Captain Obvious

I generally think of myself as at least moderately intelligent. Unfortunately every now and then a situation comes up that makes me realize that may not be the case. Tonight was one of those situations. I went out with a couple of female friends of mine to have some drinks. At one point during the night they were teasing me about being Catholic. One of the girls said, "He's Catholic so he can do whatever he wants he just has to go to confession afterwards." She was indicating that Catholics view confession as a get out of jail free card. I have heard this from a lot of my friends who have a problem with the Catholic sacrament of Confession. The all indicate the same reason for thinking Confession is not necessary and the reason is always given that they don't need to got through "a man" to confess their sins, they can go straight to God. Okay.

I can't believe I've missed what a lame argument they are making. If I understand this correctly it's easier for Catholics because all we have to do is tell our sins to a priest, be forgiven and we can do whatever we want. But my friends don't have to go through "a man" and they can go straight to God so wouldn't that be much easier than what Catholics have to do? For example, one of my female friends can meet a man in a bar, have sex, and as soon as it's over she can plug into her pipeline to God, tell him she's sorry in her mind and she is good to go. I'm not sure the Catholic way is easier, I mean we at least have to get in the freaking car and go to church. Then I have to say out loud what I have done and then I am forgiven and that is ONLY if I am truly sorry and ONLY if I really intend to not repeat the same sin again. I have a lot of thoughts in my head that I really don't care to give voice to. And I am almost certain that admitting my failings out loud to someone is not quite as easy as a quick "I'm Sorry God" in my head while enjoying a post-coitus cigarette. I don't know if any of us has a "Get out of Jail" Free card when it comes to sin, but I'm pretty sure it isn't Catholics.