I was reading a thread on here that got me thinking.. What is the purpose of confession if not another method of mind control? Back in ancient Israel, confession was just this thing you did if you were a good Jew. Just like observing Sabbath, fasting.. you get the point. You brought the best dead thing you could afford and came out with all your "dirty laundry" so to speak. You came out of confession with a nice squeaky clean feeling inside (the thought reminds me of a Charmin commercial for some reason) and the priests got to eat all of the tasty vittles you left at the altar. Which part was for God? "the restful odour" of barbecue.. mmmm... (Oh, damn! that reminds me, my wife bought these nice cuts of flank steak the other day!)
But my point is, doesn't God know everything about everything including all your dirty deeds? and if He does, why can't you just square whatever it is you did away with Him? Whats all this guilt trip that the elders always dish out of of "purifying the congregation of sin" or whatever. and as the WBTS has made very clear with all the unfortunate events surrounding paedophillia, it takes one or two witnesses, or just a confession from the sinner to establish the legitimacy of a sin.
Me personally, I never once felt guilty about "fooling around" with my JW soon-to-be wife. It was never anything major past making out and copping a feel here and there.. basically what your average young couple in love would do.. But for certain, some of the stuff that we did involved my parents being out of town and both of us playing hookie.. There was a bed and a lot of hands were involved.. certainly stuff we would have, at the very least, been reproved for. I remember when my parents got back they were just a tad suspect and my elder dad made it a point to always work that thing about "God always brings hidden sin into light" into everyday conversation. Him being an elder, he was a part of several committees in his time, and always reminded me of this young married couple who confessed to having premarital sex multiple times before they got married and that was only less than a month after they had tied the knot. Apparently, she started feeling guilty and rolled over on him having gotten her drunk a few times and had taken advantage of her. Man, I remember going to their tastelessly extravagant wedding with an open bar.. Many witlesses, including elders got drunk and afterwards people got sensored left and right after that. Eventually, somehow it was discovered that it wasn't the first time he used libations as a species of date rape drug. My father always reminded me of how unhappy they are intheir marriage now as a result of disobeying the no premarital hanky-panky rule.
Anyways, before I start going off on a tangeant, let me say that my wife and I couldn't be happier together and we do not regret ANY of the stuff we did. Its been a year now, and NOBODY has found out at all. To everyone in our old congregation, we are still the exemplary and chaste young couple that got married IN THE KH. And, we aint tellin' nobody nuttin'! As well as many who's faith has dwindled, we have come to realize through learning from other's experiences as well as our own, sin doesn't exist in the Borg so long as everyone involved keeps their big ol' trap of an orifice shut! Which is why I venture to guess that because the higher ups are aware that Jehovah himself doesn't come out of his lofty cloud in a grand spectacle of lightning and thunder, and then point out his mighty hologram of a finger at the sinner chanting in a sing-song, "he did it! he did it!" they make it a fine point to influence people with talks and "experiences", most of them which sound made up, to rat people out. Not to mention, it feeds this ravenous need for juicy tidbits of gossip, since pretty much everyone, even the men in the congregation live for since they are not allowed to live their own lives..
Sorry, a little bit of a rant there, but, would anyone care to share any of their own sins they might or might not have gotten away with? feel free to be as vague or specific as posibble.. maybe we can get this topic going on a lazy Saturday moring when every good JW is supposed to be knocking on random peoples doors selling half-baked WT droll...