95% Solution
Total agreement is a state of mind. After years of studying not only the Bible, but studying my church and her development and the context in which most rules are made and their roots in the writings of early church thinkers and indeed the scriptures. Now, I will get some backlash from Catholic folks who might eventually find my blog, but that's okay.
First, I want to say there are many things in the history of the church I despise. The anti Semitism, the superstition, and the anti feminism that led to the deaths of midwives, apothecaries, herbalists, and simple surgeons. For a church who says it loves Mother Mary there is in history a visible dislike, even hatred for her daughters. I also hate a system that allowed the abuse of children and vulnerable people all over the world.
So you might be thinking why did I become a Catholic? I became a Catholic because it is the Christian Church Jesus established but after He returned to Our Father, men were left to further develop and spread the word of the Catholic church. Men are fallible creatures and it is the job every Catholic to support, counsel and even chastise with Christian love. I love my church, I would cheerfully and without fear die for my church. But I am not blind to her faults.
So, I agree with right around 95% of the Catholic doctrine. The sticking points are: Divorce, Birth Control and Abortion. Before you clutch your rosary, I want to explain where I am on these topics.
We are told in Scripture by Christ, let there be no divorce. Men and Women who divorce and remarry are committing adultry. It's plain and I do not really question this. But, even the church gives a married person a way out but it is expensive so only the very wealthy parishioners are able to get that religious annulment. The church gives such directives as Women, be submissive to your husbands. But they always leave off the second part: Men, love your wives as you love your own bodies.
Church studied the pros and cons of every law in the catechism, they knew things like high mother and child mortality, they knew society saw women as not human beings but live chattel under the control of a father, a brother or a husband. Marriage and limited reasons for divorce were perfect for making sure men procreate, making more Catholics to increase the numbers of the faithful. It also cut down on who gets what when the father died. Women got nothing, but a wise father will betroth her to a lucrative family who will pay her bride's price.
Now, I don't agree with those 90 day return policies on marriages. Celebrity marriages are practically scripted real life dramas. These are people who do not approach marriage with sober attention, love, and seriousness. Instead they are overinflated celebrations of two egos who have managed to pull off a wedding. Weddings are different from marriages. You can fail miserably at a wedding and have a stellar marriage.
However, if you are being abused by your spouse, if your children are being abused by your spouse, the church needs to help the abused spouse escape and protect them and help them with a Church annulment. These people are the only ones who deserve a church annulment. No one should be forced to stay in an abusive marriage in order to stay in good graces with the church and receive the sacraments.
Birth Control is another sticking point. Even people who plan big Catholic families sometimes employ birth control, allowing women's bodies time to recoup, giving the couple time to look at all the facets of being a family and how large a family they can afford. If they have reached their limit, then they usually make a personal decision to do some sort of permanent thing. There are also people who decide it's not good for them to bring children in the world. Physical and emotional problems no reasonable person would not want to pass on,a desire to follow Christ's words when He said that anyone who harms one of these little ones should have a mill stone tied around their neck and dropped in the deepest part of the pond. So I am all for birth control.
Abortion is a complex thing. To say it's not is just stupid. Most people who are against abortion are white people, mainly women, who see the embryos as a potential white person. They go to abortion clinics and say: Give me your babies, we'll take your babies and adopt them...especially if they are white. They will deny this is racially tinted, but the truth is, no one is fighting to save black and brown and mixed race babies. If they were, you'd see more upper middle class women adopting babies of color.
First off, I don't believe in abortion as birth control. Girls who are too lazy to use some sort of birth control ought not be having sex. If you are one of those girls who say hormones make them sick, they are allergic to latex, they get bladder infections from spermicide and they know an aunt who had an IUD go walk about in their bodies this might be a sign you are meant to be pregnant or you are meant to be celibate. Frankly I don't believe you. You're just lazy.
I do however believe in the ability to choose if you have been raped or is a victim of incest. Anyone who says it's God's will for little 10 year old Sally being pregnant by a family member is stupid and heartless. Same with a grown woman who is subject to sexual abuse. They must be able to choose.
If your baby has abnormalities or other developmental problems, an abortion might be kindest thing to do for the baby, the mother, and the family. A woman should have the ability to choose.
Otherwise this is your responsibility.
And here's something I have very conservative views about. Socially and legally, I am all for equality for LGBTQ people. But you don't get to press your social views onto my Church. Is it exclusionary? You betcha. I don't believe in marrying LGBTQ in my church, I don't think we should be forced to admit LGBTQ into the membership of Christ's church if they are actively living that life fully and are sexually active. Church is not a social club. And, no, you cannot have your big fat gay wedding in my Neogothic Catholic Church.