Aloha Dear Ones All:
No one but our Creator knows a person’s true intention, I do believe. But on this CAF Thread, there have been given reasonable possibilities as to why CAF Posters are so cruel to each other.
LSK: You mentioned that it is difficult not to judge someone’s intent. Very true. Maybe more use of icons would help. But no icon could ever soften the venomous writings of some CAF Posters, my experience.
Neildown: (Love that clever User Name!) You said not to let it “bug you too much - there are still plenty of courteous posters out there.” Good advice.
Meltzerboy: You have apparently had the courage to use your family name as your CAF User Name. Good show! Aware of the security risk, I used my own name, because, as a YAHWEH fearing (i.e., revering) person, I believe that if a Christian has something worthwhile to say for the common good, they should have the courage to say it without anonymity.
Your analysis of the “Why are people cruel” problem on this Forum was right on.
Cruelty is a fruit of anonymity; e.g., anonymity is obviously a reason why people like Ku Klux Klan members, who hate blacks, Jewish people, and Catholic Christians, wear robes and masks. Most “Letters to the Editor” columns won’t allow anonymity.
As a Christian forum, I think CAF should courageously stop the anonymity. Imagine how the cruelness would dry up if CAF Posters had to use their own name as there CAF User Name! (I hope the CAF Administration members are tuned into this Thread.)
**TrixieMcGee: ** You rightly said: “Also since it is anonymous, it will not tarnish their reputation in the real world. It confirms my belief that ANONYMITY is the main cause of the cruelness on the CAF.
Regrettably, the CAF rules promote anonymity and an uncomfortable (non-Christian?) impersonal atmosphere. I suppose anonymity is for security, and I can understand that, to a degree. But on the other hand, we Catholic Christians are supposed to be personal, loving, and healing, and not just zombie parrots without personalities, spewing out canned proclamations to defend the Roman Catholic Institution and its teachings.
The whole mission of Christ Jesus was one of teaching and healing, and most of His teaching was about healing. A church that does not heal is no church at all! And we ARE the Church. I dare say that, that’s what bothers us the most about the cruelness of CAF Posters. If our purpose for participation on the CAF is not to learn, teach and/or assist the Spirit of Christ Jesus’ healing, then forget it!
Monicad: You advised that we should, “Keep on praying, God is good!” Amen! Amen! My experience is that Prayer (with love, “the power of the cross!”) is very powerful. I speak from many years of experience where awesome healings of bodies, souls and spirits have been miraculously healed, through a prayer group’s prayer. Healing of the scandalous undercurrent of evil-spiritedness in some CAF Threads is not insurmountable for our loving Creator. Let’s keep praying.
Dedo: You mentioned the “Pharisee trap.” Exactly! Good point! I have had the greatest “cruelty problems" with the “Traditionalists,” “Orthodox,” or whatever these Catholics like to be called. One of the cruelest proudly indicated that he was a Catholic seminarian. After receiving a few stripes from him for not agreeing with his pharisaical ways, I thought, “Wow! Is this young man in for a rude awakening when he arrives at the first parish he’s assigned to!”
Yes, as you say, the world is getting meaner, and is moving toward a “critical mass.” Once again, the world is moving toward totalitarian-socialist governments as it happened in the 1930s and 1940s. (This time, with the promotion of U. S. bureaucrats who are friends of the anti-Jewish, anti-Christian Muslim Brotherhood as well!) World War II took a chunk out of my life, and what’s happening now gives me the shivers. We all know what happened under German National Socialism (Nazism). I fear for the worst, but hope for the best, with prayer.
Nevertheless, we Catholic Christians are to be IN the world (as the voice, hands and healing heart of the Spirit of Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit), but not OF the world, with all of its hate and cruelness (regrettably, that includes some CAF Posters as well.)
Shalom,
Richard
I’m a veteran of sorts in that regard. I used to feel the same way about posters here, but after debating on other forums I find this one quite hospitable (but that’s probably just because I no longer pay attention to the pettiness that is common on nearly all forums). That being said, don’t let it bug you too much - there are still plenty of courteous posters out there.
