Question for Catholics

[benfranklin]

Disclaimer: I have no dog in this fight. I do not belong to any church. But as one who was brought up Catholic, I am always curious about what is going on in the Church. And these issues are getting a lot of attention now.

Modern American Catholics (MACs) professed to greatly admire Pope JP II, but were highly critical of him for not changing Church doctrine on issues like abortion, homosexuality, birth control, etc., etc. MACs hate to see him go, but look forward to the possibility of a new Pope who will bring the Church more in line with their own views.

The Catholic Church is a religion, and according to my dictionary, a religion is "a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith". Pro-life, non-gay, etc., are not positions taken by the Church, they ARE the Church. How can someone say that this is my religion, but I don't agree with its principles and values and beliefs?

Love him or hate him, JPII was adamant about not varying from the core beliefs of the Church. I find it incredible that anyone could say, this is my church, I don't agree with the beliefs of my church, therefore the church should change its beliefs. Am I the only one who finds this paradoxical? Or hypocritical? If you don't belive what "your" church believes, why don't you join a church that teaches what you believe in?

Finally, one of the bedrock truths of the Catholic Church embedded in my mind forever from the schooling of my youth is that the Pope is infallible in pronouncements about Church doctrine. Again, what's wrong with this picture? MACs say that they are Catholics, and JPII was their Pope, and that as Catholics they believe that JPII is infallible in matters of doctrine. BUT the Pope is wrong and the Church is wrong and the Pope needs to change his beliefs to conform with my beliefs, because I am a modern American, and I know what's what.

At the risk of interjecting poker into this forum, this to me is like saying that my game is limit holdem, and I don't like any other games. But limit holdem might be better played with 4 pocket cards. And let's play it hi-lo split. And even better, let's make it pot-limit.

To go back to that definition of religion, the key word in talking about religion is "faith". You have to have faith that your religion is correct, and follow it. You can't prove anything about religion, you have to believe it. The Catholic Church is a faith. Islam is a faith. Judaism is a faith. How can you claim to belong to a religion and not have faith in its teachings? I don't get it. I guess I'll just go find a good Omaha/8 game.