Quote of the Day

. . . I am sure not getting why Catholicism is becoming all fixated on notions of Satan and spiritual warfare and how helpless and powerless we all are in the face of this personified evil force. It's this kind of teaching that drives me crazy about Benedict. He can be such a biblical literalist in some areas, but in other areas not so much, and I can't tell what his thought process is that makes those determinations. One could say he seems to practice a form biblical relativism.

I do know though that sin, hell, Satan, and all the attendant fear those lines of thought engender have historically packed churches and brought in many, many offerings. As much as I hate to admit it, sin and hell and those kind of fears fill pews far better than women priests, gay marriage or other notions of social justice and human dignity. This makes me wonder if religion, in the psychological sense, isn't a need deficiency proposition and that this fact limits it's appeal in post modern cultures. In cultures that place great emphasis on more optimistic notions of self improvement and self evolution, old paradigms of fear and insurmountable human deficiency just won't fly no matter who is wearing the clerical dresses or pronouncing the clerical words. . . .

— Colleen Kochivar-Baker
"General Benedict XVI Calls for Spiritual Combat"
Enlightened Catholicism
March 22, 2011