Do computer sites that discuss holy things like CAF distract from witnessing Christ or do they help?

[Sundiver]

The written word is more concrete than spoken words. I find that I can copy some of the discussions for contemplation and study. Bible quotes that are brought to the table are intriguing along with the comments of some of the posts. Some people are more resourceful in their research about topics they know best. It is much easier if you can inquire. Everybody has their area of expertise.

 

[jack63]

Leapin salamanders! Isn’t that Mick Jagger?

Yes, but no worries I don’t get my theology from Mick Jagger. I liked that song though. Others are good…street fighting man…Ruby Tuesday. Other songs by the Stones are very strange.

 

[jack63]

I think things like the Amazon pre-document or AL or dubia or edits to the CCC or “Who am I to judge” are unnecessary to lead a full Catholic life, including sharing the faith.

I do agree with you. What you said is easier said than done though. It is especially tough when you hear thinly veiled comments about this stuff in homilies…both criticism and approval. Maybe that is fine, but I’d really like to understand the issues for myself.

 

[jack63]

CAF is like grain that requires a lot of threshing and winnowing. I get enough benefit to make the effort worthwhile. I wish it was easier but there’s no use complaining.

This is a great way to put it!

However, sometimes when life is too easy, I start getting worried because I know it is just going to get worse . Nothing worthwhile is ever easy…

 

[puppson]

Social media can be highly addictive, and CAF is no exception. Add to this the urge we all have (if we’re honest) of being “right.” This can result in heated discussions that are counterproductive to furthering one’s holiness.
Prayer, contemplation, Scripture study, and work toward furthering the Kingdom of God are all ways of increasing holiness. Social media doesn’t add much to this mix, in my opinion.

 

[Pug]

I like to understand them myself, and veiled comments at the parish do entice one to check it out. Also simply reading the religious news at a non-inflammatory source raises all these issues. And it is hard to hear about these things in a vacuum, without a community to reflect with on them. CAF provides such a community, even if it seems rough about the edges, at times. When I read AL, I came here to get some feedback on it, since there is really no other place for me to get honest thoughts from other Catholics. That led to a lot of reflection since for me. So CAF is worth it to me.

 

[jack63]

I know at least two people who have come back to the Catholic Church by asking questions on CAF. If it means we are helping people to come back to the Church then it is probably worth the trouble we will encounter online.

That’s great! I’m glad that has and does happen.

However, it represents one of my biggest concerns here. My concern is that these sites are just a place for converted Catholics to discuss their faith, rather than a place that brings Catholics back to the church or helps convert non-Catholics or non-Christians.

I would be interested in having people’s further thoughts on this.

 

[MarysLurker]

I’ve only been a member less than a month* and I’ve already seen two seekers come/come back to the Catholic Church.

That makes it all worth it.

With that said, I’ve been tempted to quit CAF a few times because things can get uncharitable, and quite often, they do. But a lot of this has to do with the medium of an Internet forum generally more than any message on this particular forum.

Note * : I’ve been a member of CAF before, under a different handle, but this was years ago when the site was still on vBulletin rather than the current Discourse system. IMHO, since then the quality of the discussions has improved, but the quantity has gone down. I hope this is not a sign of less interest in CAF, or that people didn’t adjust to Discourse.

 

[Pug]

The character of how people interact with the internet has changed since the forum opened, so perhaps it is inevitable that this site gets different traffic that it used to.

I’ve seen a score of reports of conversion, but I’ve also seen a couple of examples of moving from Catholic to Orthodox. I’ve seen tons of non-Catholics and Catholics come here just to get one or two questions answered and then disappear, though I saw a lot more of that on the old system. Maybe that just reflects which questions I choose to read these days.

I’ve seen lots of Catholics who felt they needed to know more about their faith spend awhile here and do just that. But I think there are more places for Catholics to go for information than when this forum started, and they are more skilled at finding it for themselves.

 

[goout]

This site can become an addiction like anything else.
It has a value as an educational, evangelical, and social tool. It also has limitations.
My priorities are to live my Christian life “in the real” first, and not get too wrapped up in virtual conversation. CAF can be a serious peace disturber -for me-. that’s just my experience.

 

[jack63]

CAF can be a serious peace disturber -for me-. that’s just my experience.

I find this to be very true as well. Not to criticize anybody, but some of those who write the most disturbing posts do eventually get permanently suspended. However, people, like me, still read those disturbing posts. Some of those posts were even “liked”. It is a tough problem that is not easily solved.

 

[Sundiver]

Do you think CAF is better than other religious discussion sites?
So far this is the best in my experience. I don’t meet this many conservative Catholics outside of cyberspace. This is an oasis for me. If CAF folded I would get some friends and we would build our own Catholic site.

 

[jack63]

I actually think there is a good mix of progressive and conservatives here as well as moderates like me who “sometimes” can’t seem to make anybody happy (or who don’t care about pleasing either side…like me).

I don’t mind hearing the different sides of things though.

 

[Sundiver]

I can take the polarized view in small doses. Sometimes I like to know how they think. I still have a lot of questions for the opposites.
Regardless, I know I can find something I like, if I want to, and it is only a mouse click away.

 

[MarysLurker]

Do you think CAF is better than other religious discussion sites?

