I have a question for @DouthatNYT & @ebruenig. I grew up Catholic, many of my parents' generation in the family are still quite devout. I read both of their pieces on Amy Coney Barrett today. What has been a puzzle for me for many years is what does it mean to be Catholic? 1/

I will confess--and many do not know this about me--I was part of a charismatic Catholic youth group in high school--and even considered the priesthood (now all of my gay and progressive friends will clutch their pearls). 2/

But what drove me away from the Church was its homophobia--quite crude on the ground in my community--and an explicit racism among some of the local leaders. 3/

And I am not painting all Catholics with this brush. Quite the contrary, I've met devout people who shun the Church's teaching on homosexuality, abortion, birth control and still consider themselves Catholic. 4/

But why in public life is this diversity of thought among Catholics collapsed into a narrow realm of views? 5/

Some will say this is what the Church believes, this is what the dogma is, and if you cannot support it, you may be Christian but are not truly Catholic. 6/

And I'd ask, who gets to decide? Where is the line drawn? What views keep you inside or put you outside the Church? Who gets to decide? I am serious about this. My Catholic upbringing is part of who I am, it informs my ethics in part. 7/

I don't feel any spiritual longing nowadays, but if I came back to the Church, as who I am now, would they cast me out? Is Amy Coney Barrett more of a Catholic than Sonia Sotomayor? 8/

It's just that Barrett's politics seem to be key to her being framed as a devout Catholic, while other Catholics in public life, who may reject or ignore Church teachings on issues important to the political/cultural right, are never considered in this way. 9/

Who gets to say God is on their side? end/