Non-Catholics, why did you join the forums?

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I post here because when I first started to read this site I was Catholic and I came here for answers to questions and conversation, both to Catholic Answers and the forums. I’ve since left the Catholic Church, but I do like to get the Catholic adherent perspective on things from time to time.
 
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I mean the common usage of “Catholic” refers to Roman Catholics. AOG, Baptists, etc… do not generally refer to themselves as “Catholic” particularly with the big C.
 
I showed up here while doing research on how, if any role, I may have at my oldest son’s 1st communion 5 or 6 years ago.

Lurked for a while and then jumped in to dispel a misconception about my faith background. Just kinda stuck around ever since.
 
I have always been interested in the history of Christianity. My belief is centered totally on Jesus and who He claimed to be and what He accomplished. His message is so simple that it seems to me, man in all his wisdom has had to complicate it to make it palatable, for His message is radical.
 
Polak said:
am however curious, why non believers or people of other faiths, chose to join a Catholic forum
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I know 100 + people who left the roman Catholic church and its interesting to see the reasons .
 
I’m an agnostic, originally from Orthodox Judaism. I lost my faith years ago but still have a fascination with believers, what and why they believe (and why I don’t). While I have learned a tremendous amount about general Protestants, I had never compared it to what Catholics believed.

So, searching the web, I came across this site and almost two years later, I’m still here…mostly because it’s fascinating and also because I have met so many nice, knowledgeable people!
 
As someone who grew up Southern Baptist and is now an Anglican in the Anglican Chuch in North America (ACNA), I’ll answer.
One - my spouse is (Byzantine Rite) Catholic. I have views from living with them, and as a mixed marriage
Two - So that, when others are not doing so, I could speak with authority (as an individual member, at least) about what my faith tradition believes rather than leave it to speculation views from the outside or even from converts from my faith. Converts - either direction - can tend to be a bit biased or focused on one thing.
Three - I like to see different perspectives, and while doing so I’ve seen things where I would say “That’s not right…”, which leads me back to reason two. 🙂
 
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My only reason to continue in the Forum is to respond to questions about Baha’i Faith.
 
One may describe me as “protestant” but I’m not anti-pope, anti-catholic or any such else that I identify as, other than bible believing Jesus follower.

My wife is Catholic. The majority of her family identify as Catholic, although they seem more cultural than any obvious display of faith. (Not that that is exclusive to Catholics).

I come here to understand some more Catholic culture, dogma and also to see other non-catholics and understand how institutional Catholics (that is to say, those who’ve never been anything other than Catholic) relate to those outside of the common circle.
 
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Exactly this. Though my spouse and her family are very, VERY much well catechized Catholics, and active in their faith. She’s Byzantine, the rest are Latin rite.
 
I’m Eastern Orthodox. I was Roman Catholic (born and raised) and have been part of this forum for probably 12-13 years. Even though I am not part of the Latin Church anymore I still have a deep connection to it so I continue to browse and post.

ZP
 
I joined because I truly believe I have something to say, and I need humbling lol.
 
I married a Catholic almost 15 years ago. In all those years there have probably been five Sundays when I was unable (and truthfully, one Sunday when I was unwilling) to attend Mass with her. In an effort to learn about the Church, I attended RCIA for a couple of months. It was my experience that RCIA taught a very watered-down, rose-colored-glasses version of Catholicism. I found that CAF provides a much more real-world look at the Church. (Which is good, but at the same time often quite discouraging.)
 
I didn’t know that this forum believes that AOG .Baptist. SDA Pentecostal WOF .are considered non Catholics. Because they ARE Catholics.
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In my experience, when they say “Catholic” they almost always means Roman Catholics. (Ditto for Protestants in general saying “Catholic”.)
 
If I might ask a different but related question, are there fewer Protestants on this forum then there used to be? (I used to spend a lot of time on this forum, before 2017.)
 
debate , but mostly to dismiss myths of catholic , protestant and orthodox history and events
 
I joined in 2014 after stumbling onto Oklahoma Catholic Radio while channel surfing on my car radio one day. They have a lot of interesting EWTN shows and they mentioned CAF as a way to find out more about Catholicism from Catholics who take their faith seriously. I wanted to interact directly with practicing Catholics and not just hear about Catholicism from non-Catholics who might potentially distort it.

I didn’t know much about Catholicism prior to that but had a few close Catholic friends in my youth so I always was respectful of Catholicism and was never predisposed against it.

When in college studying in Europe, some Catholic friends invited me to go with them to Rome to attend Christmas Eve Mass, which was a special and awesome experience that I will always remember fondly.

I’ve learned a lot about Catholicism from CAF and have remained on it - off and on - because I enjoy the dialogue and information I get from others, both Catholic and non-Catholics.

However, I am content overall with my faith tradition and have some issues with a few Catholic doctrines, so I don’t see myself converting anytime soon, although I will never say “never”.
 
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