Great quote

This was sent to me (with approbation, much to my surprise) by a secular friend who is not hostile to religion but definitely an independent thinker with an opinion:

"You have no idea how much nastier I would be if I was not a Catholic. Without supernatural aid I would hardly be a human being."

— Evelyn Waugh, writer, responding to criticism from his friend Nancy Mitford that his cruelty was inconsistent with his Christianity.

Of course he could have said "Christian" as well. The point being that Jesus Christ transforms us from being the inhuman state we are in and makes us truly human.

For all the nasty things that Christians have done throughout the ages, I'm convinced that non-Christians, especially in last century, have beat them, especially when you distinguish between those who are authentically living out their Christian vocation from those who profess it (or maybe not even that) but do not live it.

Here is the Wikipedia entry on Waugh.