"You're a Catholic!" - Hate Mail

"I pray every day,  I doubt the Catholic Church is happy with me but too bad, they’re stuck with me.” 

Rachel Maddow

If you want to force me to define myself in terms of denomination,  I'd say it's more complex than saying "I'm a Catholic."   I would note that the biblical scholar and laicized Catholic priest,  John Dominic Crossan said it well when he noted to say he wasn't a Catholic would make about as much sense as denying he's Irish, and he's a lot more Irish than I am and I've never done anything to get into hot water with the Catholic hierarchy.  

I think of myself as Catholic +  or Catholic and because there is an enormous amount that I share in common with Protestants, Jews (ALL Christians as well as Muslims share most of the important things they believe with Jews and owe that tradition all of it), Orthodox, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. A while back  I heard a traditional Cree scholar, according to whom that tradition sounds like I could learn a lot from it.  That isn't in any way absurd, all through the Bible, from the Old Testament to Paul and beyond it stresses that God gave understanding to everyone, not based even on them being monotheistic believers in the one God who God is.  God made covenants with even the enemies or, rather, eventual enemies of Israel, God made covenants with all flesh, so with those who aren't humans.  

You contrast that universalist valuation of all people with the typical materialist devaluation of all (though materialists seldom include themselves and those they care about in that universal devaluation) and it's clear that far from making someone more parochial in their regard, a strict adherence to the Scriptures and the universal commands for justice and loving regard of even enemies, even those who you don't like leads to everything from the attempt to do that in your life and, even more difficult, your thinking leads to the opposite of what you accuse Christians and Catholics of.  

I'm only talking about those who try to do it, who really try to do what is asked in the Gospel, the Epistles, The Law and the Prophets.  Not everyone who claims the name for themselves earn it by their actions.  No more than Republicans really like democracy or the ACLU really values equal justice more than their childishly simplified understanding of free speech without limits no matter how dangerous that proves to be in real life.