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The term "cafeteria Catholics" is so shallow. I can't believe I still hear it. All Catholics are cafeteria Catholics. Who can eat everything at a buffet? Who would that be good for (other than maybe the cafeteria owner and employees)?
This term could only have come from people who are on some disordered binge on religious authority or who try to force-feed other people with things they don't need or aren't ready for.
Catholics' discussions about our engagements with our evolving tradition should be more like this:
What was alluring about your choices at the buffet? What do you feel you need right now? What energizes you for the work of participating in "the life of the world to come"?
What was alluring about your choices at the buffet? What do you feel you need right now? What energizes you for the work of participating in "the life of the world to come"?
What nourished and helped you thrive in the past? Does it still give you what you need? What have you regretted putting on your plate? Have you tried it with the new cook? What at the buffet surprised you? What are your favorite cafeteria mash-ups?
What discontinued favorite or new creation would you add to the buffet if you could enter the kitchen? What do your housemates and neighbors say they need right now? Would anything at the buffet meet that need?
Have you invited them to feast with you?Have you made room for them to bring something to the table? Have you brought anything to their doorsteps?
Further, how might we think about a sacred/problematic 2000-year, diverse, transnational tradition differently if we imagined Catholicism as something other than a cafeteria buffet?
An attic full of forgotten treasures and hoarded clutter? A living museum? A borderless garden or landscape? A playground? The transnational place/practice of baseball?
