Religion as Citizenship and Letting Go

[Meshuga]

10. Religion is linked to identity

And I will use Catholics as an example in this post since (in my perception) identity seems to be a big thing with Catholics.

I have a close Catholic friend who isn't much of a believer but (because of his upbringing) he got married in the church, his daughters were baptized, and he goes through the motions of holding some Catholic tradition.

While many Catholics may not agree with the Pope when it comes to gay rights, contraceptives, etc. they will still catch flak for being associated with the people they don't agree with in these issues.

I am sure many Catholics would love to see progressive changes but they can't leave the church because being Catholic is part of who they are. It's a pretty complicated situation.