A "Welcome" thread for New and Returning Members

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FrancesP

FrancesP

New member
Hi to all

Gratitude and blessings to @Catholic-Questions for his massive efforts and vision in creating Catholic-Questions.org out of the ashes of former C.A.F.

Welcome to new members (and lurkers).
May former members resume their contributions and their friendships in this hopeful new beginning.
From wherever in the world, may we all share blessings of goodness, encouragement, gentle wisdom, and faith.
Members' world-crop
 
Whoa! This is great!

People used to talk so much smack about CAF, but I liked it very much, and indeed went through a period of “CAF withdrawal”. Within the bounds of charity and decency, I don’t mind a vigorous and even boisterous discussion. I managed to “hit some nerves” on CAF, and I don’t regret it. Unity is great, but safeguarding and defending truth has to happen too, even if it’s contentious sometimes.
 
I am reminded here of young, tiny Bernadette Soubirous obediently digging in the mud and washing her face on the banks of the Gave - and the trickle that began with the work of her hands has fed the grotto ever since.

Edit: typical typos
 
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I have wondered why Catholic Answers Forums became so successful after its beginning in 2004, from which time its number of registered members rose to several hundred thousands.
Most Catholic forums continue to operate and exist with a few hundred, of which only a handful actually post.
Why was CAF so successful?
The Catholic Answers basic enterprise began as a pushback against fundamentalist propaganda. The man who began a successful apostolate for Catholic apologetics, was Karl Keating. On the back of this vigorous enterprise, several years later, another branch for the apostolate was initiated, Catholic Answers Forum.

According to Wikipedia,

"Catholic Answers is a Catholic advocacy group based in El Cajon California. It purports to be the largest lay-run apostolate of Catholic apologetics and evangelization in the United States. It publishes Catholic Answers Magazine, a bimonthly magazine focusing on Catholic outreach, religious formation and apologetics, as well as the website “catholic.com”. It also produces Catholic Answers Live, a radio show answering callers’ questions on a variety of topics related to the doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church. Catholic Answers Live is syndicated on the EWTN radio network. Catholic Answers operates with the permission of the Diocese of San Diego

Catholic Answers was founded in 1979 by Karl Keating in response to a fundamentalist Protestant) church in San Diego that was distributing anti-Catholic propaganda in the form of tracts placed on the cars of Catholics attending Mass. He first started by writing a modest tract titled “Catholic Answers” to counter the arguments he saw in the anti-Catholic tract. He distributed it on the windshields of the cars in the fundamentalist Protestant church’s parking lot. Due to the feedback he received from that tract, he published 24 more tracts. In 1988 he quit his law practice and turned Catholic Answers into a full-time apostolate, with an office and full-time staff."

Catholic Questions is a separate enterprise that has lost the internet and effectual link to the large and powerful organization that created CAF. Will this forum remain similar to all the small forums that exist?Will it be a river like CAF, or will it become an isolated billabong with a small handful of people who actually post?
Is this up to us? How dedicated and willing to contribute to growth and vitality do we members need to be?
 
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I first joined CAF in about 2008. When you googled ‘Catholic discussion’ in those days, CAF was the first one to come up. The biggest change that happened in my opinion was that peoples political identity has gradually overtaken their Catholic identity and that fundamental cohesiveness evaporated. Too much hatred.
 
As goes the nation, as goes the world, polarization has taken place. From my observation point, whereas religion was always accused of intruding upon government, now the reverse seems to be true.
 
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