1 John 1:8-9 KJVA
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
An example of this is Zaccheus:
Luke 19:8 MKJV
And Zaccheus stood and said to the Lord, Behold, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor. And in anything I accused anyone falsely, I restore it fourfold.
Although he was forgiven of wrongdoing by Jesus his conscience required him to make restitution. There was no hiding sin from temporal punishment, although in this case, self imposed.
Religion taking over the role of the civil government or usurping that role has always been a disaster waiting to happen. Given enough time, it does. Going back in history we see the Inquisition, the Crusades and the Witch Trials at Salem. None of these can be called anything but black spots in those who carried them out.
Likewise, the desire of militant Muslim clerics today to enforce their hateful brand of religion on the people as a civil government is just plain wrong. They point to the Crusades and talk about how terrible they were. I point to both and some other places this has been done and say, "All are untenable situations." Religion can never be allowed to be the civil government and has to be subject to the civil government except in places of faith.
The government has no right to dictate how worship will be done except where the worship would violate civil law in some way, i.e. to pick the extremes, human sacrifice, sex orgies involving children, and any forms of punishment for church offenses that violate the law of the land, i.e. cutting off a hand or a physical beating. I know there are religions that practice orgies among consenting adults and as despicable as they are to me, the government has no right to limit them beyond handling any complaints about the sex not being consensual. I believe anyone with any common sense could see where the line should be or at least define it in a place that most others would agree with.
Conversely the government should have no say in what bible version, if any, the church uses, what form of music, if any, how they kneel to pray, and the like. But on the other hand, the church should willingly submit to laws for the welfare and safety of the congregations. This includes things like honoring rules for safe church facilities, providing adequate and safe parking, providing safe entrance and egress, fairness in compensating church employees and the like. The church should where possible be the leader in these areas of caring for people, not the one being whipped by the government to comply. In caring for people the church should be the example of how to do it right.
I believe in limited sanctity of the confessional just as I believe in limited confidentiality between lawyer and client and doctor and patient. More than 99.99 percent of the time these relationships should be confidential. Let me give a perspective. My wife and I have done Christian Prayer Ministry, which is a form of counseling. In doing this we function in a pastoral role, not really different than that of a priest in the confessional.
I know I will create heartburn with many Catholics in saying that because of the misuse by Catholic theology of the scripture concerning remitting sin. I believe that only applies to sin against us personally, not sin against others. One Catholic I work with told me that a Catholic Priest and a person in the confessional have more right to confidentiality in their relationship than a Baptist Minister does with one of his congregation! I asked how. He responded that the pope has ordained the priest I would have hoped the pope ordained the priest as a representative of God. I see nothing different in these relationships from the standpoint of confidentiality.
I also believe that people like myself who counsel and are surrogates for the pastor and fill the pastoral role would function in the same manner. However I believe that no person should be able to expect confidentiality if they shared with the priest, minister, counselor, lawyer, doctor, plans to for example, kill someone or abuse a child. We sign an agreement of confidentiality with people we minister to that specifically exempts those situations from the confidentiality. If we learn that child abuse, for example, is occurring we are bound by law to report it and we are not bound by the confidentiality of the counseling room. I could at times have some heartburn with reporting a particular situation but one thing is clear. If the abuse is ongoing or likely to continue, I MUST report it, legally and to satisfy my conscience.
