Thinking for Myself

Apparently, it has to be pointed out that the pope will not

soften his church's condemnation of abortion and opposition to artificial contraception.

on his upcoming trip. Not a surprise to me or probably to most who read this blog. But this did surprise me...I guess it shouldn't. But I am pretty naive.

It's true that American Catholics are inclined to think for themselves. By and large, they have made peace with contraception, tolerate abortion and accept divorce and remarriage.

So going against the church's teachings is evidence that you do not think for yourself? Is this to say that since I am not at peace with contraception, will NOT tolerate abortion, and do not accept divorce and remarriage I am not thinking for myself? For the most part, I used to fall under this author's description of an American Catholic. I can tell you from first hand experience that when I thought this way, I was absolutely not thinking for myself. I was being swept by the tide of popular culture. It took no thinking on my part to agree with these popular beliefs. I didn't think them through - I just heard them on tv, movies, news articles such as this one, and from people that I knew. It wasn't until I had an awakening to the fact that I was very far from Catholic teaching and not in full communion with my church that I had to do some real thinking. I read, I learned, I thought, I sought counsel and then I realized the truth - the absolute truth - God's truth...my Catholic faith - completely and fully without picking and choosing. Only after going through that process can I truly say I have begun to think for myself.