Question: What is scrupulosity, who suffers from it, what is its cure, and is it a problem among TOC believers?
[The following is simply my own surmising about this.]
I certainly do agree and believe that there is such a thing as scrupulosity and that it is a condition that affects many religiously inclined folk. I think it mainly stems from a distorted view of ourselves and God, resulting is a fear of sin that is not truly according to God's will, and of a sense of guilt that is ill-founded. If one imagines one is guilty of something that is not, in fact a sin, then one will never be free of it. People who suffer from scrupulosity are people who cannot find relief from their troubled consciences through the normal channels of grace; namely, through confession, obediently fulfilling epitemias, and Holy Communion. The reason for this, at least in part, is because they seek forgiveness from something that is not a sin. Hence, the reasons for being troubled in conscience are rooted not in a real sin, and so they cannot find relief in absolution at confession. What in much more effective it to discover where our thinking has gone awry. Correcting that will cut off the erroneous thoughts that plague the mind and soul.
I think that Scrupulosity is far more common among Protestant fundamentalists, and traditional Roman Catholics who take their religion seriously. The twisted ideas of the Western Christian Confessions are what magnify such a condition in people. Of course, scrupulosity assumes or is predicated upon the fact that the person in question already has a sensitive conscience. Someone who is not very sensitive and is rather unconcerned about sin, they are not going to be suffering from this condition. Rather they are in need of a different cure for a different ailment. Such people often can appear more well adjusted in life, though they are not sufficiently conscientious.
Some people believe that the Western notions of menial, venial, mortal sin, and that the struggle to hairsplit between those which are lesser and not perilous to the soul and those which are, is what contributes to this condition of scrupulosity. I do not know. What I do know is that if we follow the teachings of the Holy Fathers, the lives of the saints, participate regulary and with seriousness in the Divine Mysteries, then with the course of time and consistent practise of these things, the scrupulosity within us will depart as old erroneous thoughts and ideas are washed away and replaced by Orthodox ones. I doubt that for most people there is any "quick fix" epiphany.
Is scrupulosity a trait of many TOC members? I definitely do not see that as being the case. I have travelled all over the world and met TOC believers in Eastern Europe, Greece, Athos, America, and Canada. None of them seems to suffer from the scrupulosity of the Western Confessions. I have seen new converts into Orthodoxy (both World Orthodoxy and TOCs) and they can sometimes be suffering from this for some years into their Orthodox life. However, it seems extremely rare to me among those raised from birth in Orthodoxy. I do not know if the HOCNA believers have that problem. I have never really had any contact with any Panteleimonites; and if they are suffering from this, perhaps the origin of the erroneous thought patterns are rooted in a different error than the Western Confessions.
Symeon
