The US has an identity crisis rooted in way too much religion

[Scrivener7]

35. I don't know your wife, so I will speak of my own experience. When I was sitting in those

pews up until my early adulthood, I was giving money to the church. The church used that money to fund itself and its works. Those works included weekly sermons all across the country that said abortion was a mortal sin and we should do everything in our power to "save all those babies." They also preached that any sexuality other than heterosexuality was a mortal sin. And we should do everything in our power to "save the family."

The priests routinely demanded that we vote for anti abortion and anti LGBTQ candidates. In other words, republiQans. They said it would be sinful to vote for those who supported abortion and LGBTQ rights. As in, defying their demands will send you to hell. That is a powerful motivator for a lot of people.

Other "works" Catholics are paying for with their weekly donations are the Catholic political organizations that have a profound effect on our politics. Organizations like Opus Dei. Here's an excerpt of an article on the massive influence Opus Dei has in Washington, to the detriment of all of us. The whole article is worth a read.

http://churchandstate.org.uk/2019/06/opus-deis-influence-is-felt-in-all-of-washingtons-corridors-of-power/
“The center’s board includes Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society, which helped shepherd the Supreme Court nominations of Brett M. Kavanaugh and Neil M. Gorsuch. White House counsel Pat Cipollone is a former board member, as is William P. Barr, who served as attorney general under President George H.W. Bush and is now President Trump’s nominee for the same position.” Barr, a “committed Catholic,” was highly recommended by Leonard Leo.

Given the small margins in elections these days, the Catholic church and those who follow it are a crucial bloc that is very influential in electing the most terrible people and inventing the most cruel policies that we are seeing these days and that are making life miserable for ALL of us.

Also, just an aside, your characterization of Catholicism as "matrilinear" is kind of wacky. If you are saying that the women in your wife's family have been the most devout members of the religion, that does not actually mean it is matrilinear. Catholicism is an extremely patriarchal religion and quite prejudiced against women and women's rights. Also, your characterization that it is "non-western" and therefore has no influence on our culture is odd. Those millions of "western" people who follow Catholicism have a profound influence on our politics and lives.