Boycott Anti-Catholic forums: Create The "Deafening Silence"

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Church Militant:
Stephen,
So long as ya abide by the forum rules there should be little moderation necessary, but if you don’t read and abide by them then that’s where ya get tangled up with the mods…
Pax tecum,
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Yes, I’m aware of that, and that is the problem we are discussing. When those “forum rules” amount to the censorship of respectful ideas for the sole reason that the moderator does not agree with them, censorship which is actively being practiced in a lot of different forums, religious and otherwise, how should we treat them?

“Tangled up with the mods” is a euphemism for censorship. Sometimes that is worthwhile. Sometimes it is onerous.

When the forum is protestant, and any post with a Catholic idea is taken down, how should we treat this forum?

When the forum is republican, and all moderate or democratic ideas are censored, how should we treat this forum?

When the forum is a software game manufacturer, and any post which is unflattering to the game maker is removed, how should we treat this forum?

When the forum is Catholic, and any post with a protestant idea disappears, how should we treat this forum?

All of this “moderation” is perfectly legal. If moderation is used to remove disrespectful ideas, I support it. If it is used to remove offensive language, I support it. If it is used to remove off-topic content, I support it especially if that content is moved to the correct area for discussion. But, if it is used to remove ideas that the moderator disagrees with, then I stop supporting it. I stop my support by refusing to contribute to the forum in any way.

This is permanent, not temporary. My “boycott” is not used for blackmail or leverage or so that someone will miss my presence or in any way be coerced into changing the policy. I quietly refuse to participate in any forum which does not support the fundamental and respectful principles of free speech. I suggest that others do the same, but everyone is entitled to their own conclusion.
 
Well I’m out of them as of last night so count me in. Lent should be a time for coming together and getting cleor to God, and not be subject to hatred on a daily basis.

God bless!
 
I am boycotting the non-Catholic Web sites because of the dismissive hostility (sometimes passive-aggressive and other times despicably obvious) directed toward the Catholics. Even the Egyptian Pharaoh of Exodus was more understanding and open to opposing ideas than many of these non-Catholics on the non-Catholic forums. To defend Catholicism on these boards one needs to have thick skin AND a thorough knowledge and understanding of Catholicism, all components of Protestantism (Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, modernism, etc.), and Judaism. For a novice like me, visiting these boards is akin to being fed to the lions. For example:

John 6? For them, it is all figurative and about faith. Try to explain it to them and it becomes, for them, about cannibalism so then they mock you and decide to take it literally and for them it now means Christ is lopping off an arm for one Apostle and leg for another. One presented the commentary of DA Carson, Calvinist, as if Carson had all the answers and everyone else was wrong for nearly 2,000 years.

Mary? According to them, all we do is worship Mary. The Rosary is a pagan ritual. Try to explain Mary as an appeal for intercessory prayers. Doesn’t matter. Mary is just a regular schmoe just like the rest of us, deserving of no special reverence. Reverence and veneration? Same as worship, they say. Besides, no one, not even Mary, can hear our prayers in Heaven, they say, because the dead are dead. And then you have to explain about the processions in which people parade through streets following a statue of Mary as not Mary worship. And then they say Gabriel never said “full of grace,” and the Greek word is about "favor.” And Luke 11:27-28? Christ is, more or less, dressing down his mother rather than using her as an example of obedience to God. As an example, they mention how often Christ refers to Mary as “woman.”

Magesterium and Tradition? Forget authority. Nothing but man-made doctrines. Besides, Christ did not set-up a church. For example, the Bereans resolved their questions without consulting a Magesterium so why is a Magestrium needed (argue that the Bereans were not sola scriptura advocates and they protest)? And Tradition? Can you provide proof from the Bible of any of the man-made traditions (and they do not want Bible verses)? Can you provide proof from the Bible of any of the oral traditions (and they do not want Bible verses suggesting it is allowed to have oral traditions)?

Current Apologists? All are derided, ridiculed, and dismissed, and those are the kind ones. If you try to use arguments from any apologist the defense is truly skinned, butchered, and fried.

St. Peter as the first pope? They ask where does it say that, specifically? Prove it, they say. Where is the term “pope” in the Bible? They dismiss Peter as a sinful man who was never singled out by Christ. Provide proof of the Primacy of Peter and it is promptly dismissed and mocked (after all, did not St. Paul put St. Peter in his place?).

Prayer for others? Again, they say that the dead are dead and any Biblical chapters and verses are completely out of context.

Purgatory? For them, it is the Catholics “get out of Hell for free” card.

Seventy-three books in the Bible? They argue that not until Trent did Catholics agree on the exact number, that for the previous 1,500 years the canon of the scripture was undetermined.

