| That is, are you getting ready to go to confession?
There’s an app for that. And it has the Church’s blessing (i.e., imprimatur). |
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The app offers different questions depending on your age and gender.
For instance, if you sign in as a 15-year-old girl and look under the Sixth Commandment, one of the questions is: “Do I not treat my body or other people’s bodies with purity and respect?” If you sign in as a 33-year-old married man, that commandment offers this query: “Have I been guilty of masturbation?”
Children are asked if they pout or use bad language. Teenagers are asked if they are a tattletale or bully. Women are asked if they’ve had an abortion or encouraged anyone to have an abortion and if they’re chaste. Men are asked about the latter two, as well.
The app also tailors the questions if you sign in as a priest or a “religious.” For instance, if you say you’re a female and try to select “priest” as your vocation, a dialogue box appears that says “sex and vocation are incompatible.” So much for modernity.
Under the Sixth Commandment, men and women are asked: “Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?” Priests, however, are not. They are asked if they flirt.
I’m thinking the app should link directly to status updates on Facebook. Zuckerberg could really sell that information.
According to surveys, only about one-in-four Catholics goes to confession at least once a year as commanded by the Church.
Fascinating. So flirting is a sin then (or is it only for priests?).
I believe Ms. Dowd and I were making fun of the whole concept of confession, recovering Catholics that we both are.
It would, however, be objectionable in my view for a priest to flirt because he takes a vow of chastity; that is, he is in a committed relationship.
It is also objectionable in my view for someone in a position of authority (priest:congregation, boss:employee, professor:student) to flirt with someone in the subordinate group.
As for uncommitted adults not in a hierarchal situation, it’s probably a sin NOT to flirt.