Someone on youtube Wants to Discuss Catholicism; How do I Share?

[LittleSoldier]

Have this person sign up here. Do not contact them anywhere else.

I hadn’t thought of this and I think this may be a very good idea. First of all, I’m poorly catechized and I don’t want to post anything that is contrary to Church teaching. Second, I may not be able to get through to her but if she posts here she could receive responses from many CAF members.

I will think about this a little more but right now I am thinking this is probably the best solution. It would take the pressure off of me and it would be better for her, too - unless she is trying to set a trap.

I’m going to think about this a little more but this sounds like it would be the best thing to do. I don’t want to blow her off by not responding, and if it is a trap she will be caught in it herself and banned. I want so much to fight for the Church (hence my username) but I’m a very humble soldier (I don’t mean I have the gift of humility; I mean I’m just a very bad soldier even though I try).

If she continues to ask typical Protestant *sola scriptura, sola fide *questions they would be answered so easily here on CAF.

 

[LittleSoldier]

Sorry if this post doesn’t address the OP directly, I think all the advice they need has already been given

I just wanted to say… that this clearly proves that religious interactions are VERY different online than they are offline (in the real world).

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=670873

This thread asks if religion is more important/ valuable online or offline, or if it is equally important/ valuable in both spheres. Many on the thread said it was equally so.

I myself don’t believe this. Simply because the dialogue and discourse over the internet is by nature inferior to face to face, in person sharing of faith. How successful can evangelism be online, when you oftentimes don’t even know if the person you’re talking to… as stated by the above posts in this thread, “someone to be wary about, who sends unsolicited messages, extremely antagonizing towards Catholics, a spammer, spam bot, have ill intent, a nutcase, or a cult member”

So… in my personal opinion, more people are always going to come to faith in evangelism offline. The internet is a good place to find resources and catechesis, but it’s always going to be much much less effective place for evangelism than in person.

Maybe people on that thread were ONLY thinking about religion on CAF. Because a lot of other forums and communities like youtube are no place to grow in faith.

I agree with you. Without inflections and body language who is to know what another person is actually saying? Is it sarcasm? Does mean “I like you” or “BWAHAHAHAHA - what an idiot you are!!” All emoticons can be taken as sarcasm or in other ways in which they are not intended to be taken. I’ve been accused here of writing a post that was “dripping was bitterness” yet there was no bitterness at all. And if I clarify something that someone has said, most of the time I’m accused of being uncharitable or picky or rude or snarky. My “tone” is rude. My beliefs (as stated ) are “weird and wacky.” I’m “blathering on with idiotic comments.” But the truth is that I am just trying to present Church teaching and defend the Church (well, at least most of the time - I do get a little uncharitable at times (I hope I’m learning)).

Youtube is turning into a nightmare. It’s like a Wikipedia for people who haven’t a clue about what they are talking about. “Why I am no longer a Catholic”: Well, they told me I have to worship Mary and pray to statues and worship statues and that’s idolatry so I quit that church and I’m so glad I did! If you pray the rosary you’re worshipping Mary. That is IDOLATRY! The catholic church is the Whore of Babylon. All the priests in the catholic church are pedophiles. The pope is the Anti-Christ and has a lot of children and is a pedophile, too. These catholics worship a wafer. When Jesus was resurrected He didn’t show up at the room where the Apostles were as a wafer! What stupid theology! They think God walked around as a wafer. And they put diapers on statues of Jesus and kiss the toe of statues of Mary. IDOLATERS, every one of them! And you can believe me because I used to be a catholic so I know what I’m talking about! Trust me, trust me, trust me. They will all be thrown into the lake of fire - while they’re still ALIVE!"

If it weren’t so horrendously sad it would be hysterically funny. A giant wafer walking around.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I agree with you. Without inflections and body language who is to know what another person is actually saying? Is it sarcasm? Does mean “I like you” or “BWAHAHAHAHA - what an idiot you are!!” All emoticons can be taken as sarcasm or in other ways in which they are not intended to be taken. I’ve been accused here of writing a post that was “dripping was bitterness” yet there was no bitterness at all. And if I clarify something that someone has said, most of the time I’m accused of being uncharitable or picky or rude or snarky. My “tone” is rude. My beliefs (as stated ) are “weird and wacky.” I’m “blathering on with idiotic comments.” But the truth is that I am just trying to present Church teaching and defend the Church (well, at least most of the time - I do get a little uncharitable at times (I hope I’m learning)).

**Youtube is turning into a nightmare. It’s like a Wikipedia for people who haven’t a clue about what they are talking about. “Why I am no longer a Catholic”: Well, they told me I have to worship Mary and pray to statues and worship statues and that’s idolatry so I quit that church and I’m so glad I did! If you pray the rosary you’re worshipping Mary. That is IDOLATRY! The catholic church is the Whore of Babylon. All the priests in the catholic church are pedophiles. The pope is the Anti-Christ and has a lot of children and is a pedophile, too. These catholics worship a wafer. When Jesus was resurrected He didn’t show up at the room where the Apostles were as a wafer! What stupid theology! They think God walked around as a wafer. And they put diapers on statues of Jesus and kiss the toe of statues of Mary. IDOLATERS, every one of them! And you can believe me because I used to be a catholic so I know what I’m talking about! Trust me, trust me, trust me. They will all be thrown into the lake of fire - while they’re still ALIVE!"

