My OBOB Observations since returning....

Michie · Sep 4, 2015

On the good side, appears people are communicating somewhat better at times.

But it seems to me besides the fact it is supposed to be a faith forum where we fellowship and discuss current events in light of our faith it seems mostly secular.

Top topics seems to be anything to do with homosexuality. Liberal or conservative. Abortion and the presidency, immigration, politics in general. Who is smart, who is stupid. Or anything that is shocking.

Not that there is anything wrong in discussing these things and being informed but it just seems to pretty much be out of context with our faith. And some people just seem
downright hostile and angry. Some just want to be right no matter what. Some seem a bit snobby towards others.

To me, there is nothing wrong with debate and different schools of thought but in a faith forum there seems to be a lack of concern for bringing our faith into everything important as to not leave a confusing witness to others.

I decided when I returned I was not going to bring news to this forum anymore or very little unless I had something to say about it myself. Since my return I have not posted one single article and we still seem to be struggling with the same problems.

My perspective so far just from reading this forum is that we are a very spoiled people. We pick and choose what is the most entertaining to discuss and rarely is it anything that forces us to step outside ourselves. Trying to imagine what it would be like to live in a country where you do not have the same freedoms and benefits we have. Or even carrying the same cross. It's sad to see.

I just wondered what you all felt concerning the communication in this forum. Do we have to dislike people we do not agree with on any given subject? I always thought you could disagree and still respect the other person. Some attitudes I have seen just seen to be spoiling for a fight. What are your thoughts?

pdudgeon · Sep 4, 2015

yep, i think you're right.
added to that the realization that we are living in times now that call for more clarity, dedication, determination, and more action from our faith.

This is real life now. and if our walk doesn't match our talk we will stumble and fall.
And that is making some people very uncomfortable indeed.
There is very little neutral ground to be had any more.

Before it was easy to 'just be nice and polite Christians, go with the flow, and don't raise a rucus'.

But now in these times we're being called upon to come out of our safe places, and to really stand up and account for what we believe.
As a result there is a divide--an uncomfortable one-- and some people who aren't sure where they stand; with Christ or with the world.

Whereas several years ago OBOB usually presented a good solid, united front, with lots of teaching along the way.
Many of it's members were highly respected and well known across the site.
now that is gone.
We are adults and we are splintered.

Instead of a united front we are divided into clusters of 3's or 4's, working back to back to
defend our faith, fighting for OBOB's survival, and encouraging each other to remain strong in Christ.

and outside of OBOB or the Congregation area, it's hard to recognize that this forum is supposed to be Christian.
Out there the onslaught is full on open warfare against Christ, and what Christians stand for.

It's full metal jacket time, comrads, with only one last step to go from here.

Michie · Sep 4, 2015

Yikes! If we can't do it on a message board how can we do it in our daily lives?

pdudgeon said:
yep, i think you're right.
added to that the realization that we are living in times now that call for more clarity, dedication, determination, and more action from our faith.

This is real life now. and if our walk doesn't match our talk we will stumble and fall.
And that is making some people very uncomfortable indeed.
There is very little neutral ground to be had any more.

Before it was easy to 'just be nice and polite Christians, go with the flow, and don't raise a rucus'.

But now in these times we're being called upon to come out of our safe places, and to really stand up and account for what we believe.
As a result there is a divide--an uncomfortable one-- and some people who aren't sure where they stand.

Whereas several years ago OBOB usually presented a good solid, united front, with lots of teaching along the way.
now that is gone.
We are adults and we are splintered.

Instead of a united front we are divided into clusters of 3's or 4's, working back to back to
defend our faith, fighting for OBOB's survival, and encouraging each other to remain strong in Christ.

and outside of OBOB or the Congregation area, it's hard to recognize that this forum is supposed to be Christian.
Out there the onslaught is full on open warfare against Christ, and what Christians stand for.

It's full metal jacket time, comrads.

Michie · Sep 4, 2015

I got an alert that Cute Tink replied to this thread. I don't see her post! ???

pdudgeon · Sep 4, 2015

Michie said:
I got an alert that Cute Tink replied to this thread. I don't see her post! ???

she liked your OP

Michie · Sep 4, 2015

I know but the alert said 'reply' must be a glitch.

pdudgeon said:
she liked your OP

Mountain_Girl406 · Sep 4, 2015

It's an interesting place...I came here to help stop my slide into agnosticism, because I don't have many Catholic friends in real life that I can have serious discussions with (I know many from Mass on Sunday, and others who are parents of my kids's friends but none I'm close enough with to discuss doubt and faith), and because I enjoy political discussion but have learned to keep it off Facebook.
I'm not sure I'm succeeding at anything but the last part, although there are a few inspirational folks here that keep the spark alive.

pdudgeon · Sep 4, 2015

Mikhael Disciple of Christ said:
Yep. My post from another thread:

yep. signs of the future here to be sure!
Christians are already an endangered species.
if it continues it will look more like the world and less like Christ.

