Do you think religions should be required to report sexual abuse when someone goes in to confess it? I have a family member that confessed to abusing
someone to the Bishop and nothing was done about it.
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SW-User
That's a difficult question. Religious confession is supposed to be completely confidential. If it wasn't, people might not confess at all. But the person hearing the confession definitely ought to urge the person to admit to the crime (to the victim or police). They could even make that a condition for forgiveness.
NortiusMaximus · M
@SW-User @DffrntDrmmr
As I have just asked [@Persophenee], If your child were tortured and killed and the killer admitted the crime to a priest in the confessional, would you really want that priest to kept quiet about it?
The church has been shown to cover up a lot of child abuse.
As I have just asked [@Persophenee], If your child were tortured and killed and the killer admitted the crime to a priest in the confessional, would you really want that priest to kept quiet about it?
The church has been shown to cover up a lot of child abuse.
SW-User
@NortiusMaximus One can always come up with extreme examples like that, but I don't think they are useful for thinking about things clearly. In your example, I would want to torture the perpetrator and kill them myself -- but I don't think that should be legal.
NortiusMaximus · M
@SW-User It didn't matter how extreme the crime was when you were advocating allowing a priest to withhold evidence about it. Just answer the question, it's simple enough.
Your reply suggests you wouldn't want a priest to cover up a serious crime that someone you care about were a victim of, only if someone else were the victim. Well, guess what, most decent people wouldn't want a priest to cover up a serious crime regardless of who was the victim.
Your reply suggests you wouldn't want a priest to cover up a serious crime that someone you care about were a victim of, only if someone else were the victim. Well, guess what, most decent people wouldn't want a priest to cover up a serious crime regardless of who was the victim.