That is to say, we can only speak with certainty of judgment about our own sin, not the sins of others. We don't know what was in their hearts and minds when they did what they did. For all I know, God will hold me more responsible for having told a malicious story about my neighbor than He will hold Atta responsible for 9/11, given the way Atta was raised, and his own ignorance of the truth. Maybe God won't. All that I, Rod Dreher, can say for sure is that I know what sin is, and I freely chose to sin. As far as I know, I am the chief of sinners, and shouldn't hesitate to humiliate myself before the merciful God by calling myself that. And it's not just a figure of pious speech; if I treat it as such, then there's something important I don't understand about humility. As Fr. Neuhaus beautifully explains in the book, if we are not prepared to say that, and mean it, then we are not prepared for the redemption of the Cross.