I think the Roman Catholic Church must be taken seriously, it has been a powerful political, religious, social, and ideological force for such a long time, and much evil has been done in its name. I have also been very moved by Catholic authors, speakers, ideologues, and even Priests. (Voted for one, too).

I have been very dissapoinnted that after the major scandals, breaking loose in Boston and traveling to pretty much every State in the Union, regarding abusive priests being protected by their senior religious authorities, that time after time the Church has tried to limit the damage not root it out.

I have come to the opinion that American Catholics, as with American of most religions, are for the most part different, and superior to, those elsewhere because they bring their idealistic, questioning attitude to their faith and do not shirk the hard questions and the hard answers.

George Carlin was one of those questioners I'm alluding to. He enriched the American Catholic experience, and in so doing, enriched those of us who are not Catholic.

To paraphrase the New Testament:

"The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable"