Pascal,

I still maintain that Voltimand is completely wrong about me and my life. I am not attacking his affinity for the insights of Rene Girard. They shed light on aspects of some of the people involved in the socialist project. But the psychological profile he puts up in no way correctly takes the correct reading of my life and thinking. I claim no privileged status and only humbly submit a few shards of testimony about my life. I do not know Voltimand personally, as I do not know you; I dare not presume to know you guys well enough to make a judgment about your psychological profiles. The arrogance of attempting to do so simply is not a part of who I am.

One has to be very careful, as I stated, to not succumb to the temptations of reductionism. Girard’s insights are not invalid. They are just not valid for all persons who have participated in socialist movements. I see in Girard perhaps his own biases, as the French are so famous for (and my ancestry is French, by the way!): tending towards cynicism. We have to be careful not to project on to others our own dark perceptions.

I have read C.S. Lewis’ “The Great Divorce.” I am not going to comment about the aspersion cast about the kind of type of character described in that book that I am supposed to be.

I do not appreciate being “psychologized” like this on a public forum, as if I am supposed to be still some kind of closet socialist. I happen to think I stand on solid footing in Catholic theology, Catholic social teaching, and in traditional, orthodox understanding of scripture. I object to being pidgeonholed by people who have not studied theology and philosophy as I have. Clearly, my years on that journey and how I have evolved do give evidence of my faith struggles and growth as a human being, an incomplete project as I type these words.