It’s of my opinion (as feedback) that a Catholic forum ought to be Catholic,
for those who are Catholic,
for those seeking information or have legitimate questions about what Catholics believe,
and for those in the process of becoming Catholic.
I don’t believe it fair to those forum members/users listed above to be subject, here, to anti-Catholicism, or those who intentionally are not Catholic and insist upon posting hostile anti-Catholic doctrinal ideas.
I believe a Catholic forum should be a place where it’s members/users feel safe to post openly, without being attacked or disrespected.
I don’t believe a Catholic forum should tolerate those who have no intention of or being open to Catholicism.
If visitors and guests to the CatholicTalk forum see and experience “nonsense” posts, or where the forum tolerates those who intentionally are not serious about being open to growth in the Catholic faith, those visitors and guests will seek other “Catholic” forums online for support and growth, being genuine Catholic forums.
These are just my opinions, and feedback. Thank you!
P.S. If I did have a child (son or daughter) as a minor, or a sibling who were seeking spiritual growth, and asked if I would recommend CatholicTalk forum as a good and safe place for spiritual growth as a Catholic, my answer would be NO.
P.S.S. If CatholicTalk forum were a “school” or parochial school in which I could trust to receive an authentic Catholic faith, my answer would be NO. I’m not saying there are no genuine Catholics here, because there are many. But rather this Forum is open to and tolerates “ideas” and other users/members who are obviously anti-Catholic and not serious about Catholicism.
It would be helpful to quote anti-Catholic comments. Sometimes Catholics believe that a certain perspective isn’t Catholic when it actually is, and vice-versa!
This is who I was in the past, because my religion was convoluted and arcane, as an anti-Catholic Protestant. Hostile to spiritual growth, and hostile to others growth as well. My misery loved to find company.
But the lens through which I seen things as an anti-Catholic Protestant, because of what I was preached to, and heard about, became clouded and distorted unable to follow a stable conscience. Twisted and bent. Unrational.
Praise be to God for allowing me to see the error of my ways and perverted truths which I held. +
I’ve learned that looking at the Light which shines through a prism can show different perspectives. The resulting light becomes fragmented into various colors such as red, blue, green, yellow, orange, etc. However, each of the colors originate from the same Light. The prism colors don’t contradict each other, but rather compliment each other in its’ view.
However, because this is a “Catholic” forum, or claims to be Catholic, some anti-Catholic posts/responses which I’ve read here are appropriate to respond to, while others are blatant disrespect and intended to offend which I flag to call upon Moderators to sort out.
But I try to follow the CatholicTalk forums Guidelines which I’ve agreed to which I’ve consented to agreeing to follow when I first signed up here.
I completely agree. I’ve been a moderator only since last month when Cade went on vacation. I have deleted some posts that were hostile, rude, lewd, or insulting. Most of them had already been posted and viewed, though. I actually blocked one user who was making sexual insults to others.
In general I will defer to the more experienced moderators when it comes to extreme actions such as blocking someone.
Thank you! This is a good reminder to all of us, especially those of us who have been a part of this community for a long time! Just as we renew our Baptismal vows every Easter, it is also a good idea for us to remind ourselves of the community guidelines here every so often.
This is an excellent comparison. A reminder of the Guidelines we’re obligated to follow, which we’ve all agreed to when joining, and consenting to the sites’ Terms of Service, can only do us good rather than harm. It keeps us all on the same page of why we’re here and what’s expected of us when posting, how we treat ourselves and others.
I am not a Cotholic. But I completely agree with Tommy. People who are hateful of the concept of God should immediately be blocked from attanding the site. They are demonic. There is no reason to tolerate them.
I can understand that some people are uncomfortable with religion in general because there has been so much evil done in the name of religion. Even there have been, and still are leaders of countries and of religions encouraging the murder of people who are not of the same faith. I can’t believe that Jesus would enjoy hearing of such things.
But there are people who are against the idea of God, period. The are hell-bent, and should never be allowed to comment here. Catholic Talk is a church, online.
I try to under stand Jesus from the New Testament. Jesus was not preaching material prosperity. He said that it is harder for a wealthy person to come closer to God than to put a camel through the eye of a needle.
Jesus was not primarlity teaching morality and good works. He teaches that the highest rule of all scriptural rules is to cultivate feelings of love for God with all of our heart, and all of our strength. Also he says that being a “good” person is not enough. “It is not by good works alone…”.
Also Jesus said we are in one of two categories (sermon on the mount). Either our heart is with God, or our heart is with Mammon. The moment we are out of touch with God through meditation in our heart…we are immediatly in the service of Mammon, being directed by Mammon, even if we don’t know it. I other words, being a follower of Jesus is not about being an “official member” of a church. It is about the ongoing cultivation of heartfelt love for Jesus.
Although I am not a member of the Catholic church, I believe that these ideas are in harmony with the church. From my point of view, official membership of any religion is useless. Real membership is ongoing cultivation of love for the Lord and His Son.
Praise be to God for allowing me to see the error of my ways and perverted truths which I held. +