Reference Points Two,Three and Four

Reference point Two:  My interpretation of God is: God is a loving parent who gives us free will, who sent Jesus (who is God) to save us from the fear of death, promise us eternal life, asks us to be kind to one another and who sends us the Holy Spirit (also God) to inspire us and further guide us.  I don't believe God is in Heaven waiting to pounce on us and punish us for every tiny sin we commit.  I believe that God just wants us to be kind to one another, watch out for and care for each other, and praise and thank God for the opportunity.
Reference point Three: I believe the Roman Catholic Church is run by human beings who often try to follow God's plan, but because they are human- often misinterpret or ignore God's message, superimpose their own human message, get half of it right and muck up the other half- in other words act HUMAN, but I think, are still trying to follow God's plan. While I may have a more positive view of the Church than the general public, do not think for one minute that I am absolving the Roman Catholic church hierarchy for every terrible thing they have done in the name of God.  I realize the Church has sanctioned some mighty unChristian behavior in its time, but I also realize that the Church is run by HUMANS who may have been blinded to God's message by their human foibles.  Even the messes that the Church is in today I believe are a result of humans who I pray will see the light and make appropriate reparations.  The Church moves slowly- hundreds of years slowly, but I have a founded hope that it is moving in the right direction.
That leads to Reference point Four:  In my opinion the Roman Catholic Church should not bow to the whims of society. (This next scenario is an far-fetched example to illustrate my point, please do not think that this is an actual issue facing us today- I do not think we should cut off our right pinky toes!)  If society said that everyone should cut off their right pinky toe because it's useless, antiquated, we're holding on to it for no good reason, we're not showing solidarity with those who've cut off or lost their pinky toes due to injustice in the world, harvesting pinky toes would feed the hungry, clothe the naked, solve the economic crisis, etc. and the Church said it was a sin because it was self-mutilation, I wouldn't think the Church was wrong in that judgement. Society doesn't approach issues with "How does this affect our relationship with God and is this in God's plan?" in mind. The Church is supposed to be concerned about spiritual matters, no matter what society thinks is OK or not OK.
These are all short answers to issues I'll be tackling in future posts.  What are your major Reference points?