By Timothy P. O'Malley, Public Discourse - And yet, it is not impossible to turn this culture around. In the US, Catholicism flourishes where doctrines and practices are taken seriously. This is not a one-size-fits-all approach... What makes Catholicism engaging for such students is that it requires something more of a person than beige niceness. American religions flourish where something more is asked of the person than being nice.