"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. My sins are..."
The voices on the other side of the confessional kept on. Parishioners going to confessions. Accusing themselves of such and such sins. Making firm purpose of amendment. Asking God to forgive them.
"Father, I am sorry I did this. I thought it was alright to do it because nobody saw me did it anyway."
One of the more common justifications made why one who knows that a particular act is already wrong and who would nevertheless commit the evil anyway is "I am alone. Nobody can see me. I will not be caught. And if I am not caught, there is no sin."
Wrong.
What is wrong can not become right even if one is not caught doing it. When one is caught one is punished. Punishment is a consequence of the wrong and the evil that was done. It is a reparation for the damage done.
"Father, I thought there is nothing wrong about it because I promised myself I will do it only once".
Soon, the one time sin becomes a series of sins. In fact, the one time, personal sin, certainly and surely will bring about more sins. Affects more lives, other than one's own. Brings about sadness to others lives. Sins multliply. Their effects too multiply.
"Everybody is doing it, Father."
Even if all the people are doing something which is wrong and evil from the very beginning does not mean that that evil becomes ultimately good. Morality is not something that changes in time. What is wrong today cannot become good tomorrow. Nor a lie becomes a truth because so many have started to believe it to be "true".
Nobody sees me. Only once. Everybody is doing it.
They lead us to believe it is alright to think, see, hear and act evil.
