How do you explain the relationship between religious affiliation and culture, ethnicity, and nationality?

[Freddy]

And I will just share this as well, to say “my faith is the only faith, my church is the one true church” actually runs entirely counter to the rest of my personality. I am by nature a very liberal, tolerant, accepting person. If someone comes up to me and insists that the moon is made out of green cheese, I won’t dismiss him as an idiot. No, I will tell him that his assertion is very interesting, I’ve heard of that before, as long as you brought it up, explain for me why all the astronauts and space scientists are wrong, and show me precisely why you think the moon is made out of green cheese. You must have some very good reasons for thinking this. Did you learn this somewhere? And from whom? Were you brought up to think this? What evidence persuaded you of this? Share this with me, would you? And so on.

Again, being dogmatic about the Catholic Faith is a strange fit for me, but it’s a fit I have to accept… because it’s true.

Very well said. At least you appreciate the conundrum.

And it is green cheese. It’s true! (but I was brought up in a Green Cheese family. All our friends were Green Cheese people as well). Don’t listen to these Johnny-come- lately Cheddar Cheese people. Green Cheese was the first.

 

[Vic_Taltrees_UK]

Thank you! It was three of my grandparents that were the converts. At those two localities there had been little catechesis (in many parts of England this is still the case).

Religion in my family and among non-Catholic acquaintances was relatively sound but rudimentary. Circumstances separated me from it and though the RC was an obvious place to ask further, that’s what I got at those two times. After the burnout I and others subsequently experienced (details given elsewhere) I have learned the hard way to adopt the same stance as you.

I have left all the doors open to future contact with any number of “apostolates” (and even parishes) don’t worry. My own gut feeling was and is that proper tradition is not retrogressive. I’m suspicious of propaganda and “image” of all kinds incidentally.

 

[EmilyAlexandra]

You are presumably familiar, too, with the case of Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali

Yes, I had actually forgotten about him. I was aware of him because I went to school in the Diocese of Rochester when he was bishop there, and one of my religious studies teachers was slightly acquainted with the bishop in her role as a reader. Dr Nazir-Ali has had an especially interesting journey. He was born into a Shia Muslim family in Pakistan, which is 90% Sunni. His father later became a Christian. Nazir-Ali was educated at a Catholic school and initially became a Catholic, later becoming an Anglican. For several years it was rumoured that he was considering returning to the Catholic Church.