If it weren’t so horrendously sad it would be hysterically funny. A giant wafer walking around. **

That is hilarious. Just the way you wrote that. I think that should be a sticky in the “Other than Catholic” forum. So funny. I know all that stuff is even said on Youtube, but oh my gosh, how stupid can people be…

 

[Crescentinus]

On Youtube? Very likely, and I would not bother, actually. I’ve gotten into some very fruitless arguments against pro-aborts on Youtube. I think they about 12 years old, and very stupid.

From my experience, YT has declined in quality. Hence, an opportunity to evangelize.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

From my experience, YT has declined in quality. Hence, an opportunity to evangelize.

I just see it as a waste of my time…No one ever seems to change his or her mind, just dig in deeper and come up with sillier and sillier responses.

 

[Joe_5859]

She hasn’t responded to my request to define “one” yet. I wonder if she will.

Yeah, sometimes I get the feeling that if a person thinks it’s actually going to require time and effort beyond “drive-by evangelization”, then they just give up and move on to another target.

People are busy, too, though.

 

[LittleSoldier]

Well, everyone, it is OVER! I sent her a message telling her (charitably) that if she really wanted to know about Church teaching it might be a good idea to join CAF. I also recommended that she read the CCC. I told her that I am still at the question-asking stage and that there are people on CAF who really know their stuff, including the Greek and Hebrew words (which she had brought up in a message to me).

This was her response:

Message:

Well the reason I ask is not to find an answer. I want to do it because I feel it is blasphemous to pray to someone other than God. I am looking out for you because I love you =) So allow me to just talk to you so we can have discussion. Would that be okay with you my friend? =)

---

Uh, no. It would NOT be OK with me. And I’m not your friend although I am your sister in Christ. I just sent her a message telling her that I had given her the best recommendation I could - CAF and the CCC. I said that if she really loves me to please pray that I discover truth (I got that from something Scott Hahn said, as related to me by someone else - he prayed to teach Catholics Truth and his prayer was answered!) I also said that I (sadly) now believe this to be a trap and that I will no longer respond to questions and/or comments from her.

And I won’t. No matter what she writes. And in the future, if this ever happens again, I will refer the person to CAF and the CCC and stay out of it.

Now I’m waiting to see if she shows her true colors. This was an attempt to get me out of the Church. She loves me? I don’t even know her! I’m not even sure if she’s a “she!” I don’t even know if she belongs to a church. I doubt very much that she loves me, especially because I think she’s already lied to me or at least has been disingenuous. And why me?

Youtube is a great way to evangelize. I am still posting there, but publicly. There are a lot of Catholics on youtube that are speaking out about their Faith. But this was different. This would have been a private discussion. I am not an apologist. I’m poorly catechized and even though I’ve learned a lot I am not someone who should be giving private answers about Catholicism. I’m not that good at it. (Yet. ) Maybe someday I will be but I now understand why CAF is so important. It’s not “me” versus “them.” It’s more like “us” speaking truth, supporting each other, clarifying positions, and sometimes being uncharitable and rude (which is to be expected as we are all fallible human beings).

Thank you all so much! I learned an important lesson and if it hadn’t been for you I wouldn’t have learned it. I would be struggling with foreign words I don’t understand and trying my best to defend the Church but with no support. I would probably be looking through the Bible all day and getting frustrated and angry and despairing. I have severe depression. I go into periods of deep despair when I am sure that God does not exist and even if He does I am damned because I’m such an awful sinner. I have been working very hard to pull myself up out of that hole I’ve been in and in the last few days I’ve felt that maybe I will succeed. My faith is strong, I’m happy, and I’m hopeful. This person, even without meaning to, could have pushed me back into that hole and that is a horrible place to be.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! And dear God, thank You, too, because You are the one who led me to start this thread and led posters to respond. I’m not all by myself. I’m in the Communion of Saints. And I feel so blessed and loved.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Of COURSE you are not all by yourself!!!

:grouphug:

Good decision, to cut off contact now. She probably won’t respond any more.

 

[LittleSoldier]

Of COURSE you are not all by yourself!!!

:grouphug:

Good decision, to cut off contact now. She probably won’t respond any more.

Thank you! Actually, she did respond and I was a bit surprised at what she said. She basically said “OK, if that’s the way you want it, but I’d still like to discuss this with you.” But I just deleted it. I do wonder why she doesn’t come here to tell us all truth - if she loves me so much she must surely love everyone and want us all to know that praying to Mary is idolatry.