Sadly, the few Catholics who will stay on the non-Catholic boards just have their workloads doubled and tripled. One non-Catholic site offered those its own on-line theology course taught by a moderator with a master’s degree (no doubt 100% Calvin ideals, too). You can visit this non-Catholic Web site for the amount of misinformation and misrepresentation on Catholicism and any person who signs up is going to get a slanted and discombobulated perspective.

On the upside, I learned a lot of my faith and have a deeper understanding, respect, adoration, reverence, etc. for the Eucharist, Mary, Primacy of Peter, Magesterium, Tradition, etc.

Peace.
 
Church Militant:
Stephen,
So long as ya abide by the forum rules there should be little moderation necessary, but if you don’t read and abide by them then that’s where ya get tangled up with the mods…
Pax tecum,
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Peace.

but one forum moderator on a non-Catholic Web site wrote, “our board, our rules.” Catholics were held to a much higher standard while the non-Catholics were allowed to run amuck.

Peace.
 
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jim1130:
Peace.

but one forum moderator on a non-Catholic Web site wrote, “our board, our rules.” Catholics were held to a much higher standard while the non-Catholics were allowed to run amuck.

Peace.
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I kind of like rising to the challenge of being held to a much higher standard, as frustrating as that is. In the face of such tatics, we should actually hold ourselves to a higher standard of conduct.
 
Well, happy Lent everyone =) I hope you’re having a good Ash Wednesday. As I agreed to on here, I’m officially a lurker until the end of the Lenten season. I will no longer be posting on anti-Cathlic forums, and if I find someone who is genuinely interested in Catholicism, I’ll PM them to go to Catholic Answers Forum.

I know some of you are also doing this, I hope we can use this journey to better ourselves in prayer and penance. When Lent is over, it is my hope that we will be more humbled and better capable of dealing with the hatred of others.

I have a room on PALTALK, I will be opening it every Tuesday night for praying. The intentions will be for the conversion of hearts, sinners, and souls. If you have paltalk, I hope you can attend. My room is called Catholic Corner.

Have a very blessed day,
Tara
 
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jim1130:
Peace.

but one forum moderator on a non-Catholic Web site wrote, “our board, our rules.” Catholics were held to a much higher standard while the non-Catholics were allowed to run amuck.

Peace.
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Yep! Seen that too and that is fine, but like you say when they hold up no standards of charity or truth then you know you’re wasting your time, so there’s no point in supporting them at all. One forum like that just recently used the birthday of their site owner/admin to unban every one, most of whom were Catholics. To my knowledge, almost no one returned, even though she sent out an e-mail to everyone. The deafening silence really rang out then… 😃

Any time you see that they are not going to charitably and reasonably discourse with you…just dust off your internet sandals and begone.

Matthew 10:14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words: going forth out of that house or city shake off the dust from your feet.

Mark 6:11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you; going forth from thence, shake off the dust from your feet for a testimony to them.

Luke 9:5 And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off even the dust of your feet, for a testimony against them.

and…

Luke 10:16 He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me.

Matthew 10:40 He that receiveth you, receiveth me: and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me.

John 13:20 Amen, amen I say to you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me.
 
I was out as of yesterday…Funny, how a couple of them keep posting in their own threads just to keep them going, lol. A couple of Catholics are still falling for their bait, but they have the right to continue. Too bad though, I just thought this was a great idea of all would participate.
 
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jim1130:
I am boycotting the non-Catholic Web sites because of the dismissive hostility (sometimes passive-aggressive and other times despicably obvious) directed toward the Catholics. Even the Egyptian Pharaoh of Exodus was more understanding and open to opposing ideas than many of these non-Catholics on the non-Catholic forums. To defend Catholicism on these boards one needs to have thick skin AND a thorough knowledge and understanding of Catholicism, all components of Protestantism (Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, modernism, etc.), and Judaism. For a novice like me, visiting these boards is akin to being fed to the lions. For example:

John 6? For them, it is all figurative and about faith. Try to explain it to them and it becomes, for them, about cannibalism so then they mock you and decide to take it literally and for them it now means Christ is lopping off an arm for one Apostle and leg for another. One presented the commentary of DA Carson, Calvinist, as if Carson had all the answers and everyone else was wrong for nearly 2,000 years.

Mary? According to them, all we do is worship Mary. The Rosary is a pagan ritual. Try to explain Mary as an appeal for intercessory prayers. Doesn’t matter. Mary is just a regular schmoe just like the rest of us, deserving of no special reverence. Reverence and veneration? Same as worship, they say. Besides, no one, not even Mary, can hear our prayers in Heaven, they say, because the dead are dead. And then you have to explain about the processions in which people parade through streets following a statue of Mary as not Mary worship. And then they say Gabriel never said “full of grace,” and the Greek word is about "favor.” And Luke 11:27-28? Christ is, more or less, dressing down his mother rather than using her as an example of obedience to God. As an example, they mention how often Christ refers to Mary as “woman.”

