Dennis,
I've long marveled at the neocon's ability to take what is by Christian definition, to be the greatest gift to mankind in history, and to turn that into something bordering on a negative.  If one believes that Jesus did in fact free us from the bonds of sin, then I think the traditionalist view of catholicism must be seen as the imposition of a very stiff, very heavy, lifelong probation.  Joy, hope and even (dare I say) humor, are to be replaced with a constant looking over one's shoulder for that Jesus who although he literally died to make us free,  now patrols the world looking for all manner of "gotchas" so that he can reimpose our original death sentence...  The logic behind that mindset suggests to me a terrible fear of freedom, a terrible lack of trust in the gifts we've been given.

If we really could believe that we HAVE been freed, why would we not live joyously, freely, thankfully and creatively in this freedom?  It makes no sense to me.  Never has...