Thou shalt revel in the foibles of others

Americans have been obsessed with the purging of sins in public. Who can forget Jimmy Swaggart’s teary “I have sinned” speech or a former president talking about his indiscretions with “that woman”?

The website www.dailyconfession.com brings our penchant for penance to a global audience by housing an anonymous, online confessional for the guilt-ridden -- and giving the Internet’s secular congregation the opportunity to post responses.

The majority of peccadilloes are loosely cataloged by the Ten Commandments (stealing, adultery, honoring other gods etc.). Many seem pretty tame: A middle-aged man confesses to getting aroused during a physical by a female doctor; a kid admits to stealing some money from his parents.

But some of the admissions are more outre and colorful (like the medical student who groped a young woman’s cadaver) or just plain sad (suicide thoughts are common).

Potentially troubling content is labeled as “disturbing,” “provocative” or “bogus alert,” and all postings are subject to rules such as: “Thou shalt not submit a confession with any sexually graphic or gratuitous content” involving underage participants.

Webmaster Greg Fox, a former Disney producer and director who created the site in 2000, offers a taste in “Coming Clean: The Best and Worst of Dailyconfession.com,” due out by month’s end.

Registering more than 1 million hits a day, daily confession.com shows there are a lot of sinners in the world -- and many more voyeurs.

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-- Christine N. Ziemba