Cafeteria Catholic

An interview with Maria Shriver published in the Washington Post a few days ago highlights the importance of religion. In it, Shriver describes that she lives her life according to "cafeteria Catholicism", picking and choosing the aspects of religion that she chooses to follow as opposed to taking religion literally and blindly while following all of its teachings. So are you a true Catholic if you pick and choose?

YES. Religious people need to understand that the values and belief system of religion are based on a different era completley, values are meant to be modernized and renewed. Women do not wear long heavy dresses, men don't pay for a wife, and little girls can now enjoy the benefits of education. Societies are not static, they grow and develop with time. So why do some people think that it is still ok to tell a woman what to do with her pregnancy, prevent two people from marrying, and proclaim that their daughters must stay pure and protected until their prince charming comes to collect them. Wake up! Things have changed, and religion is archaic.

Conflict and pain arise because of the fact that some people (Muslim, Christian, and Jewish alike) refuse to see that religion is peaceful and spiritual, teaching us how to be better human beings and how extract positivity out of life. Fundamentalism seems to be the "source of all evil" nowadays and that's because it is old-fashioned and outdated, it simply does not fit our world today. Globalization of cultures and values has allowed a beautiful blend of cultures to live by each other and interact. No longer are countries individual units who are able to exercise religion without affecting others, we live in a cohesive world, where religion and cultures spill over to neighboring countries. And for now much of religion is causing pain and sufferig by not being tolerable of other traditions.

Source: Washington Post