Why is scrupulosity wrong?

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People always say that you need to seek help with scrupulosity but does anyone know of any church teachings or verses from the bible that imply we shouldn’t constantly be in fear of sin or constantly trying to become the “perfect Catholic”. I fear that people who say they need help are just rationalizing the fact that most people don’t have what it takes to be a Catholic that can be sinless therefore belong in Heaven. Also all the talk about the fathers endless love beyond sending his son doesn’t seem to be founded in any scripture and are more a good feeling thing that has formed by people who follow the faith. From what I understand the fact that there is any way to heaven is more mercy than we can possibly imagine so anything more than that like the forgiveness of sins upon death or lenient judgement because he understands whats in our hearts could just be us trying to make ourselves feel better. From what I understand of the scripture the lord is loving but hes is also extremely strict and doesn’t expect anything less then perfection. It only takes a single mortal sin for your soul to be lost forever and even for the preists and others who dedicate their entire lives to Christ we have no idea if even those people will be saved so what does that say about the regular Joe Schmoe. If I’m misunderstanding something please let me know. Thanks for reading and god bless.
 
Scrupulosity is an illness. It is not having a healthy respect for God and for the gravity of our sins…it’s an UNHEALTHY obsession over sin. It’s a feeling of absolute terror about the tiniest of sins. It’s irrational.

Think of it this way…are there people who suffer debilitating migraine headaches? Absolutely.

Are there people who claim a headache when they don’t really have one? Absolutely.

But…does the fact that some people claim they have a headache when they really don’t mean that those with a actual migraine are faking it? Absolutely not.
 
I don’t see how this analogy applies. Also who determined it to be unhealthy? Isn’t eternal damnation a very justified thing to be terrified about? Shouldn’t we all be fearful of sin so who knows how much is too much and how much is too little. Didn’t St. Paul tell us to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling”?
 
Fear is not of God. I would even say that Love is the opposite of fear.

**1 Corinthians 16:14: “Do everything in love."
 
I wouldn’t say scrupulocity is wrong, but I’d say it’s only a problem if it significantly affects a person’s functionality in day to day functions or if the person had uncontrollable intrusive thought processes.

The way I take it, it’s essentially comparable to OCD. The quantity of actions/thoughts someone does/has, or refuses to do/have, doesn’t make OCD bad or wrong. It just makes the person non-functional, and that’s the problem.
 
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So we should be in constant fear as long as we can function under constant fear?
 
If classify constant fear as uncontrollable intrusive thoughts. So to me it’s under the umbrella of scrupulocity/OCD symptoms, which isn’t good.
 
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Tagd said:
Isn’t eternal damnation a very justified thing to be terrified about? Shouldn’t we all be fearful of sin so who knows how much is too much and how much is too little. Didn’t St. Paul tell us to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling”?
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Yes, we need to have a healthy fear of losing our salvation.

Scrupulosity is an unhealthy fear. It is debilitating. It is the type of thing that a person can barely function. For the person with scrupulosity, it’s not a matter of “working out your salvation with fear and trembling”, it’s a matter of “I can NEVER work out my salvation. Every moment of every day is a mortal sin waiting to cast me to hell.”
 
Does the constant fear that the requirements for salvation is so high that the vast majority of Catholics including myself wont make it count under that umbrella?
 
I’m no psychologist, but I suppose the motivation behind the thoughts could be taken into account?

However if it’s all that you focus on, and everything seems to turn back to it, then it probably would count as an obsession.

And by everything, Im talking about, say, “washing the dishes with the proper thoroughness to avoid damnation” sort of obsessive thinking.
 
Tagd said:
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Glennon_P:
Every moment of every day is a mortal sin waiting to cast me to hell.
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Isn’t this true though? It only takes one.
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If you truly lead the life Christ wants, you won’t be in fear of this event happening. Think of how all the Saints before us lived their lives…not in fear…but in a loving desire to be with Christ forever.
 
