Internet discussion pleasing to God?

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Hi, this is the first time I’ve joined any chat/discussion group. I like what I see on this forum, but in the back of my mind I am still bothered that perhaps communicating online is a waste of time and displeasing to the Lord. Perhaps I should spend my time praying instead. Sometimes I feel like asking the Lord for some deep spiritual friendship, but then it seems that Jesus wants me to just learn from Him. Have you ever wondered about this? Sorry if I sound silly!
 
sometimes the best spiritual friends are the ones we make on the internet if we don’t happen to find any in person. they can help us grow in our relationship with God.

is the internet a waste of time? it can be if it gets out of hand, but that is true of anything in life.
 
poetryforjesus said:
Hi, this is the first time I’ve joined any chat/discussion group. I like what I see on this forum, but in the back of my mind I am still bothered that perhaps communicating online is a waste of time and displeasing to the Lord. Perhaps I should spend my time praying instead. Sometimes I feel like asking the Lord for some deep spiritual friendship, but then it seems that Jesus wants me to just learn from Him. Have you ever wondered about this? Sorry if I sound silly!
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The only silly question is the one you don’t ask.

Remember Jesus came to ‘draw all men to Himself’ as He put it. And if we are to imitate Him then we must seek to draw others both to ourselves and to Him. Can’t do that without communication - whether it be in real life or online. He didn’t go and hide himself in the desert and pray for three years - he came out again after 40 days, and shared the good news with both the 12 and the multitudes.

Apart from which, while this site has a social element it’s also a great educational tool. People ask questions about matters of theology, liturgy, practical Catholicism in the context of parenting, marriage or the workplace and so on. They learn by asking these things, and so do the people who try to answer them, I can vouch for that!
 
I also find the discussions here interesting as you’ll often hear opinions from not just Catholics, but other Christians, Muslims, Atheists, and Agnostics and us Jews

Not everyone is as respectful of others as you’d hope, which I think is in part due to the impersonal nature of internet forums. At times I think this is a positive aspect, as we get a chance to hear what people really think but would never be honest enough to say to someone face-to-face, but… at other times it is plain irritating.

Like most things in life, you get out of this forum what you put into it, so I look forward to hearing your interesting questions and answers. I don’t expect you to have the same world view as me, but I look forward to learning more about yours, and through that process, consider my beliefs in different lights.
 
Thank you all for your friendliness. The Lord impressed on me something about the virtue of prudence last night and this morning. I guess this is the virtue I need when it comes to internet activities. The Catholic Church is so awesome! There is something new to learn all the time! Nobody else has ever even mentioned to me the idea of prudence before.
I have a long way to go before entering the church fully. It’ll be a miracle if I finally do and start receiving Holy Communion. One of my husband’s good friends strongly criticized me for wanting to be Catholic (are you a sister in Christ any more? You are betraying Jesus!). It boggles my mind how highly educated people could make rash judgments like this.
One thing I am delighted to see on this forum is that so many people love Jesus and the Church. Surely the Lord works wonders in people’s hearts without us knowing it. Keep up the faith, everybody! It’ll be great if indeed we could become friends and encourage each other in Christ.
 
PatThompson said:
I also find the discussions here interesting as you’ll often hear opinions from not just Catholics, but other Christians, Muslims, Atheists, and Agnostics and us Jews

Not everyone is as respectful of others as you’d hope, which I think is in part due to the impersonal nature of internet forums. At times I think this is a positive aspect, as we get a chance to hear what people really think but would never be honest enough to say to someone face-to-face, but… at other times it is plain irritating.

Like most things in life, you get out of this forum what you put into it, so I look forward to hearing your interesting questions and answers. I don’t expect you to have the same world view as me, but I look forward to learning more about yours, and through that process, consider my beliefs in different lights.
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Yes yes yes! PatThompson, isn’t it wonderful we could all have a discussion without getting mad at each other? You know, if God tolerates our differences, who are we to pass judgments on others’ final destination? Having said that, I know the Lord is waiting for you to come home to be with Jesus. Are you familiar with Rosalind Moss? She is a Jewish convert to Evangelical Protestant and then to Catholicism. She does some programs on EWTN and is becoming a nun! She is going to be Mother Directress of a congregation called “Daughters of Mary, Mother of Israel’s Hope.”
 
I recently had surgery, and I had very little to do while I was recovering at home.

You can only watch so much TV or movies. And reading books gets sleepy after a while. And I’m not supposed to be up and cleaning house or playing with my cats.

Internet forums are so wonderful for anyone who is laid up!

I often wish that my dear mother, who died in 2000, would have been able to go online and get involved in various forums, especially religious forums. She loved to talk and loved helping people, and I think she would have loved internet discussion. Unfortunately, it was just getting started when she died, so she missed all this. God rest her soul.

