A
Athanasius
Guest
Hi,
I have a question about restitution…
First off, I should say that I have a problem with scrupulosity. And my scrupulosity affects this situation greatly.
It seems I’m always remembering things I did in the past, many times years ago, that I feel I may need to make restitution for. (I’m not always sure) I try to make restitution for that stuff, and then I turn around and something else comes up that I feel needs restitution. It goes over and over again, like a vicious circle. It seems like no matter how much restitution I make for one thing, I always think of something else afterwards. I can’t ever get out of the past, and it seemes that it will never end. This is especially the case when it comes to issues dealing with copyrights. So I went to my priest for advice.
For instance, during my last confession, I confessed the following:
At one point I had been on the Internet for about 3 and a half years (this was before I had developed a problems with scrupulosity).
Countless times during that time period, I would visit personal websites of ordinary people that had copyrighted songs on them by different people (such as by country stars like Faith Hill or Toby Keith). You were able to listen to those songs either through streaming RealAudio or downloading the songs to your computer and listening that way, both ways of which I did many times (though if I had one that I downloaded to my computer, I would always delete it shortly after I was done listening to the song, ). There were a lot of songs I listened to repeatedly in this way. I can’t remember clearly if at the time, I thought that was acceptable or not. I think I probably had some doubts that it was acceptable at times, but since I wasn’t completely sure, I didn’t pay too much attention.
Another thing: over the years, I have borrowed computer CD’s from my father (who I live with) to place things on my computers, such as Windows 98 Second Edition and Microsoft Works. I had seen something in the user agreements that seemed to suggest perhaps that might not be allowed, but I assumed they were probably talking about something else, or it was only a technicality. After all, I lived in the same household, and my father, who knows a lot about computers, seemed to think it was OK to use the same CD to place programs on different computers at the same time if you lived in the same household. So I thought it was OK.
(Though I should point out on three different occasions I had moved out, I thought permanently, and kept the programs on my computers anyway, though technically I wasn’t in the same household at the time. Since I placed the programs on there when I was in the same household, I thought that was OK. Also, once I sold one of those computers with the programs on it; it hadn’t even crossed my mind to take the programs off of it. I simply forgot.)
That said, I don’t do that stuff anymore, of course. I also now make sure that all the programs on my computers I have bought my own CD’s for. But the idea of trying to make restitution for all of that stuff haunts me. I don’t even know how I would. Since I’m living with my parents right now and a full time job, I have a lot of spare money. But how would I make up that restitution? In the first situation, I can’t remember all the songs I listened to, and even for those that I can, buying a brand new music CD for each and every song would still be expensive. In the latter situation, I can’t remember all the computer CD’s I borrowed. I know only Windows 98 and Microsoft Works, for sure, though perhaps there were others. But even then, again, I thought it was acceptable for me to borrow those computer CD’s.
I told my priest this, and also explained my situation that I felt like even if I could make restitution for the above mentioned things, a million more things would pop up, and that it would never end. This is especially the case since there are a lot of things dealing with copyright issues I thought it was acceptable to do at the time I did them, though I’m not sure now.
Since my priest is well aware of my situation with scrupulosity, I mentioned something I had read in the book Understanding Scrupulosity by Fr. Thomas Santa, which I heard recommended by Catholic Answers.
I have a question about restitution…
First off, I should say that I have a problem with scrupulosity. And my scrupulosity affects this situation greatly.
It seems I’m always remembering things I did in the past, many times years ago, that I feel I may need to make restitution for. (I’m not always sure) I try to make restitution for that stuff, and then I turn around and something else comes up that I feel needs restitution. It goes over and over again, like a vicious circle. It seems like no matter how much restitution I make for one thing, I always think of something else afterwards. I can’t ever get out of the past, and it seemes that it will never end. This is especially the case when it comes to issues dealing with copyrights. So I went to my priest for advice.
For instance, during my last confession, I confessed the following:
At one point I had been on the Internet for about 3 and a half years (this was before I had developed a problems with scrupulosity).
Countless times during that time period, I would visit personal websites of ordinary people that had copyrighted songs on them by different people (such as by country stars like Faith Hill or Toby Keith). You were able to listen to those songs either through streaming RealAudio or downloading the songs to your computer and listening that way, both ways of which I did many times (though if I had one that I downloaded to my computer, I would always delete it shortly after I was done listening to the song, ). There were a lot of songs I listened to repeatedly in this way. I can’t remember clearly if at the time, I thought that was acceptable or not. I think I probably had some doubts that it was acceptable at times, but since I wasn’t completely sure, I didn’t pay too much attention.
Another thing: over the years, I have borrowed computer CD’s from my father (who I live with) to place things on my computers, such as Windows 98 Second Edition and Microsoft Works. I had seen something in the user agreements that seemed to suggest perhaps that might not be allowed, but I assumed they were probably talking about something else, or it was only a technicality. After all, I lived in the same household, and my father, who knows a lot about computers, seemed to think it was OK to use the same CD to place programs on different computers at the same time if you lived in the same household. So I thought it was OK.
(Though I should point out on three different occasions I had moved out, I thought permanently, and kept the programs on my computers anyway, though technically I wasn’t in the same household at the time. Since I placed the programs on there when I was in the same household, I thought that was OK. Also, once I sold one of those computers with the programs on it; it hadn’t even crossed my mind to take the programs off of it. I simply forgot.)
That said, I don’t do that stuff anymore, of course. I also now make sure that all the programs on my computers I have bought my own CD’s for. But the idea of trying to make restitution for all of that stuff haunts me. I don’t even know how I would. Since I’m living with my parents right now and a full time job, I have a lot of spare money. But how would I make up that restitution? In the first situation, I can’t remember all the songs I listened to, and even for those that I can, buying a brand new music CD for each and every song would still be expensive. In the latter situation, I can’t remember all the computer CD’s I borrowed. I know only Windows 98 and Microsoft Works, for sure, though perhaps there were others. But even then, again, I thought it was acceptable for me to borrow those computer CD’s.
I told my priest this, and also explained my situation that I felt like even if I could make restitution for the above mentioned things, a million more things would pop up, and that it would never end. This is especially the case since there are a lot of things dealing with copyright issues I thought it was acceptable to do at the time I did them, though I’m not sure now.
Since my priest is well aware of my situation with scrupulosity, I mentioned something I had read in the book Understanding Scrupulosity by Fr. Thomas Santa, which I heard recommended by Catholic Answers.
He can help you, while it will also help to build your trust.