An Ecclesiastical Rant

Why do I feel the need to defend a belief system which I don't even really believe in? Every time people make fun of or criticise Catholicism I take it personally. I mean, I am Catholic, but I openly criticise it too, so what's the big deal? Is it one of those things where you can only diss it if you're a part of it or something? Like how it's somehow only appropriate for black people to say the n-word? I don't know. I just find it strange that I still identify, at a superficial level anyway, with the Catholic faith. Even though I believe the Church is way too powerful and the Pope is not the infallible messenger of God just because some smoke came out of a chimney a certain colour, and furthermore I don't even completely believe in the basic tenets of Christianity, like the resurrection and the virgin birth and all that. And yet still, I hate it when people who don't know anything about Catholicism talk trash about it. Maybe that's it. Ignorance. It's not so much me identifying with Catholicism so much as it is people saying ignorant things. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten into arguments over whether Catholicism is a denomination of Christianity. People seem to think that only Protestant denominations count as Christianity. Christianity is by definition the religion based on the teachings and life of Jesus Christ. Period. Catholicism does fall under that definition, so how does it not count? Sure it's way more muddled with ritual and it picked up the flavours of local customs as it spread over the world, so to some it may seem almost paganistic. But what idea doesn't morph as it travels? Zen Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism are so radically different, if you set both up beside each other you wouldn't be able to tell they are under the same religion. And yet you don't hear people saying anything different about them. The basic idea behind Catholicism is the same as Lutheranism, Protestantism, Presbyterianism, the United Church, etc. It's funny because I'm certain that there are things from these other schools of thought that I agree with more than tenets of Catholic faith as far as what I believe Christianity ought to "look like", and yet here I am, getting all riled up. Or maybe there are strands of Catholic in me yet. Who knows? Jack Kerouac of all people converted back to Catholicism in his final years. Anyway my point is....well I don't really know what my point is. I guess it's part-me wishing people would do their homework about peoples' belief systems, and part-me worrying about my identity, which is important to me, especially when there isn't an easy way to define it.