Matt Slick and CARM (Split)

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Hi folks. New here. From CARM. Raised Catholic. Did not take anything seriously until late 20s when i married a Protestant and attended Bible Studies. Went through the whole anti Catholic thing. Argued with my strict Catholic mother which probably was painful for her. Anyways she died a year ago before Good Friday. I don’t want to go into my history here since CARM is the subject and i have a few things to say on that subject. I posted somewhere in the neighborhood 570 posts mostly in the Secular section with no problems other than the usual irritation associated with debate involving hardened atheists and other non believers. The whole Hitler was a Catholic/Christian. Things like that. I then went to the Catholic section. Noticed a thread entitled, Is Catholic Jesus in hell? Or something like that started by a man called Born Again RN who was also raised Catholic. The title was both provocative and insulting enough to elicit responses from me which were pro Catholic and not insulting. I noticed another Catholic posting against a bunch or rabid Protestants so i tried to assist him. Anyways i got a warning followed by a three day suspension. I mentioned i had posted on CARM perhaps 570 posts and never once got a warning but once i take a pro Catholic position out come the warnings.

I know they monitor other sites and it would not surprise me a bit if they monitored this one. The reaction just floored me and i think part of the reason they are so anti Catholic is just plain fear on their part.
 
lightbeamrider said:
Hi folks. New here. From CARM. Raised Catholic. Did not take anything seriously until late 20s when i married a Protestant and attended Bible Studies. Went through the whole anti Catholic thing. Argued with my strict Catholic mother which probably was painful for her. Anyways she died a year ago before Good Friday. I don’t want to go into my history here since CARM is the subject and i have a few things to say on that subject. I posted somewhere in the neighborhood 570 posts mostly in the Secular section with no problems other than the usual irritation associated with debate involving hardened atheists and other non believers. The whole Hitler was a Catholic/Christian. Things like that. I then went to the Catholic section. Noticed a thread entitled, Is Catholic Jesus in hell? Or something like that started by a man called Born Again RN who was also raised Catholic. The title was both provocative and insulting enough to elicit responses from me which were pro Catholic and not insulting. I noticed another Catholic posting against a bunch or rabid Protestants so i tried to assist him. Anyways i got a warning followed by a three day suspension. I mentioned i had posted on CARM perhaps 570 posts and never once got a warning but once i take a pro Catholic position out come the warnings.

I know they monitor other sites and it would not surprise me a bit if they monitored this one. The reaction just floored me and i think part of the reason they are so anti Catholic is just plain fear on their part.
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Hello and welcome, 🙂

Stick around, there are some excellent amateur apologists who are quite knowledgeable on here. I use what I learn here with my interactions with non-Catholic friends, maybe you can too.

btw what is CARM?
 
I actually joined CARM a few weeks ago. I only post on the Catholic forum. I guess I was surprised by the refusal of the vast majority of Protestants to answer any of the questions I posed. Oh, they would “answer” . . . but with another question that may or may not have anything to do with what I asked them. I spend my time there answering question after question, as if they don’t quite know how to justify their own beliefs in light of what the Catholic Church teaches.

I also found it strange initially at how anti-Catholic most of them are. I mean phrases like “religious cult,” “false gospel,” “romanists” etc. litter the discussions. I did finally figure out what that was all about though. Here is a portion of one of Matt Slick’s articles posted on the website:

“So, even though Roman Catholicism claims to be Christian and that it is the one true church, it violates the essentials of the Christian faith. It goes beyond what is written in God’s word (1 Cor. 4:6). It denies the sole and true sovereignty of the living God by promoting prayer to and the worship of Mary. Also, it denies justification by faith alone in Christ alone. It is not a Christian church.” Slick (emphasis added).