SeekSalvation said:
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Tagd:
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Glennon_P:
Every moment of every day is a mortal sin waiting to cast me to hell.
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Isn’t this true though? It only takes one.
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If you truly lead the life Christ wants, you won’t be in fear of this event happening. Think of how all the Saints before us lived their lives…not in fear…but in a loving desire to be with Christ forever.
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Yeah but we don’t know what that means. We have no way of knowing what truly living the life Christ wants means. I have no idea if Christs want me to be able to play video games or watch TV or if Christ wants me to sell everything I own and go be a monk on the top of a mountain somewhere. Even if Christ is trying to guide me I have no idea if I’m interpreting his message right. I’m sure he said the path is narrow for a reason.

Still no one has said why scrupulosity is wrong. If there ever was something to obsess over it would be about receiving the greatest gift that can ever be imagined which is salvation.
 
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For the person with scrupulosity, anything and everything is a mortal sin…even things that aren’t grave matter…even things that aren’t even sins.
 
Tagd said:
Yeah but we don’t know what that means. We have no way of knowing what truly living the life Christ wants means. I have no idea if Christs want me to be able to play video games or watch TV or if Christ wants me to sell everything I own and go be a monk on the top of a mountain somewhere. Even if Christ is trying to guide me I have no idea if I’m interpreting his message right. I’m sure he said the path is narrow for a reason.

Still no one has said why scrupulosity is wrong. If there ever was something to obsess over it would be about receiving the greatest gift that can ever be imagined which is salvation.
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Actually, you do know how Christ desires you to live your life. He says so in scripture. Might I recommend reading the Gospels once again and talking with your Priest?
 
Well everyone’s goal in life should be to live for God, be a witness to him, and do all that we can to avoid sin.

However, our path in life is up to us to choose, which is the beauty of free will.

We each have a million opportunities to pick from and each opportunity comes with the potential for sin. However if we live by Him, then we’ll avoid the sin.

Sin is a beast hiding in the bushes ready to pounce, but if you keep your wits about you and remember God, you’ll never be overpowered by the sin.

Sinning doesn’t come from not choosing the “ideal” pathway. It comes from choosing any pathway and purposely squandering the gifts He laid out for us along that path.
 
Glennon_P said:
For the person with scrupulosity, anything and everything is a mortal sin…even things that aren’t grave matter…even things that aren’t even sins.
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So am I confusing scrupulosity with the idea that no one can ever be worthy of salvation and that 99.9999999% Catholics are screwed because we all sin in ways we don’t even know as well as no one lives in a life completely dedicated to god because we all have worldly possessions and day to day lives that are not 100% revolved around god ie. school, work, not every second spent in prayer. Also the idea that if you didn’t do it perfectly than how can you reside in a perfect place with a perfect being. I know that we could never hope to be worthy of heaven but that doesn’t mean the requirements cant be extremely high.
 
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God is a God of justice, but he is also a God of mercy.

God is deserving of so much fear and respect, but He also loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for us… because He didn’t just want mindless slaves obeying out of fear He wanted beloved sons and daughters obeying out of love.

He wants us to develop a relationship with him. No relationship is healthy based on paralyzing fear. Balancing a healthy fear and a knowledge that God is forgiving and loving and understanding of one’s own personal weaknesses is critical. Scrupulousity is the religious version of OCD. Too much fear. Constant doubt. Constant worry. If one has it one should talk to a priest about counseling.
 
Tagd said:
So am I confusing scrupulosity with the idea that no one can ever be worthy of salvation
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It sounds very calvinistic of you to have that thought. They believe in that “Total Depravity” concept
 
Glennon_P said:
For the person with scrupulosity, anything and everything is a mortal sin…even things that aren’t grave matter…even things that aren’t even sins.
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No, for the scrupulous, anything and everything “could be” mortal sin, and they rip their hair out over it, then sign up for Catholic Answers Forums.

For the most part, when they are in REAL mortal sin, they know it, and the scruples do not flare up. That’s why if they don’t have a regular confessor, they need to get one and obey him, and while seeking out one, while rejecting the scruples on the principle that if you’re struggling over it, then it is not a mortal sin. And to stay off Catholic Answers Forums. The Worst Place on Earth for the Scrupulous (R).
 
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