, and the more it will come back to haunt you. The Scriptures tell us to resist the Devil and he will flee you. You can thus resist by not giving him a foothold.

 

[rwoehmke]

In the mid 50’s I was very scroupulous. My confessor at the time said not to confess any sin except those I was positive I had committed. Any doubt filled stuff was to be ignored. He said that the devil loves the wallowing about in doubt as it leads to despair and also serves as a source of temptaiojn being kept fresh in ones mind. His take was that if all three conditions required for mortal sin were present, one would have no doubts about it. If it is some future action that you are thinking of doing and have sincere doubts about the matter then one would be required to seek clarification before proceeding. Remember God loves you and is not waiting for an opportunity to plunge you into hell.