Glass half empty - what's wrong with you people?

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Am I the only one who finds this site **totally **depressing?

Take a look at the thread titles - Almost all negative/critical/shocked & horrified at the world we live in type posts. Not a very inspirational bunch are we?

Take a tour around to your average new age/yoga/meditation site…Almost all overwhelmingly positive posts… Could it be that glass half empty type people are attracted to these forums…?
 
thomfra said:
Am I the only one who finds this site **totally **depressing?

Take a look at the thread titles - Almost all negative/critical/shocked & horrified at the world we live in type posts. Not a very inspirational bunch are we?

Take a tour around to your average new age/yoga/meditation site…Almost all overwhelmingly positive posts… Could it be that glass half empty type people are attracted to these forums…?
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It’s called realism my friend. It’s easy to be falsely upbeat and positive about life when you ignore essential truths and look the other way in the face of evil.

This forum helps a lot of people overcome their problems, and it’s also a great place to discuss serious issues in the world.

Still, if you want to engage in fun conversation, there’s plenty of that too, there are two casual conversation forums I think, you can always go there. 🙂
 
The site is called Catholic Answers, not Catholic Affirmations. 😃
  1. People tend to come here when they have problems. That’s a good thing.
  2. Threads that are controversial are longer and include more people. That’s just human nature.
  3. CAF is a target for attacks on the Church. The moderators are pretty liberal about allowing people to post really negative things about the Church here. That’s somewhat painful but overall a good thing. The real troublemakers don’t last and their are so many knowledeable Catholics to answer the attacks. That’s also a good thing, especially for someone just surfing to see the rebuttals along with the attacks.
  4. The Church is going through a bit of a rough time around the world. You don’t open the paper and read about the “crisis” in the yoga world. 🙂
 
Alexander_Smith said:
It’s called realism my friend. It’s easy to be falsely upbeat and positive about life when you ignore essential truths and look the other way in the face of evil.

This forum helps a lot of people overcome their problems, and it’s also a great place to discuss serious issues in the world.

Still, if you want to engage in fun conversation, there’s plenty of that too, there are two casual conversation forums I think, you can always go there. 🙂
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Nonsense! The best thing that one can do in the face of evil is laugh at it! Wringing your hands and moaning about it just makes it stronger. The world is a wonderful place and the people who inhabit the world are God’s own. That’s more real than evil and it’s something to smile about!
 
We are a rather dour group over here, but if only half of the threads written here are true I can see being a little depressed.
 
If you went to an anonymous new age forum, you would find the same problems. People like discussing their problems on anonymous forums, I believe, because many people don’t like putting their problems out there to people they actually know (especially embarrassing problems).

Go to a Catholic pancake breakfast one morning before Mass-- you’ll see all laughing, smiles, and happiness amongst the Catholics! Guarantee it.

There’s also that humility thing that Catholics have-- if we have wonderful, blessed lives, we’re probably not going to go around rubbing other people’s faces in it for fear they may not have it so great.
 
To add to the post above, people don’t feel comfortable sharing their problems most places because they usually get dismissed and called’ debbie downers’. It’s all well being positive and upbeat, but when something troubles your heart it’s nice to have a place to go where people look at the world as it is instead of through rose colored glasses.
 
I think my friend is right in that we live in a post-Christian world. We are fighting constantly against the mainstream.

We are against divorce which 50% of married couples endure, and even less than 50% of children live in a 2 parent home. Up to 80% of graduates of state schools graduate with sexual experience as well as a degree. Homosexual behavior is not frowned upon it is celebrated in the streets with festivals. 1/3 of our most innocent population is murdered daily. People loose their homes because banks lied…and the government helps the banks. The Goverment has it’s fingers in healthcare, food, water and everything else. We have become dependant on out-of-home jobs to support families (ie. you can’t support a family on a farm). This is all anti-Catholic, anti-God.

So it is all well in good if you believe in doing whatever, wherever. The loss of sexual restrain is a HUGE key of this…homosexual or hetero sexual. But it goes against our core values as Christian-Catholics.
 
If you have an easy untroubled life then you are blessed. Many of us aren’t so blessed. In my life it’s pretty much been one thing after another. I’m not complaining but just stating that’s how it is for a lot of people. Actually all I ever wanted was an easy uncomplicated life…God had other plans I guess. :rolleyes:
 
I’ve been a long-time lurker here (although a new poster), and I think what you’re noticing are the postings on just a couple of boards where people are very unhappy with the liturgical turn the Church has taken over the past 40+ years. At least, that’s where I see the most disgruntled posters.

This is a VERY conservative online community, for the most part, and many people seem to be much more concerned with the letter of every (even obscure) law more than they are with charity toward others. Their world is extremely black and white and focused on rules, sin and judgment – not love and mercy.

It makes me a little crazy to think that this is the face of Catholicism that others online see, when true “church” happens at the parish level.

