[vkou]

How does Catholicism not function as the village social club in its DNA?

It can't in large parts of the US because it's a fringe minority, but doesn't it behave in the exact same way in an area where it is the dominant social affiliation?

Its rituals are just as odd and esoteric as the practices of the stranger evangelical churches.

[rattlesnakedave]

It does, but the distinction I’m making is that is not its primary function, unlike many evangelical churches in the United States.

Because this is the case, and because of the hierarchy in place for interpreting scripture and handing down sacred tradition, it becomes less likely that there will be problematic theological dilution or drift.