Catholic Answers Forums Closing

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MarysLurker said:
Since 2009 on a different handle. So long enough to know what you are taking about. The decline of this forum has a lot more to so with macro trends influencing the Church than with anything having to do with CAF itself.
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I’ve been here since 2007. Yes macro trends, and a decrease in moderation when platforms were switched and most of the moderators sacked. The two make for a more toxic environment.
 
vz71 said:
The income loss you speak of will not be as high as the one in keeping the forum running.
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Maybe not but it won’t help either.
MarysLurker said:
The decline of this forum has a lot more to so with macro trends influencing the Church than with anything having to do with CAF itself.
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There are definitely outside factors; however, I believe that we could’ve postponed this day for awhile longer.
MNathaniel said:
Am I seriously just braindead right now? Not trying to provoke an argument.
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Ah, but you just did.
MNathaniel said:
Just honestly don’t understand the suggestion that it will be a net financial loss for CAF if (regarding some category of activities) they save 90% of ongoing expenditures while losing 10% (or less) of that ongoing revenue.
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I never asserted that they would go bankrupt over this. I’m merely saying that they’re circling the drain and will continue to do so for sometime. Erasing CAF will free up some money but won’t solve their ongoing decline.
 
MarysLurker said:
It’s just that denial is a powerful force that is part of grieving.
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This is not denial. Decisions were made and I disagreed with many of them. Suggestions were made and subsequently ignored. This was likely inevitable.
 
Cruciferi said:
I never asserted that they would go bankrupt over this. I’m merely saying that they’re circling the drain and will continue to do so for sometime. Erasing CAF will free up some money but won’t solve their ongoing decline.
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That may be your opinion. I hold the opposite opinion. I guess in time, we’ll see which of our opinions happens to end up closer to the truth! 🙂

Personally I certainly hope Catholic Answers goes on to thrive. I think they produce charitable and orthodox fruit in the form of written and radio apologetics, and I support their effort to streamline and focus on the real core of their apostolate. When I’m financially able, I do plan to resume financially supporting them… and to be honest? I’m encouraged to learn that what I donate to them won’t be wasted on hosting a debate platform in which people endlessly argue about truth but no authoritative voice ever steps in to authoritatively provide the answer. Especially when similar online communities exist for free (and with effective and active volunteer moderators) elsewhere.

I never understood why CAF was part of CA. If there were actual apologists answering questions, maybe? Or at least if there were more extensive moderation, maybe?

But it seems like a mismatch for the apostolate, to me. ‘Arguments’, not ‘Answers’. Just another internet comment board, each thread of which quickly degenerated into animosity and the equal broadcasting of confusion alongside truth. Cliques of mutually smug users, each group convinced the other is ignorant or immature or [fill in the blanks], endlessly ignoring each other in a never-ending circle of never-ending threads.

I appreciate the people who have prayed for me, here. And at the same time, CAF really was a mixed bag, whereas CA is consistently amazing. I will be happy to continue to support CA in future. I pray they continue to succeed, and continue to serve the Lord with the sincerity they already do.
 
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Since the forums are closing and won’t be archived, I suppose it’s possible near the end for us to share who we really are, should that be something folks want to do.
 
FrankFletcher said:
Since the forums are closing and won’t be archived, I suppose it’s possible near the end for us to share who we really are, should that be something folks want to do.
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In-between solution: Share your username on another community website, and resume chatting there. Or make a new non-self-identifying email account and give that out.

I mean sure if you want to share your real identify (with someone you really feel safe with), that’s an option. But I imagine many would be uncomfortable with that, so the above options can enable continued communication without people doxxing themselves.

Random thought: I would not recommend putting your private info on a public thread, even at five minutes to midnight before the site goes offline. Use a PM if you choose to do that at all. The reason? Internet Way-Back machine. Doesn’t it still function even after a website ceases to exist? Technically (for whatever motive) someone could still review archives that way, couldn’t they? And thereby see whatever private info you post?
 
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Cruciferi said:
Neither Facebook nor Twitter will work for this though
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Agreed. My reference to “denial” is to the fact that there are no longer enough of us to form a large scale forum like this one. Lots of little fora is the future, just as lots of little parishes IRL.
 
Ah, good point. I’m not the savviest when it comes to this sort of stuff. Probably why I stuck with an online forum as long as I have.
 
So Sad Will Miss Everyone. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:❤️:hugs:
 
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There’s no doubt a lot going on behind the scenes that escapes all our speculations. The very first discussion forum I joined was in 2000. That was Catstevens .com. It was great fun and we were a lot of tragic fans reliving the past with sprinklings of younger fans who knew good music. Then suddenly in 2005 it was announced that it would be closing and no one knew why. Turns out that Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) was planning on a come back and bought out the site to convert it to something under his own control. I’ve seen him twice in concert since then but unfortunately he didn’t include a discussion forum in his new site. We have a facebook group but FB just isn’t the same.
 
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MarysLurker said:
Yes. Social networking has been killing forums for quite some time.
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Yep. The genealogy message boards at Rootsweb/Ancestry have been on life support for years. And I use the word “support” loosely. They were extremely active back in the day.
 
MarysLurker said:
Social networking has been killing forums for quite some time.
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Because it’s better and more constructive as far as teaching the Faith. Clergy can be wrong and the laity should be allowed to perform the Spiritual Works of Mercy towards them without the fear of harassment, being suspended or banned. Also it seemed on this forum too many questions about the Faith that could be answered with a yes or no and perhaps the theological reasons why turned into 100+ posts of ‘opinions’ that confused rather then teach the Faith.

It wasn’t long into the dialogue before Jesus told the adulteress woman not to sin anymore.
 
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