Like Muslims, Catholics find themselves having to deal with critiques that confuse criminal actions by some Catholics with the church itself. The child abuse scandal was horrific. The actions of the priests who committed the crimes as well as their superiors who covered it up and allowed it to continue were deplorable.

Nonetheless, it remains the case that these were isolated incidents where priests violated both their vows and the teachings of the religion. Their crimes should not be used to justify sweeping condemnations of the entire Catholic church or the teachings of Catholicism. They certainly require the Church to do some soul searching and cleaning of house, which it has done, but to condemn the entire religion because of them is simply ludicrous.

Also like Islam, Catholicism finds itself charged with misogyny. I have serious issues with patriarchy, both within the Church and in society at large. I disagree with bans on divorce, contraception, stem cell research, and abortion. I look forward to the day when Catholic women who are ordained as priests and bishops are welcomed to the pulpit rather than excommunicated.

But at the same time, I recognize that the Catholic faith has proven a bulwark of hope and peace for millions and millions of Catholic women. It has inspired them to an admirable activism in support of peace, justice, and interfaith harmony. Any critique of the Church and the role of women within Catholicism has to take a holistic approach, recognizing both the negative and the positive.

In both these cases, Catholics are often subject to double standards. The worst abuses of Catholic individuals are compared to the highest ideals of other religions, while the worst criminals of other religions are dismissed as unrepresentative. This double standard leaves many feeling beleaguered.

Prejudicial views of Catholicism, however, do not necessarily result in discrimination. Anti-discrimination laws have ensured that prejudice is not translated into action, provided recourse when it does, and made discrimination against Catholics because of their religion far less common than it was in the past.

Further, most Euro-American Catholics are ethnically indistinguishable from Euro-American Protestants, Jews, Wiccans, atheists, etc. Because they are white, these Catholics are unlikely to face discrimination on the job, at school, at social events or in housing, simply for the fact that there is no way to know they are Catholic.

Latino Catholics are more likely to experience discrimination, but this is due to their ethnic heritage and anti-immigrant sentiment rather than to religious bigotry. Even the most antagonistic statements about Latino immigrants center on Spanish vs. English and supposed welfare abuses rather than their Catholic faith.