He is as the one who, because of his authority, comes to make ruptures. We have confused authority and power, and we have confused the father source of love, with the father exercising his authority on the model of the famous pater familias. You are about to speak of the many ways by which we try today to free ourselves, in a certain way, from God. But isn't it normal for us today to feel this necessity to proclaim our liberty, our dignity, because we have often been told of God as of someone who was dominating us and was an obstacle to our freedom. Surely and, as I already said, it is really necessary to understand that atheist ideologies were not spontaneously born.
Atheist ideologies are like a sort of mysticism which wants to free people.
It is very true that there has been a whole understanding of the mystery of God which put power firstly and forgot about his paternal authority. This appears perhaps much more in America than in Europe. In Europe, it is really necessary to say that the father, heir of the Latin, Roman pater familias, still often appears as the one who has authority and who wishes to impose himself. Freud was not born in America, he was born in Europe, and therefore he reflects this background. If we had time, it would be worthwhile getting into all this.