I can’t speak to other sites but a Discourse based site like this one is likely to have better moderation than one based on an older platform.

Other forum platforms rely almost exclusively on packs of human moderators, whereas Discourse has several layers of moderation.

 

[adgloriam]

Tis_Bearself:

including those who pray in Prayer Intentions

I do pray for people here; however, perhaps more interaction from me on the prayer intentions page might be good.

Not criticizing prayer intentions and prayer chains etc, but sometimes I have struggled to wrap my head around it. When I look at my own family, sometimes you get a lot of people praying for something and it turns out “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime you find you get what you need”. You can even see the Lord’s hand in helping you get what you need. I then wonder why we all prayed for what we wanted. Not criticizing praying or prayer chains… To me, the praying part is more about finding peace with the aftermath.

Hey @jack63 building on some of what @Tis_Bearself said, I see society (media) in general being “polemic oriented”. In most countries the “tabloids” are the highest selling newspapers. And if you turn on TV, well…The most “polemic pushing” channels get the ratings…

The above mentioned reflects pretty clearly on CAF (not only the articles that get literally reproduced). My guess, it takes about 1 year for the average person to adjust to online interaction and sway off the mentality of “polemics” that is generally dominant. [This includes extremely difficult issues that take time to reflect on.]

The hardest part, in personal terms, is actually adjusting our response to the persons we are interacting with. And that is quite a challenge. Quite an enriching challenge.

[Here I’d point out that some of your first posts requested debate on “news&opinion articles” that I personally found somewhat polemic. A first tendency is to contrast the “body of knowledge and critical sense” the CAF community holds with what media in general circulates. On a whole, I’ll take the CAF community over all media channels.]

I think CAF is very high in terms of “human quality”.

 

[jack63]

[Here I’d point out that some of your first posts requested debate on “news&opinion articles” that I personally found somewhat polemic. A first tendency is to contrast the “body of knowledge and critical sense” the CAF community holds with what media in general circulates. On a whole, I’ll take the CAF community over all media channels.]

Yes…while they (the secular media) sometimes bring up good discussion points or get some of the truth right, you basically can’t ever get a clear understanding on any church issue from the secular media. This surprised me. I thought the secular media would at least be close to the full truth.

I remember the following thread I started about a Washington Post article relating to priests getting laicized. I posted it before I went to bed. When I woke up, somebody had found a clear example of how some of what was published was clearly wrong. There was far more to that story that wasn’t being reported and probably wasn’t even understood by the reporter.

Fact Checking Washington Post Article: “What difference does it make to McCarrick?’ Critics question the value of defrocking.” Popular Media

Last time I posted a Washington Post article, many people expressed concern about learning about Catholicism or religious and moral lessons from the Washington Post….rightfully so. I agree that the Washington Post is not a good place to learn about Catholicism. I’m approaching it differently this time. This article in the Washington Post surprised me. The McCarrick defrocking motivated it, but it was really about defrocking or laicizing a Catholic Priests in general. I would like to get people’…

 

[jack63]

CAF can be a serious peace disturber -for me-. that’s just my experience.

I thought about this a little further. Sometimes the most helpful posts for me are from people who have said a lot of things that have bothered me a great deal. There are some sincere and sane people who just have a very different view of the world than me. Sometimes I randomly read their posts, and I learn a great deal. This actually changes my world view some, and this is painful for me sometimes.

Perhaps this is different than a peace disturber, but it sometimes feels the same.

 

[MarysLurker]

Despite all the good things I’ve seen here I am still on the fence about whether I should go back to just lurking.

CAF takes a LOT of time and effort to participate in. Especially if you are in the Apologetics forums. One thing I’ve definitely learned so far is that the anti-Catholics may or may not be sincere in their own beliefs. How disappointing it is to spend so much time trying to help someone who doesn’t even want to be helped…

It seems to me that the Apologetics forums are much less trafficked than they used to be. Maybe 300-400 views a week, and who knows how many of those are actual unique people (as opposed to returners or bots). Back in the day (2010ish) there was a lot more activity. I think CA has said that the bounce rate is way down (people who visit CAF are sticking around) but sure seems to be a lot less bodies.

I would hate to give up on something like this but I really wonder if the time value factor is there.

Edit:
I think there is a macro factor at play here. There is less interest in English-language Catholic content generally. Look at this CA article. It was written fifteen years ago. Can you imagine how the audience has changed since then…?

I think CA is going in the right direction by starting a School of Apologetics, focusing on evangelizing within rather than outside the Church.

 

[jack63]

Back in the day (2010ish) there was a lot more activity. I think CA has said that the bounce rate is way down (people who visit CAF are sticking around) but sure seems to be a lot less bodies.

Yes I’ve notices this, the traffic on CAF is not high. For the value of the information here, I’m surprised there are not more people on it. Perhaps people come in with a specific agenda that is only tangentially related to Catholicism, and they get suspended or called out on it, and either way they leave.

If you Google suspension and CAF you’ll get dozens of hits, and some of these are ridiculous to read. For example, people who are not Catholic complaining that they can’t go in and harass Catholics, or people complaining about how they got permanently suspended after trying to circumvent their temporary suspension. What did these people think would happen? What am I missing with these people?