I think your post is definitely thought-provoking. I’m not sure if I see the issue in the same way. I think there is definitely a large set of social justice issues where you are totally on solid ground. I mean, things like Gustavo Gutierrez’s liberation theology, the Catholic Worker movement, the Sanctuary movement, anti-war, etc. have a really strong pedigree within Catholicism.

I think it is much more difficult to do that with abortion, contraception or homosexuality.

Somewhere there is line between “This is my Church and I’m going to change it” and “It’s time to shop for a new church”. But where that line is exactly has to be a personal call.

The other thing I wanted to bring up (which I’ve touched on in other posts on Planet Grenada) is that at least when it comes to Islam, I’m a bit bothered by the “cultural Muslim” concept. It is weird to me that some random Indo-Pak or Arab should be automatically conferred some kind of legitimacy or “authority” independently of what they believe or how they behave in their personal life. It’s not that I’m eager to kick folks out of the mosque or anything. It’s definitely great to try to create a welcoming community where everyone feels that they belong and are accepted. But I think there is a flipside to what you are saying. Suppose (for example) on one hand you have a Japanese guy who was raised Buddhist, but had some kind of spiritual experiences which guided him to believe in (among other things) every word of the the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and fully and thoroughly accept the authority of the bishop of Rome. Then, on the other hand you have a Latina (or Irishperson, or Pole, or Italian, etc.) who was raised Catholic but currently disagrees with things in the Catechism and actively works to promote alternative views.

What’s the best way to describe the different “Catholicities” (if that’s a word) that each person has?