I’ve seen elderly people and shut-ins come alive when they discover the online world! Yes, at first, they’re scared to death of the computer. But once they realize that it enables them to communicate with all their relatives, including relatives that they haven’t seen in decades, and to travel all over the world, and to chatter about subjects of interest to them (anything from gardening to pets to religion to politics)–elderly people and shut-ins absolutely SOAR online! They can’t get enough of it because now, they are FREE.

Finally, something that allows them to be part of the WORLD again, instead of sitting in their little rooms or houses and wishing that someone would come to visit them before they die of loneliness. Now THEY can get out (virtual out!) and visit people all over the world!!! And they can help people–there is a prayer section on this forum, and most of the Protestant forums have prayer sections where we can join with others and pray.

And often, elderly people have good advice to offer. How lovely for them, instead of just sitting quietly with no one to talk to. They can help some younger person with their store of wisdom.

Even my father is getting interested! He has watched the Susan Boyle youtube several times now, and tells all his friends about it. He’s a very active man, even though he’s 80, and a long way from being shut-in. But he’s learning how the computer can open up all kinds of interesting avenues for discussion–he LOVES to talk!
 
I believe that if the discussion glorifies God then it pleases Him as well. 👍
 
Poetryforjesus, how about we just leave it at “You know, if God tolerates our differences, who are we to pass judgments on others’ final destination?” I’m here to better understand our historic and spiritual differences, including the ever present proselytizing, but wish that not every thread had to turn in that direction.

Which takes us back to the OT question - I believe that an unexplored spiritual life is wasting the very essence of the human spirit! Respectful, good natured discussions of differing opinions, whether face to face, or here on this forum, is in my mind a positive thing.

I hope that the act of expressing my opinions helps me strengthen those I opinions I believe, but more importantly question those that are on shaky ground, and I hope that once in a rare while, someone reading my opinions, or responding to them, will have a similar reaction. I assume, especially as a Jew in a Catholic forum, that my list of affected beliefs will be different than yours, but it is the process of considering and questioning those beliefs that is so important.

(I don’t mean to offend those of you who have decided that The Church has spent the last 2,000 years doing this for us and that all is black and white in all situations.)
 
Unfortunately, there is much on this site that is displeasing to God. There is a lack of charity on many threads. There is also much good, however I’ve been discouraged by much I’ve read at this site. Some of my fellow Catholics are poor witnesses for the faith.

The internet can be a time waster as well. And it can draw out the worst in people because of relative anonymity.
 
I mean this is a humours way, it is very ironc that ‘Middleman’ should choose to speak for G-d in his response!
there is much on this site that is displeasing to God
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Next time you’re talking to Him, just ask him directly if he really meant to throw away the old covenant and start a new one, please! That would really simplify things…
 
poetryforjesus said:
Hi, this is the first time I’ve joined any chat/discussion group. I like what I see on this forum, but in the back of my mind I am still bothered that perhaps communicating online is a waste of time and displeasing to the Lord. Perhaps I should spend my time praying instead. Sometimes I feel like asking the Lord for some deep spiritual friendship, but then it seems that Jesus wants me to just learn from Him. Have you ever wondered about this? Sorry if I sound silly!
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If your time here is spent educating those who do not understand their faith, educating yourself in areas of faith you might not understand so well, praying for those in need of prayers, comforting those who are hurting, encouraging those who are trying to do the right thing, spending time with those who are otherwise all alone in life, making friends that reflect your own values, then I would say your time here is well spent. If your time is spent in arguing, putting others down, ignoring posters who don’t seem as popular as others, or the like, then it WOULD be better to spend the time in other pursuits for God. That being said if this is site taking time away from your duties of state, getting you down more than lifting you up, time that is designated for prayer, etc, then it is a good indication it is time to hop of or cut seriously back on time spent here.
 
I listen to Catholic radio frequently during my daily commute to work. I heard Rosalind Moss and found her frank and inspiring and decided to check out these on-line forums, which I am extremely delighted to discover. I was wondering how my religious faith could be lived out in today’s world and am happy to be a part of these discussions, impossible without today’s technology. Sincerely, A.Mar
 
AuntieMar said:
I listen to Catholic radio frequently during my daily commute to work. I heard Rosalind Moss and found her frank and inspiring and decided to check out these on-line forums, which I am extremely delighted to discover. I was wondering how my religious faith could be lived out in today’s world and am happy to be a part of these discussions, impossible without today’s technology. Sincerely, A.Mar
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I attribute my knowledge of the Catholic faith entirely to the saintly Mother Angelica and her EWTN! I know there are many out there who share my conversion experience through EWTN. The Lord can use anything for His purpose, if we let Him.
 
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