I can tell the age gap in American conservatisim.

American conservatism, at least the circles I dipped into, is not young. I know this because of the stories people tell about their experiences with the Catholic Church - mostly negative about mean nuns and priests, and the psychological abuse they've been through, supposedly scarring them for life and leaving the faith. These stories aren't really new since I've heard them before. Here's a sample:

•  a nun humiliating a child because her skirt was too short
•  priest reading the amount of donation at the pulpit by each parishioner
• a nun not letting a girl go to the washroom so she ended up peeing herself in class
• a nun not letting kids go the washroom so they soiled themselves
• a nun making child write "I will not eat meat on Fridays" 100 times in front of the class
• a nun badgering kids if their Sunday donations weren't present in the collection basket (parents had one and kids had one)

I don't doubt these are false. The women, 60+ years old, in my church choir seem to talk about their memories in a more fonder tone, but expressed the "Oh boy, if you didn't sit up straight you were given 'the eye'! of strictness. What's strange is that the eldest choir member, Eleanor, speaks well of the the nuns that taught her. She did give an impression that they were strict, but they were strict for a reason. One story she told me was that during a church even the girls were suppose to wear white shoes - she didn't have any in her size, until a nun found out about her situation and gave her a pair, all clean and shined.

I suppose the horror stories listed are the "worst of the worst" and it's one of those situations where the loudest voice is usually the most bitter. It's unfortunate that such things happened, but, as someone nowhere near the age of 50 I'll keep quiet when the complainers come forth. The strictness that was found pre-Vatican II seems to be all but gone, yet those women who have taken vows and whose organization is more worldly has seen their numbers drop, yet those who have stuck with their habits and traditions have seem their numbers grow. It's immensely ironic, really.

My experience weren't with nuns, but with sisters - Adrian Dominican Sisters to be exact. There were only two present when I was in grade school. I cannot recall the other, but I do distinctly remember Sister Karen. She wasn't mean nor was she nice, at least to me that is. I remember that I was suppose read a few paragraphs during reading class - I proceeded to read and apparently I read too far. She made me re-read the paragraphs again, but again I read too far. I will never forget it: the parts I was reading weren't really paragraphs, per se, since all I was reading was dialogue. That was confusing to me. I thought to myself that I wasn't reading paragraphs! It didn't occur to me to make her aware of that fact. Obviously it got me a little upset; Sister Karen was very upset at me. Eventually she told me where to stop. Thanks, Sis.

Unlike the conservatives that I interact with, those that have left the faith due to perceived extortion and other somewhat petty reasons (to me), I have not. What came to a surprise to me, as an ex-liberal where religion and tradition are not thought of with an approving eye, was the level of anti-Catholicsm in conservative circles But it was a different type of contempt than liberals.. Again, most of the contempt come from people who were about 10 years of age in the 1970s. They were feeling the strictness of pre-Vatican II. Some are non-practicing while others have moved to other sects such as Lutheranism. They say "feel at home" but mention no philosophy behind it. Like liberals, it's all about 'the feels.' Most dissenters were sharing their horrible experiences with  nuns/priests, so it's not their findings of the Church's teaching faulty or innately weak, but because the flock that was entrusted to spread the Gospel and guide the layman were put in teaching duties where they were not a good fit. A conservative sad that the Roman Catholic Church should be renamed the "Cafeteria Catholic Church." Though I do see the reasoning behind it, the Church itself - as of today - has not wavered in its stances. It is the flock that is cafeteria, not the doctrines. Another brought up that Pope Benedict wore designers slip-ons and said that it was hypocritical of the Church to ask for donations when the institution was "very rich." Apparently he did not know donations - a good percent - are geared towards the parish's physical upkeep.

Honestly, it's a bit tiring and irritating to hear the anti-Catholicism amongst conservatives when the RCc is brought up. I say this: Either you have issues with set of particular priests and nuns, who are probably all dead, or you're just a fool upset that the Church isn't falling in line politically on the conservative end.

The Church is hated by the modern liberals for being archaic, oppressive and bigoted. It's also not held in high esteem by the modern right on grounds that are also political (e.g. immigration, economics) but also personal. I think both sides are wrong. The left sees the RCC as an enemy to their ideology. The right has more personal baggage. Both seem to lack any understanding of the RCC, but on different levels. The right turns into a liberal when dealing withe RCC and the left turns into, well, they don't turn into anything because they'r the left.

This goes to prove that the Church isn't necessarily left or right. It's not straight down the middle, either. It's the Roman Catholic Church. Either get on its page and speed or get out of the way. If you leave, leave because you find the philosophy wanting or leave because you differ too much for another belief. Leaving because a nun/priest was mean is petty.