jwaneeta

I like the Quakers' approach to "tolerance" much better: care for persons, and for the Divine within each human, simply outweighs lesser concerns and differences (at least, at its best -- every denomination, sect, or religion suffers from the same disadvantage of being made up of people, who can sometimes be petty and miserable or abusive).

Absolutely true. I've been a practicing Catholic for twenty years, and until about seven years ago I've been able to take the rough with the smooth on a personal level. When I got booted from the monastery I didn't quit, because it was a merely personal grief.

But these last seven years it's become about what the church teaches -- what the magesterium teaches, what they tell us we MUST belive in order to be Catholic. There's no real option for loyal oppostition, there's no debate. I can't just ignore what I don't like, especially when it directly contributes to what I see as a dangerous inclination (in this country) to scapegoat "outsiders."

I've been reading up on the Quakers, and on paper, at least, these are the very things they abjure.