[Iscool]

The seal of the confessional was a man made rule. And sometimes man has to use common sense. What the hell do you think God gave you a brain for??

So a Catholic rapes four children and kills two of them...Goes to confession...Tells the priest he's sorry and won't do it again...

Priest tells him he is forgiven and to go and sin no more...

Now the guy has been forgiven by God and has a clean conscience...Til the next time anyway...

[Tublecane]

“So a Catholic rapes four children and kills two of them...Goes to confession...Tells the priest he’s sorry and won’t do it again...

Priest tells him he is forgiven and to go and sin no more”

Uh, what? Have you ever heard of a little thing called atonement? I don’t imagine there’s a priest in the world who would ask nothing more of a rapist murderer than to confess.

It’s one thing to go after the idea of forgiveness. Religion can certainly be exploited cynically. Some people even figure they can be good Catholics and do whatever the hell they want so long as they don’t die unexpectedly and get the last rites. But make sense in you attack, at least. Gross parodies have to have some level of credibility.

[Campion]

So a fundamentalist rapes four children and kills two of them...confesses his sins to God...Tells God he's sorry and won't do it again...

What's the difference, Iscool? The state can't force God to testify at the point of a gun?

Incidentally, the law in this country protects the confidentiality of discussions with all ministers of religion, not just Catholic priests.

Also incidentally, a priest is typically not going to let someone who confesses a heinous crime off the hook just for saying he's sorry. There's this little matter of penance, which may well involve a visit to the police station in addition to 5 Hail Marys.