Old-skool guilt? We've got an app for that.

Seems that the Vatican has decided to get all 21st century and tech-savvy.  In the face of a precipitous decline in priests to hear confession and what laity that remain are too busy to say confession, the Roman Church has announced The Confession program for the iPhone.  For just $1.99, the app will walk you through why you're a naughty boy (or girl) and guide you step-by-step through the sacrament of confession.  Then, you just need to slow-roll past a RL priest for absolution and you're back in good graces with the Universal Sysop. (h/t to BBC)

Wow, but this sends me up the flue...but for different reasons than most folks would think.  The priest doesn't absolve me of sin.  In computing terms, he can't delete my sinlog.txt, he doesn't have access to those commands.  Only the Sysop does...the Divine.  Now, they're outsourcing most of the sacrament to a phone?

Then you have the whole fact that you can 'track your sins' using this app.  Colour me jaded, but having been around the intarwebz more than a week, the social engineering/blackmail/phishing that could be accomplished with this BY THE CHURCH, let alone a third party, is nearly incalculable.

Finally...why are you focusing on this?    The instructions call for us to love God and love our neighbour as ourselves.  Why are you trying to find fault with yourself?...Won't that naturally lead to trying to find fault in your neighbour?  What good does that do?  How is God present in those actions?

I could go on, but....you're a smart one.  You can figure it out.