New York Times Poll Results

[Maggyie]

How do you know this? Do you work for the NYT or CBS?

 

No just statistically speaking, most people who support gay marriage are not gay themselves, and most people who are pro-abortion rights have not had an abortion themselves ,and every few years there's a half dozen women who go out in a boat and pretend to be ordained as Catholic priestesses. But that's nothing compared to the millions of casual Catholics who would answer, also very casually, "sure, women priests, pro-choice, gay rights, love it" if asked. The majority aren't activists by any means but they are certainly children of their time.

[Winchester]

I say it's not possible to be a good Catholic.

[Gabriela]

No just statistically speaking, most people who support gay marriage are not gay themselves, and most people who are pro-abortion rights have not had an abortion themselves ,and every few years there's a half dozen women who go out in a boat and pretend to be ordained as Catholic priestesses. But that's nothing compared to the millions of casual Catholics who would answer, also very casually, "sure, women priests, pro-choice, gay rights, love it" if asked. The majority aren't activists by any means but they are certainly children of their time.

 

What about the contraception question, and the "following your conscience over the Pope" question?

[Maggyie]

What about the contraception question, and the "following your conscience over the Pope" question?

 

well as I said on contraception, that's one they're all doing. On "on difficult moral questions, which are you more likely to follow - the teachings of the Pope, or your conscience?" in fact the Church teaches very clearly in the catechism that no one should ever act contrary to their conscience. I hope 100% of Catholics including the Pope would say "my conscience." The key is to have a well-formed conscience which the vast majority of people do not have in the catechetical wasteland.

[Evangetholic]

I've noticed an odd tendency of Catholics to turn docile and accept Church Teaching when the reasoning behind it is presented. The strongest resistance I've seen is in response to women's ordination and GLBT issues--but it seems that if there's some way to communicate that the Church does not consider women imbeciles or (despite opinions to the contrary from some laymen) gay people as prophets of the doom of Western Civilization, then that resistance usually disappears or at least turns into "the assent of faith."

 

And I'm not certain whether or not Winchester is serious, but he's quite correct. I think the line between "good" Catholics and "bad" ones is more permeable than many of us would like. If people are preserving a Catholic identity, but not quite succeeding in preserving faith then it's the duty of those of us who believe as the Church believes to expose them to the richness of Catholic spirituality, history, and thought.

 

Even before I came back to the Church (including during a period of time when I thought the Church was Christian, but somehow managed to obfuscate the Gospel), I couldn't help loving Her. I felt an internal desire to believe as She believed, but no one made a cogent case for me.

[Winchester]

The reasoning behind a teaching is not protected by infallibility.

[Evangetholic]

This is true. And there are teachings whose stated reasons make no human sense to me. But still, for many, I have noticed a willingness to bend the knee to the actual Teaching in response to being presented it "in context."