Rustic Rebel Sez: So if you change the 'religion', why don't you change the name of your 'new' religion as well? I can see where the thought of hypocracy can come into play with the new and improved version of the Catholic religion- it could go like this-"I thought you couldn't use contraceptives or get a divorce. Your nothing but a hypocrite" Do you know what I mean?
Changing an age old religion to suit the times is a head shaker for me if you use the same name.

Well, RR, it goes back to the question of whether the Roman Catholic church is monolithically, fundamentalistally conservative or not. I have 16 years of Catholic education, including 8 years in a seminary studying for the priesthood. I have worked for the Catholic Church as a volunteer or employee all my life - and I am now emplyed by the Catholic Church to teach religion to adults. I really think I am able to have a fairly accurate, realistic view of what is and what is not Catholic. It may not be all-encompassing, but I think my perspective has a high level of validity.

The Catholic Church has always had both saints and sinners among its members. It has always done tremendous good as one of its primary purposes, but it has always had an element that has done tremendous harm in its name, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally; sometimes officially and sometimes unofficially. It has always had both progressives and traditionalists, intellectuals and anti-intellectuals. And, despite what outsiders (and some Catholics) may think, it has always been in a state of constant change. Believe it or not, discussion and disagreement haave always been an important part of the Catholic Church.

Yes, you are correct that the Catholic Church does not approve of "artificial" methods of contraception/birth control. Thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of Catholics openly ignore or defy that policy because they think that policy is wrong - is open disagreement hypocrisy? You're right that the Catholic Church doesn't acknowledge divorce (although it does grant annullments on fairly generous grounds), but it denies the sacraments only to those who divorce and remarry. If I disagree and get divorced and remarried, is that hypocrisy? - no, it's disobedience of a rule that I think is unjust. And good Catholics have defied unjust Church rules since the very early history of the Church.

In my many years of church work, I have found many flaws in the Catholic Church, and I have worked hard to remedy those shortcomings - and some of those shortcomings are truly deplorable. Still, most of my experiences in the Catholic Church have been very positive - so why should I leave it? I think it's far better for me to try to fix it, rather then leaving it behind.

Yes, I know that many people have had very bad experiences with the Catholic Church. I'm very sorry those things have happened, and many of us Catholics work to remedy those problems.

-Joe Offer-