Lady Hawk
You're right. The Roman Catholic faith is not a cafeteria, where you can pick and choose which doctrines you put on your tray.
It also isn't a democracy, and therein lies a lot of the problem. It is the Body and Christ -- it is a family. In a family, you don't disobey the parents. If you want them to change on an issue, you PRAY, you talk, you enlighten, etc. Mainly, you accept. The Pope and the Cardinals elect are full-time theologians. Your parents are full-time parents.
A fundamental of Catholic faith IS faith -- obedience, prayer, yielding our human control and wills to God's word and His will. These traits and others help us to strive to be 'saints' on earth -- everyday saints seeking holiness. To abandon them is to short-circuit character and virtue. When people deify themselves that way, they lose -- character, internal peace, values, trust and even hope.
"Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" is one of the three sentences Christ Himself taught us when he told us to pray the Our Father. Bottom line, it's important.
A church that is a democracy in matters of doctrine is just a club -- All things need to point to God for the health of our bodies, minds and souls.