Confessions of a Cafeteria Catholic (I'll Take the Lime-Green Jello and a Trojan Please)

This is your brain on pure Catholic Doctrine.

It really blows my mind that religion can exist at all because of the "you're either with us or against us" attitude of certain groups. Lately, I've been hearing the term "Cafeteria Catholic" and it makes me laugh because once I thought about it, I feel more like a Taco Bell Drive-through Catholic.

According to my research, Cafeteria Catholics are those who pick and choose what doctrines they want to follow and what doctrines they want to ignore.

Following is a list of the problematic Cafeteria Catholic beliefs that I found in my research (pulled off a web site):

• They see no problem with artificial birth control
• They see no problem with premarital sex
• They see no problem with divorce and remarriage
• They see no problem with abortion
• They approve and promote the ordination of woman
• They approve and promote the marriage of priests

When you're born Catholic it is part of your culture and your heritage is something to be proud of. It's difficult to suddenly quit but people do it all the time because the institution is outdated and has obviously veered off from it's original direction. As a teenager, I became aware of the hypocrisy and decided that I could no longer be part of it. I'm sure I broke my mother's heart when I told her I didn't believe in God. And it wasn't true, it was really about the fact that I knew I couldn't follow the doctrine without being a hypocrite.

Somewhere along the line, I found a particular church that made sense to me. They welcomed you wherever you were on your journey and as far as I could tell, they really meant it. It was the first time in my life when I felt that religion could work, that you could believe in God with a community that allowed some free thought.

But, this particular church has to defend itself continously because it is under constant criticism from groups that don't agree with this type of freedom. And the reason why these groups are taking time away from their own congregations to observe and judge is anybody's guess but my guess is that they feel threatened.

So if "My way or the highway" Catholicism is your thing .... well, good luck in the Holy War.