catholics taking the oath in court

[Beanmistriss]

This question arose out of another thread in law. If a catholic swears on the bible to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth in a court of law could they then lie, confess their lie and be forgiven in the eyes of god. I know morally most people wouldn't and so im not asking what you would be morally right.

What I want to know really is would god think that swearing on the bible then lying be the most important or would the confession after be most important. Would god say "well mate, you swore on my book and then fibbed so don't try coming to get forgiven for it" or would he say "thats ok, as long as you've confessed after, come on up"?

For say christians who don't have the confession they would have to tell the truth wouldn't they or believe they were going to hell. Does the confession overrule the oath in catholisism?

[Llamatron]

And what about for atheists? Swearing on the good book would have no meaning.

[luna-tic]

I would affirm, which basically means you can make a formal declaration rather than take an oath on the bible.
When asked about this prior to going into a court which I did while on jury service I found it quite remarkable that i was the only one who put their hand up to declare my non-religious standpoint. The judicial system was made by men so I don't really think god or anyone's belief in religion should have much to do with it.
Anyway if god was put on trial, he (or it ) would be found guilty.
Also, what would a priest say charged with being a paedophile?

[Beanmistriss]

That was the question in it arose from, what would an atheist do. I was just interested to know how it would work for a catholic, morals aside. Would the oath over ride the act of confession?

[dawkins]

The perjury laws would override all of it. It�s a legal requirement to tell the truth.

In terms of the hierarchy, god is above priests (even in the catholic church!). If someone died in mortal sin and did not repent then they would be in purgatory (as apposed to perjury) but if they were truly repentant then, in common with all Christianity, god would forgive them. Of course, if he was in a bad mood...

[naomi24]

I don't know if I have this right, but the way I read the question is not to do with the law, but is could a Catholic deliberately lie, and go to confession afterwards in the certain knowledge that his lie would be forgiven. I'm not sure what answer a Catholic would give, but I suspect some do deliberately do things they know they shouldn't because they know the minute they confess, the priest will absolve them.

[Fingerprint]

I think the answer to this question lies in understanding that the sacrement of Catholic confession is not simply a process by which forgivness is given to any sin simply by confessing.

There are three conditions required to receive absolution, they are Contrition, Confession and Satisfaction.

Contrition is basically a true sorrow for the sin and also a sincere determination to try not to commit the sin again. Therefore you cannot cynically commit a sin in the knowledge that you will be forgiven as in this case contrition would not be present and absolution would not be recieved. Hope this helps.

[naomi24]

Glad you turned up Fingerprint. Thanks for that.

[Beanmistriss]

Brilliant, thankyou very much :)

[Bellringer]

I often have this with a friend. He sins, confesses & gets absolves. Me; I have to wait until judgement day and get the whole lot at one go.
As for the oath in court, years of experience have taught me that it only means anything for honest people. To villains it doesn't mean a thing. They lie through their teeth to get off.