I hope it's nothing serious... but your shift in ranting was very amusing
Heh, the itching was driving me nuts. I ate albacore tuna and shiitake mushrooms yesterday - those were the only things different in my diet so one of them made my body mad. Or something.
But back to Catholicism...If the church kept changing things based on popular trends, then the religion wouldn't be Catholicism any longer, it would be something else entirely. I wasn't around in the days of Christ, but the Catholic church (and the Orthodox churches as well) stemmed from those days. Catholic traditions have been in place since the earliest of days. It's the other denominations that have strayed (for whatever reason - not saying good or bad) from the line of Catholicism.
It is extremely unfortunate for our religion that there are those that use it to benefit themselves, e.g. pedophiles, money-hungry, power-hungry, etc. However, bashing the Catholic religion is fruitless because ALL religions have a history of people who have done wrong.
I don't think someone is going to hell because they don't follow the same traditions as me, i.e. they are Lutheran or Episcopalian or some other denomination. They just have other ways they feel are more appropriate to serve and worship God and Jesus. The worship of God and Jesus being the fundamental basis for Christianity. All the denominations are under the blanket of Christianity by holding to fundamental ideals.
So a priest molested or raped a boy. It's horrible. Absolutely horrible. Put him in jail. So there was a coverup. Hold those accountable who were responsible. But don't start telling me that the whole religion is bogus based on the actions of those people.
Lately there seems to be a rash of female high-school teachers taking advantage of boys in their classes. Does that mean I'm against female teachers in schools? No. There have been many reports of police brutality - are all policeman jerks? No.
Catholics do not rely on tradition more than strict Bible teaching. If you've ever experienced a Catholic mass, then you are well aware there are 4 readings directly from the Bible. First reading, second reading, psalm, and gospel. If you have a great priest, his homily should be to decipher the readings into lay terms and help apply them to daily life. If you go to mass every Sunday, then you are studying direct scripture 52 times a year (and Holidays), however some that are dedicated go to mass daily or more than once a week. Scripture is also the basis for consecrating the bread and wine into body and blood. I went to a catholic grade school (1-8) and jesuit high school and we had daily religion classes, all involving scripture.
I don't know why anyone would say Catholicism relies more on tradition than Bible. The Bible is the foundation for any tradition and a tool used every day. I may not go to mass regularly, but I have my Bible on my bedstand and read from it most nights before I go to bed. Maybe those who are disenchanted with their parish or priest should find a better one, or learn how to practice Catholicism outside of the actual church. It's not like you're only Catholic during mass.
Man, I'm itching again.... gotta find the benadryl....
Interesting .... can I have the source of this 
CONSPIRACY THEORY! But seriously, its like every religion has its own bible. I'm not a fan of english and old english (I prefer pig latin) so maybe that is why I'm not huge about sitting there and reading it every week. I hated CCD.