Davidnic · Sep 4, 2015

We used to talk about theology a lot more. But also even then we had problems during election cycles. We used to have a lot more threads discussing the general aspects of Catholic life. But we also used to have a lot more active members.

Tallguy88 · Sep 4, 2015

Can't win every fight. Gotta pick your battles.

We could just ban all discussion of homosexuality. That would calm things down here.

Not sure I could actually make that happen. But it would be nice.

Tallguy88 · Sep 4, 2015

Or close the politics board and disallow it on the main board. Leave all political discussion in the American Politics forum.

OBOB would dry up quickly if we did that. Aren't enough faith-based discussions to keep us going.

Michie · Sep 4, 2015

I think that is a brilliant idea actually.

Edited in: the cream rises to the top. Or as mentioned below, we could enforce the rules.

Tallguy88 said:
Or close the politics board and disallow it on the main board. Leave all political discussion in the American Politics forum.

OBOB would dry up quickly if we did that. Aren't enough faith-based discussions to keep us going.

pdudgeon · Sep 4, 2015

Tallguy88 said:
Can't win every fight. Gotta pick your battles.

We could just ban all discussion of homosexuality. That would calm things down here.

Not sure I could actually make that happen. But it would be nice.

more like we can't win any fight. period.
we don't have to ban discussion of homosexuality, we just have to enforce the existing rules.
like if you're not a member of OBOB then take your debating posts elsewhere, for one.
like not debating against what the Catholic church teaches, what the bishops teach, what the pope teaches, etc. for another.
like not mocking Mary, the Mother of Christ for another.

"Can't win every fight, gotta pick your battles" is insulting.
that's looser talk and we're not loosers. Not by a long shot.

Antigone · Sep 5, 2015

Not that I disagree, Michie, but I don't think it's ever been different. I miss the old team - Geo, Cosmic, Shannon, both Stephanies, team Aussie and Mike before OBOB broke him - and the threads about Lego inappropriate content, but even then we had threads full of complaints about the perceived dominance of liberals/conservatives, lack of theological depth, dubious moderation, you name it. The muslim-bashing got worse but we had threads about Muslims and homosexuals back then, too.

(Staff edit of a quote now removed)

MikeK · Sep 5, 2015

I do miss our Australian contingent, they were good for a lot of "real life" discussion. I think Michie provides a lot of that too, especially since her return.

I think I'm an awful lot....nicer...than I used to be. I should be a lot better though, thanks for the reminder.

Poor Beggar · Sep 5, 2015

Michie said:
Yikes! If we can't do it on a message board how can we do it in our daily lives?

I find it easier on daily life. The kind of resistance I encounter is different. On here its someone who argues against an idea just because they can and I'm not personally visible. It changes when I'm face to face. It's kind of like going into see customer service versus calling on the phone.

Poor Beggar · Sep 5, 2015

Mikhael Disciple of Christ said:
If you're an actual Christian and you actually believe the bible, you're guaranteed to be treated unfairly and banned on this forum. Which is why CAF and CARM are better. They actually put real Christians first, not heathen fakes.

That's kind of what I'm starting to notice.

sylverpiano · Sep 5, 2015

I last posted in the politics sub forum back in February, I think. The political discussion is just too mean spirited for me. I am also really not interested in discussing homosexuality and same sex marriage endlessly.

I also get pretty tired of very thinly veiled criticism of our beliefs in the guise of "I have some questions about Catholics...."

I come here mainly for fellowship

GoingByzantine · Sep 5, 2015

The reason I post in OBOB as opposed to other Catholic forums, is that in general I am treated well here. On CAF, they ban Eastern Catholics for blinking an eye. The EC forum on CAF is designed to treat us like second class citizens.

My understanding is that Fish Eaters, the other popular Catholic forum, is geared mainly towards traditional Latin Catholics. There is an EC forum called ByzCath, but it is rather slow, and you have to wait up to a day for moderation to approve your message. I also posted in a forum on a Catholic dating website, there they lumped us into a section called "Eastern & Extraordinary Liturgies"...for obvious reasons, I was not happy with that.

OBOB is my home, because here you all know me, and in general I feel that you all treat me as an equal.

pdudgeon · Sep 5, 2015

GoingByzantine said:
The reason I post in OBOB as opposed to other Catholic forums, is that in general I am treated well here. On CAF, they ban Eastern Catholics for blinking an eye. The EC forum on CAF is designed to treat us like second class citizens.

My understanding is that Fish Eaters, the other popular Catholic forum, is geared mainly towards traditional Latin Catholics. There is an EC forum called ByzCath, but it is rather slow, and you have to wait up to a day for moderation to approve your message. I also posted in a forum on a Catholic dating website, there they lumped us into a section called "Eastern & Extraordinary Liturgies"...for obvious reasons, I was not happy with that.

OBOB is my home, because here you all know me, and in general I feel that you all treat me as an equal.

and we love you :hug:

(and that's gotta count for something!)

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