Confessions for all to read
Would you do it? Would you confess your worst sins for millions -- maybe more -- to read on the Web? I wouldn't, but a growing number of people are pouring out their hearts, albeit anonymously, on sites like ivescrewedup.com, grouphug.us and dailyconfession.com.
"I am so sick and tired of trying to be like everybody else," a 19-year-old from Crystal Lake, Ill., wrote on ivescrewedup.com. "If someone asked me for 3 words to describe myself, I'd have no words. It's like I will do anything with anybody to please somebody all the time....this is insane, I confess that I don't know who I am and that I wish I did."
These confessions are a far cry from the boasts of debauchery I've read on MySpace. This is like the convenience of the drive-thru confessional with the cathartic comfort of PostSecret. The Miami Herald had this story Sunday (hat-tip Dallas Morning News). Here's the lede:
A woman kept her secret for nearly two decades.Finally ready to confess, she turned not to a minister, but to her computer.
''I am sorry God for not keeping that baby,'' her anonymous confession reads. ``I had an abortion and had kept that secret for over 18 years. I feel so ashamed. Please forgive me!''
The confession appears at ivescrewedup.com, a website launched by the Flamingo Road Church in Cooper City. It's one of a growing number of such sites across the country -- some secular and others church-sponsored -- that offer a place to spill out ugly secrets or just make peccadilloes public.
''I think it helps people understand . . . that we're not here to point out people's screw-ups, that we're here to help them,'' said lead Pastor Troy Gramling, whose nondenominational church launched the site on Easter weekend. ``The church is made of skin and flesh and people that have made mistakes.''
About this blog
Brad A. Greenberg is a God-fearing Christian with devilishly good Jewish looks. He writes about the intersection of faith and life.
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