It feels like home here. I know I’m not going to be attacked for praying to Mary. We are so hated by so many and it’s wonderful to have a place like CAF that is moderated. There is so much spewing of hatred on youtube.

BTW, I did respond to someone who claims he is god. He called me “boy.” I told him that if he were really god he would at least know my gender!

 

[Joe_5859]

Sorry it turned out that way. I can’t say that I’m surprised.

If you look at it from her perspective, she is probably so sure of her own views about how dangerous Catholic teaching is that she feels compelled to “convert” as many Catholics as she can. I can understand that.

I think the whole ordeal illustrates very well what not to do in evangelization. It doesn’t make you feel very loved if a person is only talking to you because you’re wrong and they’re right and if you just listen to them (because, of course, why would they need to listen to you?) then you’ll be saved and everyone will be happy.

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t like to feel like I’m someone’s spiritual conquest.

I firmly believe that one of the best things Catholics can do on the internet is just be present and show others that we are loving, reasonable people. We’re not fringe weirdos. We’re not mindless idiots. We’re not judgmental hypocrites. We’re not foul-mouthed trolls. We’re ordinary people who speak the truth in love. I think that’s the witness that speaks the loudest.

Not to say that it doesn’t help for us to know what we’re talking about and to be able to articulate the Church’s position clearly and convincingly. We need to be able to do that, too. But it doesn’t matter how well we do that if we start treating other people like notches in our conversion belt.

 

[LittleSoldier]

Sorry it turned out that way. I can’t say that I’m surprised.

If you look at it from her perspective, she is probably so sure of her own views about how dangerous Catholic teaching is that she feels compelled to “convert” as many Catholics as she can. I can understand that.

I think the whole ordeal illustrates very well what not to do in evangelization. It doesn’t make you feel very loved if a person is only talking to you because you’re wrong and they’re right and if you just listen to them (because, of course, why would they need to listen to you?) then you’ll be saved and everyone will be happy.

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t like to feel like I’m someone’s spiritual conquest.

I firmly believe that one of the best things Catholics can do on the internet is just be present and show others that we are loving, reasonable people. We’re not fringe weirdos. We’re not mindless idiots. We’re not judgmental hypocrites. We’re not foul-mouthed trolls. We’re ordinary people who speak the truth in love. I think that’s the witness that speaks the loudest.

Not to say that it doesn’t help for us to know what we’re talking about and to be able to articulate the Church’s position clearly and convincingly. We need to be able to do that, too. But it doesn’t matter how well we do that if we start treating other people like notches in our conversion belt.

I’ve noticed that some self-professed Catholics (meaning I’m not sure if they are Catholic or not) go to youtube and are charitable and serious. And they post true Church teaching and are attacked via arguments that are uncharitable, illogical, and often absolutely stupid. Then these Catholics respond with cursing and really nasty posts. I see that as horrible. No matter what is said we have to be charitable, especially because there are lurkers there, just as here. And we are sometimes the only representatives of the Catholic Faith. Why should anyone believe us if we are so nasty?

I saw that happen this morning and the post I read was awful, so full of the “F” word. I’ve called someone a troll but he really is a troll. Now I’ve backed out of that “discussion” because I realize I will never change his mind but he might have the power to make me react with a severe lack of charity. How many times do I have to post: “Catholics do not worship Mary!” I would be wealthy if I had a dollar for every time I have written and said that. And it seems to make no difference. The same people are still telling me that Catholics worship Mary. And now I’m getting the “Co-Mediator” and “Co-Mediatrix” complaints. I knew that would happen; I think everyone did. But Truth is Truth is Truth. If it is taught by the Magisterium it is true, even if 99% of the people in the world disagree.

These people don’t have a strong base. They don’t understand that the Catholic Church is the church with the full Deposit of Faith. So of course they don’t accept her teachings. Being surrounded with people who call the Pope the Anti-Christ and the Church the Whore of Babylon doesn’t help. People are so superstitious. Store checkers have told me many times that if the total rung up is $6.66 some people demand that an object they’ve purchased be put back on the shelf or another added, just to get rid of that “666.” That is absurd thinking. If they don’t understand how silly that is, how can they be expected to understand a concept as complicated as God’s Church? (But then if they think they need an exorcist, which church will they go running to?)

We are held to a higher standard and we should be because we are so blessed by being Catholics. I wonder what it would have been like if I had been taught horrible things about the Church by my parents. It must be so hard to come to the conclusion that the church one has been raised in is not the True Church, although I’ve seen many posts on CAF by people who have done that very thing. That takes initiative and courage. My Mom did that and I am so proud of her.

I think I will be spending more time praying for the people who are really trolls and not interested in learning truth and less time attempting to evangelize on youtube, although I will still present Church teaching for those who are requesting it.

And NO private discussions.

Thanks again, everyone. I’ve learned so much from this experience. Thank you for taking the time to help me. I’ve been feeling kind of lonely lately and I don’t have that feeling anymore. God bless all of you!

 

[Catholic1954]

God Bless you too. Good job! :grouphug: