Sorry to digress a bit:
Didn’t you find these in a neo-pagan site?
Not sure which part of my response you mean, so I will break it down.
1. I came to participate in a discussion of a response to the article in This Rock titled Anti-Neopagan Apologetics–the article was at best moderately ill informed about a variety of Neopagan religions.
Yes, I heard about it through a fellow Neopagan. The general feeling was that if your organization was going to publish an article targeting Neopagans for proselytization, you should have a basic idea of what that term means and what at least many Neopagans actually believe, and that was not reflected in the article. Such knowledge might at least get you a bit of a hearing and not dismissed out of hand by those you are targeting, something I should think you would welcome as a valuable insight and gift.
a) I enjoy theological debate (when it is conducted civilly rather than in the manner of an elementary school playground–I find that can happen here somewhat more often than in some other areas, but not as much as I had expected)
Yes, I can find theological debate on neopagan sites, but I find it here as well. If one is going to engage in theological discussions about a religion that is not one’s own, then I believe it is more productive to do so with folks who actually follow that other religion. Otherwise you run the great risk of simply sitting around reinforcing your own group’s stereotypes of that other religion.
My (limited) interactions with Catholics IRL had lead me to expect that I might find more civil and productive level of theological discussion in such a group than I have in many others. It has been a much more mixed bag than I had expected, which only reinforces that humans are humans regardless of their religion. There are folks at either end and all along the continuum, from those who will honestly and civilly challenge arguments to those who think that calling one as many degrading names as possible proves a point (it does, but I doubt it is the one they want to prove).
b) I saw a plethora of stereotypes but a severe
lack of actual information regarding a number of religions with which I have some familiarity, either through personal experience or extensive study
Yes, I can certainly encounter stereotypes and lack of information about a given topic in many different fora. I like to dispel incorrect stereotypes and information when I can.
c) I could use the practice in apologetics
The best way to test the strength of one’s arguments is to present them to those who hold a different view. They are going to do their best to poke holes in your arguments. This forum is specifically set up to compare and discuss different religions and to encounter those of other faiths, so one presumes the Catholics who come here are interested in such discussions.
d) I find that it strengthens my faith and clarifies my reasoning behind some of the choices I have made.
I am continually presented through these discussions with confirmation that I am indeed right where I belong spiritually.
It boils down to the fact that if I did not find something of value in my time here, I would not stay.
