Anyway, Sherry is a facebook friend. She travels all over the world. On her status page she states that she's finally home. She relates that she was amazed by the differences in Catholic views from country to country. She's not talking liturgy. She's talking political concerns.
In the United States we're concerned about freedom of conscience, and being forced to pay for abortions and contraceptives. In other countries, that's not even a concern. These countries have universal health care that does pay for abortions and contraception. Catholics just don't personally use them, all though they pay for them, insurance wise. It seems to be like paying for the military when you're a pacifist. Australian Catholics lump immigration with "life" issues. Also the idea that abortion is intrinsically evil, isn't a consideration. They vote candidates, more than issues, because the candidate will vote the way their constituents want.
The discussion on facebook continued on, as to the reasons why this is so. One thought is because we have a two party system. Other countries have multiple parties to choose from. But these other countries do pay attention to what's happening in the US. The media is very American dominated. So they are fascinated by our issues. Sometimes what's important to us appalls them. The rest of the world doesn't buy our perspectives. Americans are just crazy.
Surprised? We American Catholics think everyone thinks like us. We want the Pope to turn the church to our way of thinking.
I guess we should look up the definition of catholic. The Catholic Church means universal church, not American Church.
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