A long post in which I talk about big, important issues? Okay, then...

I am Catholic. I am also a pro-life feminist who fully supports every agenda in LGBT equality.

I've had to bite my tongue so many times in the past several years, especially this last week.

Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr have been full of opposing opinions and through them all, one thread has remained frighteningly clear -- the amount of closed-mindedness from both sides of the gay marriage issue is absolutely insane.

Let's tackle that first line in this post, piece by piece, shall we?

I almost wish I had been keeping track of how many posts I've seen in the past few days that have put down the entire notion of Catholicism (and Christianity - and even religion/the concept of god as a whole, but I'm going to focus on my belief system here). It's a truly comical number, especially coming from people who claim to be open and accepting. I have been brought up to know that believing in something bigger than yourself does not make you naive.

I have struggled with my faith more in the past several years than I had ever expected to as a kid. Sure, I grew up in a tight-knit family (that wasn't perfect, by any means) and my mom always ensured that I went to mass every Sunday. That's great and all but doesn't mean that I think I have had an easy path. I have fought with myself and the teachings that I studied in college. I have truly hated and resented the rules and politics of the church. Through that struggle, I could have taken two paths. I could have said "Eh, screw it," and walked away from everything. I've come VERY close to doing that, many times -- one time, in fact, while I was in the midst of a four-day retreat. Yeah, not the best time to have life-altering revelations about yourself.

For whatever reason that I truly cannot explain, something inside me has kept me going and, time after time, life proves to me that I am doing this life thing right. FOR MYSELF. I genuinely have no idea if what I have put my faith in is the "right" thing to believe in. I don't like the idea of one concept of god and a bigger reality being the only possible explanation. There's more than one way to approach every possible situation in life, so why should that be any different in whatever is out there that is bigger than us? What I've found as my comfort and my source of hope has worked for me, though, and I'm happy with that.

Let me again emphasize that what I believe in - rather traditional ideas of Catholicism - is what I have found for myself. Me. Not my friends. Not my country. I got into a pretty heated thing on Twitter over the fact that while America was founded with the idea of religious freedom in mind (my point in the argument), the ideas that our founding fathers had were generally pretty Christian (other person's point). Right. The people who founded our country did have some religious backgrounds. But they gave the people who live here the freedom to find what they believe in for themselves, with the security of no persecution.

I guess this is where my stance on the abortion issue can come in. This is something that I rarely talk about, even though I have been pretty active in the local and national pro-life scene. I do not think abortion itself is a religious issue. My small amount of work in journalism has given me good practice in being able to separate not only myself from issues, but also layers within issues. When I look at the research that has been done on BOTH sides of the topic (see that magic word? Yeah. It means that I'm not closed-minded and actually care about what everyone has to say. Some people really need to try that out sometimes), one thing always jumps out at me. I can't ignore it. That is a baby in there. It's a little tiny human person, that has the potential for so much.

I know that I put a lot of faith in people - more than is often due - but when you are truly an optimist, it's what you do. It's not a religious truth for me and it's not something to be debated politically. It's a person that should not have to die. I understand medical complications that some women face and pregnancy due to terrible circumstances. I get that. I have seen firsthand the heartbreaking decisions that women have had to go through.

But I believe women are a lot stronger than we receive credit for. The feminist umbrella that I identify myself as falling under rests in that. Women are wicked strong. We have to put up with insane emotional struggles while attempting to look like we have it all together and still somehow be sexy and funny and smart. For as much progress as we have made for our rights, we are still seen as the weaker, submissive gender.

Throw the "Exactly, that's why I'm pro-choice and it's my body, I can do what I want with it, that'll show them" argument at me. I've heard it more times than you can believe. But like I said... I believe in the goodness of people, first and foremost. I also have experienced, so many times, the weird simple fact that life works out. I would say that it works itself out, but, y'know, Catholic upbringing, there's something bigger than us, yadda yadda. I'm not saying it's easier to just go through with a pregnancy, at all. But struggles are a necessary part of life. They give you opportunities to grow as a person and in your faith and maybe someday, people will realize why they have gone through the things they have.

I really don't want this to become my "Why I'm pro-life" blog post, and I've already gone on for too long. But that whole issue has been bubbling just below the surface and it does have some part to play in this entirely ridiculous debate that has taken over the internet this week.

So, changing gears...

GAY PEOPLE ARE JUST REGULAR PEOPLE. There is nothing weird or wrong with their genetic makeup. I genuinely do not understand how there are still people in today's world who think otherwise.

That being said. What the HELL is the church's problem with gay families? My favorite argument to combat this is that is truly impossible for a gay couple to have a child they do not want. You show me one gay couple that is attempting to adopt a child and facing loophole after loophole, and I will show you twenty straight parents who resent their children and the changes they brought to their lives. There is not one child in a gay household who is not wanted there.

The issue that has come up in the past few days is bigger than that, though. It also goes back to some of the other points I've already attempted to make.

The USA is not a Catholic country. And marriage is not a Catholic concept. Yes, in Jesus' time, there was a shift in what marriage meant to people who were a part of the church, but people had been joining together for centuries before that, in every possible culture. Why are so many people using the Catholic church's view on gay marriage as the be-all and end-all for the debate? You don't have to get married in the Catholic church if you don't want to, so don't try and make every possible couple get married in one. Trying to sweep every pairing under the church's umbrella and weed out the non-nuclear families is insane.

That's why we are so lucky to be Americans. We live somewhere that ensures that, no matter what we believe, we can believe it. Why are so many Catholics so butthurt, then, that our politicians are attempting to ensure that equality for all sexual orientations? In nearly any other country in the world, we could be shot, simply for walking into church. It's a freedom that I know we take for granted and there is absolutely no reason why we should attempt to take any amount of freedom from ANYONE else.

The people asking for marriage equality are not asking the Catholic church for anything. They are asking the government to recognize their unions with the same respect that straight couples get. I understand that, in many cases, it can be argued that the people against gay marriage are simply expressing their same right to their own opinions... but it's bigger than that. The basic rights of a person to have their love recognized by their community should not be up for debate. It's fine to not agree, personally, with something. But a right like love should not be thwarted by religion.

Look, I get that I am not your perfect Catholic person and that because of the way our society looks at things, that's what people see and think about me first. But I am doing the best I can for myself, while being aware of the people around me and their needs. It's how I'm able to sleep at night and that's really all I can wish for myself.

I also don't know if this post means anything to anyone besides me, or if it is just a genuine mess of words that you may have skimmed or angrily read. I don't care. Everyone has been expressing their right to freedom of speech in the past few days, and it was time for me to do the same.