Mystery solved.
 
lightbeamrider said:
Hi folks. New here. From CARM. Raised Catholic. Did not take anything seriously until late 20s when i married a Protestant and attended Bible Studies. Went through the whole anti Catholic thing. Argued with my strict Catholic mother which probably was painful for her. Anyways she died a year ago before Good Friday. I don’t want to go into my history here since CARM is the subject and i have a few things to say on that subject. I posted somewhere in the neighborhood 570 posts mostly in the Secular section with no problems other than the usual irritation associated with debate involving hardened atheists and other non believers. The whole Hitler was a Catholic/Christian. Things like that. I then went to the Catholic section. Noticed a thread entitled, Is Catholic Jesus in hell? Or something like that started by a man called Born Again RN who was also raised Catholic. The title was both provocative and insulting enough to elicit responses from me which were pro Catholic and not insulting. I noticed another Catholic posting against a bunch or rabid Protestants so i tried to assist him. Anyways i got a warning followed by a three day suspension. I mentioned i had posted on CARM perhaps 570 posts and never once got a warning but once i take a pro Catholic position out come the warnings.

I know they monitor other sites and it would not surprise me a bit if they monitored this one. The reaction just floored me and i think part of the reason they are so anti Catholic is just plain fear on their part.
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Welcome LBR-

As an FYI, I once was on CARM and asked about the Eucharist which frankly they did not …nor ever will have a good answer for believing it to by symbolic. Anyway I asked … Given John 6…given the writings of the Church…given wherever the apostles and their descendants went that they all taught about the Real Presence…given 1,600 years of Church history, Orthodox included… I asked if they believed Jesus was a liar?

Well that got me banned. :rolleyes:

But fair question it is. :yup:

For they have no answer. :nope:

None. Zero. Zip. They are being greatly deceived. 🤷

In retrospect…I wish I had stayed long enough to ask them if they knew they were reading a Catholic book. 🙂
 
CARM is largely a waste of precious time. They do not listen and they respond with with such virulent lack of charity that one would wonder how anyone sees Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ in their speech and witness.

Remember what Jesus said in Luke 6:45] “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

I still have an account there but I have long ago resolved to do nothing to support them and that includes participating in that disaster of a forum they maintain. So, I maintain an ongoing boycott of their forums and I encourage all other Catholics to do likewise. There is no real moderation there, because if there were there would be rules enforced about the vitriol and lack of Christian charity that is common and rampant there.

You asked about his qualifications? Here’s what he says about himself.
**Matt Slick **
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by Matt Slick
http://cdn.www.carm.org/images/mattslick4.jpg
President and Founder of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry. Matt earned his Bachelors in Social Science from Concordia University, Irvine, CA in 1988. He earned his Masters of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary, in Escondido, CA, in 1991. He now resides in the Boise, Idaho area with his family. He is ordained. Matt started CARM in October of 1995 to respond to the many false teachings of the cults on the Internet.
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As to his remarks about the Catholic Church,
"So, even though Roman Catholicism claims to be Christian and that it is the one true church, it violates the essentials of the Christian faith.
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*But is that really true? No…it’s not. The Catholic Church does not violate any such “**essentials of the Christian faith” , because one can easily sit down and compare the doctrines of Catholicism with the Bible and the verifiable documented writings of the early church and see their roots and basis. This is, however, something that cannot be done for non-Catholic/anti-Catholics like Slick and those trained where he was. For something more to consider I suggest the following article from my blog. *Who REALLY Preaches “A Different Gospel”?
It goes beyond what is written in God’s word (1 Cor. 4:6).
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Yet the reality is that this is not true and is in fact a proper indictment of non-Catholics who allege it against us while adhering to their errant doctrine. Especially Sola Scriptura, which in fact violates its own mandate because there is no scripture where the Bible lays claim to the final and ultimate authority that they ascribe to it. See for instance teh following threads here at CAF.
It’s NOT in the Bible, okay?
It’s NOT in the Bible, okay? (Part II)
“If anyone teaches/preaches something that is not in scripture”

(Cont’d)
*
 
It denies the sole and true sovereignty of the living God by promoting prayer to and the worship of Mary.
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This particular part is a prime example of the usual a-C misinformation offered by such as Slick and CARM. The fact is that we Catholics do not now, have not ever, and will not ever, adore the Blessed Virgin Mary. This has been explained many many times here on CAF and elsewhere in books, tracts, and all manner of media.

See also:
Also, it denies justification by faith alone in Christ alone. It is not a Christian church
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."The first part is true because the Bible itself does not teach such justification, nor did the early church teach it.

