I grew up in a mixed pet family. My dad loves cats; my mom dogs. It was exactly the way you describe it, too. I get why people adore cats and dogs both, but they do draw different personalities.

Yes, you can’t expect an animal that basically tamed itself to respect your boundaries, and that’s why dog people don’t like them. They jump on the counter or try to break your coffee cup if it’s too close to the edge of the table.

But overwhelmingly, in my experience as a cat shelter volunteer, people who have owned catsand do not like them feel that way, not because Mittens got overstimulated and scratched them once, but because they cannot cope with their boundaries being disrespected all the time. It isn’t the cats fault, true. It’s just an animal acting the way it evolved to act–but let’s try to be understanding about why many people struggle with them as pets.

It really does take a certain personality to be okay with living with a cat.

I like cats, but this argument is dumb. The people I know who don’t like cats don’t like them precisely because cats don’t respect boundaries or consent the way dogs do.

Congress is hopelessly broken, gridlocked and unable to pass policy on its own merit. That’s how we end up with quadrillion page omnibus bills every year. It’s a failed institution, and it’s been this way since at least Reagan.

Speaking as a former Catholic, I honestly believe being more conservative will make the church more relevant. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, to be clear, but we see what is happening to more liberal Christian denominations universally–they’re rapidly declining. There are a number of reasons why that is, but liberal theology failing to retain members is a component there.

I think the most relevant issue the Church can bring to bear today is one that conservative and liberal Catholics alike tend to agree on. Even the most hard-line trad priests and laity I knew had a visceral hatred for laizez-faire capitalism (and often capitalism at large) and the commodification of the human experience. Pope Francis gave voice to it, and the next pope must follow suit. If he doesn’t, regardless of theology, the church is doomed.