Confession good for sl?

Hi all,

I was recently informed there is available confession in sl. It's in a church in a sim somewhere. Along with this they also have counseling. Personally, I don't know who would use this place or places as I was told there happens to be more then one. Anyone know this to be true?

What is your take on this?

Also I read where churches in rl are on given permissions for on-line confessions in rl. They also have these in malls. Kind of confess as you shop type thing. I don't know if this is something new or it's been going on for a while now.

Can't help you on that one. Last place I confessed, closed down and the vicar ran away screaming. Could not make much of what he screamed though...

If you reeeeeealy believe it's a priest. And your penance is real. I'm sure the Church finds it valid. But, really, this is SL. You can take things at face value so far...

The 'priest' might be a beastial dominatrix with membership in The Sisters of Perpetual Pleasure. You would never know. (O_O)

Wouldn't privacy be a HUGE issue? Chat and even IM's can be recorded.

If I confess anything it's usually on these message boards - but then I'm not religious!

Yes, if you're concerned about what you confess getting out and being associated with your avatar identity.

If you're worried about your RL identity, that would be safe, IMO.

But "official" confessionals aside...yes, confession is good, in SL as well as RL. It's an opening up, a catharsis. It's often a relief to haul your deepest darkest secrets into the light, to share them with someone from whom you can hope to get sympathy and advice.

If you feel the need to confess, find a close friend whom you trust and open up to them.

It depends what people mean by "Confession".

If it's just a case of getting something off your chest to a complete stranger and the need for discretion isn't 100% necessary. Then any sympathetic person will do I guess.. regardless who they are in RL.

If you are looking for "confession" in that you want to atone and be forgiven in the eyes of your God, then SL isn't the place for that.

As far as I know the recipient of your confession has to be able to act "in persona Christi" in that they must receive the power of jurisdiction over you from the Church.

This would be difficult to prove in somewhere like SL, unless the person receiving the confession is prepared to identify themselves in RL and allow you to verify they are who they say they are.

The whole identity thing is why I actually don't agree with anyone setting themselves up in a capacity which requires verifiable RL qualifications - unless they are prepared to give over the necessary RL information necessary to verify who they are.

Plus, calling yourself Father would probably get you AR'd for ageplay in no time.

Maybe they'll add it to the list of banned search terms. (^_^)

I did it

Don't do it again. There. That wasn't so bad, was it?

Your confession is good, my child, but what is it that you did? And are you truely sorry?

That's okay, you can always blame me.

Damien1 made me do it!

does an avatar have a soul? where can you buy one?

a shoe shop?

A good idea for sins against nature and morality.

I would never try and tell others what to do when it comes to religeous beliefs and practices, especially in SL. But I've given up confessing to any other person, be it priest, minister or whom ever. I basically have by-passed the middle man and talk directly to the man above, and I find it much more fullfilling. After all, a priest only represents the Lord, He's another human being just like myself. And I say this with absolutely no disrespect intended!!!!! This is just my practice. Again, no disrespect intended!

Hi Carolyn,

I completely agree.. an an unbaptised heathen on the way to hell, the Church probably wouldn't give me absolution anyway..

I was just explaining my view on what's needed for a "confession".

These are your beliefs and I agree with you on this myself. I go a bit further as I don't believe in anything when it comes to religions or what they themselves believe and stand for.

With everything that has happened in these religious circles with priests and others, it's not a big surprise many people share this same sentiment.

blah blah blah blah blah

Blah blah blah BLAH?????? No,,,, Blah BLAH blah blah blah!!!

Okay this can get get pretty crazy so many levels with a confession/counsler/someone calling themselfs father. So where do I begin?
Couldnt it be pretty dangerous for someone to be handing out counseling sessions with out the proper training? Also isnt there some trouble one can get into claiming to be a proffesional they are not?
I am all for a support group place in SL that can help ppl deal with all there drama that occurs while in SL. If there is not one already but they should be clear on who they are and what they are claiming to do there. Similar to highschool kids supporting there peers in school. Whatever that is called.

OK - I'm going to give a serious answer here.

I was raised Catholic. I no longer practice any sort of organized religion, but my mother and sister certainly do. So did my dad. Confession and the sacraments were a big part of his life. So were computers - I got my geek-streak from him. The last year of his life was spent in a VA hospital, dying of complications from Agent Orange exposure from Vietnam. It wasn't a great way to go. At any rate, he couldn't attend services, even the ones they had at the hospital, and when the priest came around, which wasn't often, it was a real source of comfort for him. The other thing he loved was his laptop (and the free wifi at the hospital) because it kept him connected to his friends on the forums he went to.

I think he would have liked SL, just for the goofiness and creativity of it all. It would have appealed to his sense of humor, just like it does to mine. If there was a way for him to attend virtual church services, or to confess to an actual priest (assuming this can be verified somehow), that would have made a big difference to him in his last days. (God only knows how he managed to commit any sins to confess while he was bedridden in a hospital is beyond me, but that was my old man! I bet he found a way)

We can joke about this all we want, but something that could give comfort to a dying old man in his final days is a pretty noble use of the Grid, and if this is real, I think it's pretty amazing.

Hi Trout,

It certainly would be a noble use, but I guess the point I raised is how would you confirm to your own satisfaction that the person who was taking your confession is entitled to do so?