Why the negativity?

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stupidisasstupiddoes

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I find it confusing why so many forum posts are negative in their nature. There are so many every day miracles going on around us that I really can’t understand why people tie themselves up in knots about trivial subjects like whether married people can take Viagra or not. Religion becomes very depressing when 90% of the conversation is about sin and only 10% is about all the amazing things happening in our life time, right now. For example, things that we can be happy about:
  • 2000 - 2010 was by far the most peaceful decade since WW2, measured in terms of war deaths per capita. 2010 - 2020 is on track to equal or better that record.
  • Worldwide murder rates have been in long-term decline since the 1990’s and are now below their previous low which happened in the 1960’s
  • Life expectancy is the highest it has ever been and this even applies across all continents
  • Extreme poverty is also at the lowest level it has ever been since records began in 1820
  • In the relative sense, our economy is becoming less polluting in terms of carbon dioxide as a ratio of production
That’s just a handful of the many things to be grateful about, I really struggle to think of what previous era people would rather go back to when the average person had more calories to sustain then, more living space to relax in, more years of life to enjoy, less risk of an invading army wiping them out etc?

Carl Jung said “Modern people don’t see god because they don’t look low enough” and I think there’s something in that worth reflecting upon.
 
Yet, as cool and nifty as life is, sin cuts us off from God, from our eternal Home.
 
The secular world scowls upon negativity. We do not. Because this is also a small miracle of Christ. Sometimes life sucks. Jung couldn’t fix it and neither did Freud. Neither healed any serious mental patient. They just mediated between psychotic obsessions.
Not being afraid of the dark is proof of faith. First thing Jesus said after Resurrection to the Apostles is “Do not be afraid.” We are not afraid or ashamed of people worrying about their obsessions that may be leading to sin.
Yes we may be tempted to sin also but the fact that a Christian forum can engulf so much is not proof of negativity but of positivity. All are welcome in the house of God.
God bless
Merry Christmas
 
  1. The purpose of religion is not to make you “feel good” about the world. Unfortunately, the Catholic religion went through a couple decades of happy face gunk about 30 or 40 years ago and it didn’t do anybody any good. I’m not saying we all have to be hellfire and damnation all day, but it’s not all rainbows and unicorns either.
  2. If people quit coming on the forum and asking “is this a sin? how about if circumstances a, b and c apply or I only do it on a rainy Tuesday because I’m bored” etc. when they should really be discussing this with their priest, I’d be happy to stop talking about sin. I guarantee you I see a whole lot more on here about individual people’s sexual habits than I want or need to know about.
 
Ha ha, look I’m talking about the balance here. Not that sin shouldn’t be discussed. The first 3 replies kind of make my point for me. I think they’ve got themselves into a warped mindset. Open your bible and what do you see? A positive message and the miracles and great acts of Jesus. Open this forum and what do you see…
 
A lot of us have positive or happy experiences with religion from time to time, or maybe on a fairly regular basis. I’ll admit I don’t post a lot of them here. One reason is that they tend to be kind of emotional and private. Another reason is that many posters here are more oriented towards questioning the faith or as you said, being negative. It tends to take the wind out of people’s sails. I’ve seen this happen on about 3-4 separate threads in just the last few days. So I kind of get what you mean about “negative”.

I think some of the Negative Nancies are having their own struggles with the faith or some aspect of it, and therefore are perhaps a bit quick to shoot arrows at others.
 
Weird…

When I open my Bible I see Adam and Eve banished from Eden for sin, God destroying humanity for sin, Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed for sin, Egypt and Pharaoh being destroyed for sin, the Israelites slaughtering sinful people…

Seems like sin and being concerned about sin and battling sin is a key theme on nearly every page of Scripture.
 
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Are you a Jew? If you are then yes fixate yourself on the books of the torah. But if you are a Christian then you should think about the meaning of the new covenant and get a bit more excited about the Gospels. As Matthew 19 makes clear, simply following the rules of the Old Testament is not the path to heaven.
 
Are you implying the OT is less inspired than the NT?

We’re Catholic, not Marcionites.

The NT is unintelligible without the OT.

The only Scripture Jesus and the Apostles knew was the Old Testament.

The Old Testament makes up 3/4 of Scripture.
 
When I log into CAF I see normal people with normal questions and concerns. I see humanity here. Life isn’t sunshine, roses, and lollipops. This is reality we’re discussing.
 
In addition to what others have said,
  1. Since this is an apologetics site, there are a lot of newbies to the Faith. Whether they are converts or cradle Catholics starting to take Catholicism seriously, it is not uncommon for people to go through a period of scrupulousness. But, from what my friends who have gone through this told me, it does not last.
  2. There are also plenty of trolls who come here with ridiculous scenarios. We probably have more trolling now after the format changed than before.
 
redbetta said:
There are also plenty of trolls who come here with ridiculous scenarios. We probably have more trolling now after the format changed than before
Click to expand...
Wait…

So the guy who made a thread this morning asking what to do if he farts at Mass… he was trolling?!
 
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We just have to agree to disagree here. Firstly i think very few people really understand the OT, it simply cannot be understood with a face value reading in english.

Anyway, the point I’m making is that if you read the Bible and Adam and Eve were the bit that struck you, then i think you missed the point.
 
Ummm…

Take away Adam and Eve and Jesus makes zero sense.

Jesus, like the entire NT, is utterly unintelligible without the OT.
 
Ok lad I see what you are trying to do. Whilst I do not see an overwhelming negativity here and my inner contradictory spirits wants to argue with the validity of your statistics I see the point you want to make. It is a beautiful point that I needed. The Gospel brings us good news and I guess if we all just put ourselves in God’s hands everything is going to be alright. I think Padre Pio once said something in the lines of “Pray and don’t worry” so yeah. Merry Christmas 🙂
 
The facts show that reality is more sunshine and roses than it’s even been.
 
I don’t know: I didn’t read the thread. Though, questions about Mass ettiquete are nothing problematic.
 
Hmmm…

Tell that to the millions of people in prison today.

Tell that to the millions of people sick and in hospitals today…

Tell that to the billions of sinners on earth right now…

Tell that to the thousands of people who will die today.

Tell that to the millions of people living in war zones…

Tell that to the millions of starving or poor people…

Tell that to the millions of drug addicts…
 
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I will agree that we need more Joy and Hope. Definitely. I myself am a cynical, pessimistic, negative person. It is one my greatest faults and it hinders my spiritual growth in a terrible way.

That being said, there is a difference between Joy and mere exuberance. There is a difference between Hope and mere optimistism.

Fear of God is the beggining of Wisdom. David offered his sorrow as the sacrifice for his sin. Peter wept so greatly after his own sin that the stories claim the tears burned furrows into his cheeks. Christ himself was so overcome with sorrow and fear that blood came from his pores. The people of Ninevah was spared because of their sorrow.

We should approach God in sorrow for our sins, trembling in fear of His judgment, and hopeful in the eternal merits of the Blood of Jesus Christ.
 
There are literally hundreds of millions less starving people in the world than just 60 years ago. Your arguements are counter factual.
 
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