Destruction of self confidence

[emjay]

Most of the christians I encounter IRL certainly have a superior/entitled attitude.

In my youth, catholic friends would tell me that they made shit up in confessional. They said it was just easier to get it over with.

I remember walking from the school to the church to go to our weekly confession session. On the walk I would try to come up with sins to confess to. I was around eleven and just really wasn't doing a whole lot of sinning...but we had to say something so we could get our little dose of advice from the priest and say our standard penance of prayers so that we could take communion on Sunday.

So essentially, I was lying in order to meet the expectation of having to confess to something. I suppose the next week I could just confess to lying the previous week...and the circle goes 'round and 'round.

Wow, I had no idea Catholicism was like that; the extent of their cynicism, assuming that people are constantly sinning... so that you actually had to make things up to keep them happy. I guess if you'd gone in there and said "I really didn't sin this week" they'd either accuse you of lying or of pride? Sorry you, or anyone, had to be indoctrinated with messages like that (I grew up Protestant so forgiveness was between you and God... no middle man required and no ritual about it, just as and when... don't mean that's any better in terms of indoctrination but it's very different messages).