Magesterium and Tradition? Forget authority. Nothing but man-made doctrines. Besides, Christ did not set-up a church. For example, the Bereans resolved their questions without consulting a Magesterium so why is a Magestrium needed (argue that the Bereans were not sola scriptura advocates and they protest)? And Tradition? Can you provide proof from the Bible of any of the man-made traditions (and they do not want Bible verses)? Can you provide proof from the Bible of any of the oral traditions (and they do not want Bible verses suggesting it is allowed to have oral traditions)?

Current Apologists? All are derided, ridiculed, and dismissed, and those are the kind ones. If you try to use arguments from any apologist the defense is truly skinned, butchered, and fried.

St. Peter as the first pope? They ask where does it say that, specifically? Prove it, they say. Where is the term “pope” in the Bible? They dismiss Peter as a sinful man who was never singled out by Christ. Provide proof of the Primacy of Peter and it is promptly dismissed and mocked (after all, did not St. Paul put St. Peter in his place?).

Prayer for others? Again, they say that the dead are dead and any Biblical chapters and verses are completely out of context.

Purgatory? For them, it is the Catholics “get out of Hell for free” card.

Seventy-three books in the Bible? They argue that not until Trent did Catholics agree on the exact number, that for the previous 1,500 years the canon of the scripture was undetermined.

Sadly, the few Catholics who will stay on the non-Catholic boards just have their workloads doubled and tripled. One non-Catholic site offered those its own on-line theology course taught by a moderator with a master’s degree (no doubt 100% Calvin ideals, too). You can visit this non-Catholic Web site for the amount of misinformation and misrepresentation on Catholicism and any person who signs up is going to get a slanted and discombobulated perspective.

On the upside, I learned a lot of my faith and have a deeper understanding, respect, adoration, reverence, etc. for the Eucharist, Mary, Primacy of Peter, Magesterium, Tradition, etc.

Peace.
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It sounds like you’ve been on Luther Quest, which I gave up on a few weeks ago. Talk about being fed to the lions! I was lucky to get out of there with my shirt.
 
Hey! How’s it going so far this Lent? Everybody holding strong? I am.
 
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BlackKnight:
Hey! How’s it going so far this Lent? Everybody holding strong? I am.
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Peace.

I have avoided CARM respectfully, although I did actually visit it today to cut-and-paste the Web site to provide for a fellow Catholic on this board who had asked for it.

I don’t think I will go back. My skin is too thin.

Peace.
 
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jim1130:
Peace.

I have avoided CARM respectfully, although I did actually visit it today to cut-and-paste the Web site to provide for a fellow Catholic on this board who had asked for it.

I don’t think I will go back. My skin is too thin.

Peace.
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I know what you mean though. It wouldn’t be so bad if I felt like someone there was actually listening…
 
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BlackKnight:
I know what you mean though. It wouldn’t be so bad if I felt like someone there was actually listening…
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In the short time I was there, it was the same arguments with the same outcomes.
 
This is a bit of an aside (it is dishonest) but I was wondering have any Catholics gone on one of these forums pretending to be a non-Catholic enquirer, using your knowledge to provide stumpers and wait to see how they answer. I ask that because if they know you are Catholic they are less likely to listen, but if you go in as if you are just wondering about Catholicism (but tell them the things you have learned or know) maybe they will at least hear the things you are saying and maybe it is easier to chip away the layers of their hardened hearts.
 
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cathlicnlovinit:
This is a bit of an aside (it is dishonest) but I was wondering have any Catholics gone on one of these forums pretending to be a non-Catholic enquirer, using your knowledge to provide stumpers and wait to see how they answer. I ask that because if they know you are Catholic they are less likely to listen, but if you go in as if you are just wondering about Catholicism (but tell them the things you have learned or know) maybe they will at least hear the things you are saying and maybe it is easier to chip away the layers of their hardened hearts.
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You’re right, it is dishonest, so I wouldn’t do it.

Agreed they might be open to someone that wasn’t Catholic, but integrity is important.

If they really want the FACTS about Catholicism, they know wher to find us, just as we know where to find them.
 
I think there can be great good in visiting Anti-Catholic forums. Sure, probably 90% will not hear a word you are saying, but if one does, that makes it the greatest thing possible. Save people one person at a time, like Mother Teresa said when asked how she helped so many people, she said,“One person at a time.”
 
My Lenten boycott has been solid I lurked a time or two to check if I had any PM’s from inquisitor’s, but never posted anything. I haven’t been to the site in weeks though.
 
I have been avoiding CARM also, but lurk for serious questioners so that I can PM them. What I have noticed, is the mods have now cracked down on silly posts, and outright deleted them.

Some of the more notorious posters who were allowed to wreak havoc with outrageous stuff, have been BANNED. That alone is a blessing!
 
Church Militant:
I am also out as of yesterday.
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Don’t worry, it seems lately that people from those websites have been coming here. Hint, hint.
 
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