Should liberals leave Catholic Church?

Joan Vennochi in the Boston Globe gets points for candor. She recites a number of the teachings of the Catholic Church, then says

Liberals raised as Catholics refuse to accept this reality.

So much for the "reality-based" community.

We think we can be prochoice, pro-gay marriage , pro-gay adoption, and in favor of married and female priests and still call ourselves Catholic. The people who make the rules say we don't meet the criteria.

You could, for that matter, not believe in God and call yourself Catholic. The issue is whether or not there are objective criteria for what Catholics ought to believe and how they are determined.

Every pronouncement from Pope Benedict XVI draws another line between official church doctrine and liberal ideology. When do liberals choose one side or the other?

There's a public relations approach, "Deny. Deny. Deny. It's old news." Are liberals now past denying that liberalism is an ideology, past claiming it's really the moderate mainstream? It looks like we're at that point if even self-described liberals will admit it's old news that liberal ideology demands religious assent.

We also believe our views are the enlightened ones and Rome's represent the neanderthal; eventually we will get a pope who understands that.

(via Karl Keating)