SEE:
*
The 2nd part is compete hogwash and misdirection in order to make himself seem to have a case where there is none. The Catechism of the Catholic Church nowhere states that salvation is found in anyone but Our Lord Jesus Christ, and no authentic and authoritative Catholic document can be provided that states otherwise. Here, Slick is feeding simple lies to simple minded people who are too afraid or too lazy to do their own homework as to what we believe.

His final statement is a common misstatement that we are often confronted with. 🤷 However, you can read My Testimony and see that the truth is that Catholicism is, in fact, the original, New Testament, “full gospel” Christianity.

Why would any honest person seeking God settle for anything less?

So…why bother with Slick and CARM? Think about it my friends…If they really want the truth about our most holy faith…it’s not like they don’t know where to find us.😃
 
I signed up and took a peek at the CARM forums out of curiosity. I looked at the thread the OP mentioned.

From what I can tell, you can get your comment deleted for quoting the Early Church Fathers, at least that’s what BornAgainRN said was why a lot of Catholic get penalized. And the Forum Moderator, the person who banned lightbeamrider, is all but unbiased. The moderator himself joined the conversation and began trashing Catholic theology shortly after penalizing lightbeamrider.

Fat chance of having a fair dialogue on that site if you ask me.:ehh:
 
Hi lightbeamrider

I think nearly all forums control the extent to which people can argue against the view of the people who run the forum. You’ll see that on CARM, here, and elsewhere. I think you just have to accept that most forums are run to promote a particular view, and that’s totally within the rights of the people paying for the forum, whether that is Matt Slick or Catholic Answers.

Best not to see any discussion forum as being neutral in their moderation - that way you won’t be disappointed. Nearly all forums have an agenda, and most are open about it (as both Matt Slick and Catholic Answers are).

God bless +
 
SMA_12 said:
I signed up and took a peek at the CARM forums out of curiosity. I looked at the thread the OP mentioned.

From what I can tell, you can get your comment deleted for quoting the Early Church Fathers, at least that’s what BornAgainRN said was why a lot of Catholic get penalized. And the Forum Moderator, the person who banned lightbeamrider, is all but unbiased. The moderator himself joined the conversation and began trashing Catholic theology shortly after penalizing lightbeamrider.

Fat chance of having a fair dialogue on that site if you ask me.:ehh:
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I quoted Justin in the secular forum with no problem. Internet forums operate under the guise of free speech and yet severely limit the speech of participants. In a lot of ways it is a dish it out but will not take in return. They play with a stacked deck. Selective rule enforcement which really amounts to deleting posts for any reason what so ever. Certainly there is a need to limit speech as it relates to incivility, foul language, harassment and misrepresentation to name a few. CARM provides carte blance environment for Catholic bashing, distortions, virulence so in that way they do not represent (at least i hope) Protestant viewpoints who live and work, side by side with Catholics. It is evil to misrepresent, promote propaganda, and refuse correction. All anyone has to do is look at the fruits produced in large part through the Catholic Church. The one abortion clinic in my state is now taking donations to stay open due to strict abortion regulation at the state level. Hopefully that will stay in effect. CARM promotes division and it amazes me they allow anti Catholic mods to continue. Well, for that reason and others i am now back to attending Catholic mass which i never thought would happen.
 
Never have been interested in checking out CARM after reading about the problems the CAF members have experienced.
 
Michael_Allen said:
Hi lightbeamrider

I think nearly all forums control the extent to which people can argue against the view of the people who run the forum. You’ll see that on CARM, here, and elsewhere. I think you just have to accept that most forums are run to promote a particular view, and that’s totally within the rights of the people paying for the forum, whether that is Matt Slick or Catholic Answers.

Best not to see any discussion forum as being neutral in their moderation - that way you won’t be disappointed. Nearly all forums have an agenda, and most are open about it (as both Matt Slick and Catholic Answers are).

God bless +
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Please cite any example of a CAF moderator being hostile to a poster…which is an every moment occurrence on CARM…a waste of time…much better to spend time here and charitably dialogue, whether Catholic or non-Catholic.

I do wish I would have ask them if they knew that they were reading a Catholic book. 😛
 
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