From the DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER

"Moments after the Holy See announced the election of Pope Benedict XVI last week, a friend of mine quipped that "“Some folks will think that God isn'’t a very good listener” because He had ignored — yet again — the advice of most of the American media." (Ed. loved that last line)
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" So the smearing begins. A New York Times columnist summed up the anger of the Disappointed last week when she wrote that, “The white smoke (of the papal election) signaled that the Vatican thinks what it needs to bring it into modernity is the oldest pope since the 18th century: Joseph Ratzinger, a 78-year-old hidebound archconservative who ran the office that used to be called the Inquisition and who once belonged to Hitler Youth.”"
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" One of the lessons from last year that too many American Catholics still don'’t want to face is that it’s OK to be Catholic in today’s public square as long as we don'’t try to live our beliefs too seriously; as long as we’re suitably embarrassed by all those “primitive” Catholic teachings; as long as we shut up about abortion and other sensitive moral issues and allow ourselves to be tutored in the ways of “polite” secular culture by experts who have little or no respect for the Christian faith that guides our lives."

JB here: To paraphrase, for Protestant believers, "it's okay to be a devout Christian as long as you don't take your devoutness too far. In fact, we'll like you better if you'll be more worldly and far less devout. Yeah, that's the ticket."

And that's the problem. Being a 1/2 hearted or "part-time Christian" brings you to the book of Revelation where the Church of Laodicea (the "lukewarm church") is warned; "because you [the church] are lukewarm and neither cold or hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth"........

So that's the believer's dilemma. Offend society at large with your passion for God or offend God with your passion for the world. "Indeed"