Tiresome

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I guess that I’m starting to find the CAF discussions polemic and tiresome lately; Catholic theology vs. Protestant theology, Catholic theology vs. athiest, “liberal” Catholics vs.“conservative” Catholics, Pharisees vs. heretics, etc, etc. And yes, I’ve contributed to this trend.

There seems to be fewer and fewer posts that go like:

OP: I want to know about such and such

Responses: Such and such

OP: Cool, thanks!

It seems to be more and more like:

OP: I want to know about such and such

Response 1: Such and such

Response 2: No, Such and such is wrong. This and that.

Response 3: No, This and that is ridiculous.

Etc, etc.

And the OP’s question gets left in the dust. 🤷

To me, anyway, I’m getting little or nothing out of the discussions lately, but I hope by the same token that those that continue to enjoy the CAF continue to do so. Time to take a break, methinks, and pursue other endeavors, at least for a while. My apologies to those in threads that are waiting for a response or for more discussion from yours truly.
 
God bless you on your sabbatical from CAF! :o

I understand your frustrations. It is unfortunate when threads so easily devolve into opportunities to rehash the same debates over and over again rather than answer an OP’s genuine concern. I’m sure most of us have contributed to such a thing at some point or another. I know I have.

If I may point out, though, those threads where the OP’s questions gets satisfactorily answered without debate tend to drop to the bottom of the queue rather quickly whereas the debate threads are never far from the top of the page.
 
I agree this is a problem. Those who know me may have noticed I haven’t been around much lately.

One problem is that a question will get asked that’s been asked (and thoroughly hashed out) a hundred times. Some longstanding member will post a link to a previous thread, but everyone ignores it and proceeds to hash it out all over again.

I believe CA Forums has ombudsmen who are tasked with identifying such repetitive questions and directing the OP to an appropriate thread or resource (and the thread is then closed). But I have rarely seen this actually happen, and newcomers to the forum re-hash what has already been hashed time and time again.

Maybe this has a beneficial aspect (it gives novice apologists a chance to hone their skills), but it probably is less beneficial and relevant to the OP (the person we are really trying to serve) and it makes the forums tiresome and redundant to longstanding members.

But, on the other hand, I doubt that there are many relevant questions that COULD be asked that have not ALREADY been answered here. Thus, the ombudsmen would simply direct almost every question to some established thread - and that would be REALLY boring for everyone else. The ombudsman becomes a search engine, and everyone else becomes irrelevant.

So, maybe the best approach is to leave things as they are. Some longstanding members will drift away, and new members will come along to re-hash the same questions over and over again. The longstanding members don’t really loose anything (except the tiresome repetition) and the newcomers, at least, get to tackle some issues without living in the shadow of those who have come before.
 
Hmm, well, I must confess that I’ve probably contributed more heat than light to several threads.

How about letting OPs lock their own threads? That way they can close it whether their question has been answered or the thread has gone off the rails.
 
Newbie2 said:
I guess that I’m starting to find the CAF discussions polemic and tiresome lately; Catholic theology vs. Protestant theology, Catholic theology vs. athiest, “liberal” Catholics vs.“conservative” Catholics, Pharisees vs. heretics, etc, etc. And yes, I’ve contributed to this trend.

There seems to be fewer and fewer posts that go like:

OP: I want to know about such and such

Responses: Such and such

OP: Cool, thanks!

It seems to be more and more like:

OP: I want to know about such and such

Response 1: Such and such

Response 2: No, Such and such is wrong. This and that.

Response 3: No, This and that is ridiculous.

Etc, etc.

And the OP’s question gets left in the dust. 🤷

To me, anyway, I’m getting little or nothing out of the discussions lately, but I hope by the same token that those that continue to enjoy the CAF continue to do so. Time to take a break, methinks, and pursue other endeavors, at least for a while. My apologies to those in threads that are waiting for a response or for more discussion from yours truly.
Click to expand...
Interesting topic, Newbie, about the purpose of CAF. What is it that you personally want to get out of the forum?

🤷
 
Joe_5859 said:
… If I may point out, though, those threads where the OP’s questions gets satisfactorily answered without debate tend to drop to the bottom of the queue rather quickly whereas the debate threads are never far from the top of the page.
Click to expand...
I believe you hit the nail on the head, Joe. Consider this discussion thread. It’s a topic Newbie2 believes is a worthy one to discuss, otherwise, why start it? It has everything going for it:
  • It is unique
  • It is thought provoking
  • It has no pointless debate
  • It even has an excellent (five-star) rating!
However, if I did not reply today, would this discussion thread be active tomorrow?

🤷
 
Newbie2 said:
I guess that I’m starting to find the CAF discussions polemic and tiresome lately; Catholic theology vs. Protestant theology, Catholic theology vs. athiest, “liberal” Catholics vs.“conservative” Catholics, Pharisees vs. heretics, etc, etc. And yes, I’ve contributed to this trend.

There seems to be fewer and fewer posts that go like:

OP: I want to know about such and such

Responses: Such and such

OP: Cool, thanks!

It seems to be more and more like:

OP: I want to know about such and such

Response 1: Such and such

Response 2: No, Such and such is wrong. This and that.

Response 3: No, This and that is ridiculous.

Etc, etc.

And the OP’s question gets left in the dust. 🤷

To me, anyway, I’m getting little or nothing out of the discussions lately, but I hope by the same token that those that continue to enjoy the CAF continue to do so. Time to take a break, methinks, and pursue other endeavors, at least for a while. My apologies to those in threads that are waiting for a response or for more discussion from yours truly.
Click to expand...
Hello my friend,

When the “forum” gets to me, I take a 1 or 2 week break and come back with a fresh perspective and covered in the peace and tranquility that only Jesus can give me.

I promise you - you’ll feel better…take a break.
 
Therese Martin
Administrator
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If an individual member or guest finds that the reading of and/or participation in a particular forum is disturbing to his spiritual peace, we encourage you to visit one of the many other forums we offer, each of which has its own character and ambience. Topics as diverse as the people who post here appear on our boards, and we hope that you will find one suited to your interests and needs.

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