The medium of online communication usually sounds harsher than the poster means, also – there’s just no way to convey “voice” here – which could temper the tone of the posts.

If you read the posts that ask for personal advice or prayers for a serious situation, I think you’ll find some of the affirmation and kindness you expect.

It also seems to me that the unhappy, complaining people are those who tend to post more frequently and without obvious charity – charity toward them may help break the cycle.

(You’d better read this fast - it may disappear any minute 😉 )
 
And posting this thread remedies the negativity problem… how again?
 
👍
challam2010 said:
I’ve been a long-time lurker here (although a new poster), and I think what you’re noticing are the postings on just a couple of boards where people are very unhappy with the liturgical turn the Church has taken over the past 40+ years. At least, that’s where I see the most disgruntled posters.

This is a VERY conservative online community, for the most part, and many people seem to be much more concerned with the letter of every (even obscure) law more than they are with charity toward others. Their world is extremely black and white and focused on rules, sin and judgment – not love and mercy.

It makes me a little crazy to think that this is the face of Catholicism that others online see, when true “church” happens at the parish level.

The medium of online communication usually sounds harsher than the poster means, also – there’s just no way to convey “voice” here – which could temper the tone of the posts.

If you read the posts that ask for personal advice or prayers for a serious situation, I think you’ll find some of the affirmation and kindness you expect.

It also seems to me that the unhappy, complaining people are those who tend to post more frequently and without obvious charity – charity toward them may help break the cycle.

(You’d better read this fast - it may disappear any minute 😉 )
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👍 My thoughts exactly.
 
Alot of people come on here when they’re having troubles and need help.

Then there are people who make POSITIVE responses to that person to HELP them.

Whats so ‘negative’ about that?

If you don’t like it, feel free to click on the X in the top corner of your screen. 👍
 
I can see where everyone is coming from with this thread though. I have been trying to avoid asking for help with personal issues here not because it’s a bad place or anything but simply because this is an anonymous internet forum. Personal issues are best addressed with personal friends because they know you personally and are better equipted to give advice.
 
Hey, people have problems. Life isn’t all a bowl of cherries. I read here often, and a lot of other peoples concerns and problems are similar to my own… It helps to read what uplifting words people have to say and advise that is offered. Pretty positive in my opinion, that so many are willing to offer words of encouragement, prayers and so on!
 
Well:
  • My car’s not broken and I’m not on Forums.Cars.com posting happy thoughts about my car; then again, I’m not posting complaints about it either. It’s working fine, so I don’t give it much thought.
  • I’m gainfully employed, so I’m not on forums.I_need_a_job.com posting about how hard it is to get a job; I’m not posting about how great it is to exchange 50 hours a week of my free time for money, either. I’m working, not looking for a job, so I would not post there.
  • My kids aren’t [drunk, high, in jail, prostitutes, pimps, car thieves, or politicians] so I’m not at forums.My_Kids_are_bad.com complaining about them. I’m also not posting about their success in or after college, artistic abilities or amazing skill at making cookies. They are doing fine and I would not waste my time expressing that.
People post to forums when they have a problem. It’s the nature of the internet and anonymous communities. Seems like you’re [trolling?] just trying to rile people up a bit.
 
There does tend to be an overabundance of posts that are TMI or really require people to think for themselves and REALLY don’t need forum help. Some people just don’t know how to think for themselves and post EVERY conflict in their life online. And this happens at CAF and others. Those who have been on here longer learn to ignore some of those threads/people.
 
Zeemeermin said:
And posting this thread remedies the negativity problem… how again?
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The same thing occurred to me. 😉

It is true that most people who post on here are relatively traditional in many ways, and are not particularly edified by the direction society and some elements in the Church are headed.

So, the alternative is to pretend that somehow it’s all okay? It does not seem so to me.

I have seen people on here who were puzzled or frustrated by some of the awful things that are going on in this society, and yet who (at least to me) seemed to come away with a renewed sense that, really, the “moral of the story” is that faith in God and devotion to family, are the proper answers. I don’t see that as a negative thing.
 
purplesunshine said:
I think my friend is right in that we live in a post-Christian world. We are fighting constantly against the mainstream.

We are against divorce which 50% of married couples endure, and even less than 50% of children live in a 2 parent home. Up to 80% of graduates of state schools graduate with sexual experience as well as a degree. Homosexual behavior is not frowned upon it is celebrated in the streets with festivals. 1/3 of our most innocent population is murdered daily. People loose their homes because banks lied…and the government helps the banks. The Goverment has it’s fingers in healthcare, food, water and everything else. We have become dependant on out-of-home jobs to support families (ie. you can’t support a family on a farm). This is all anti-Catholic, anti-God.

So it is all well in good if you believe in doing whatever, wherever. The loss of sexual restrain is a HUGE key of this…homosexual or hetero sexual. But it goes against our core values as Christian-Catholics.
Click to expand...
We don’t live in a post Christian world. We live in a pre Christian world. Christianity has never really been tried in this old world.
 
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