Important Announcement

MamaHen said:

This is great news! I am happy to give the forum another try after this announcement.

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Ah...awesome!!! There are many GOOD people here! you are willing to give it anothwe try!

I think this is what should have happened all along, in regard to the Presidential Election. I think some threads, though, just naturally touch on politics from time to time, and I don't think a thread should get moved just because it mentions the p-word.

ShannonMcCatholic said:

So those who think that this is a one sided deal...and that the "bad guys" are gone. You are just wrong. This board is all kinds of full of shoddy sheep costumes. And moreover,many are people who do not even really know their faith, who just are attatched to their biases which they think are faith.

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No one is saying anyone is the "bad guys". This isn't about cliques or bad guys, this is about the OBOB getting back to sharing the Catholic faith. And maybe you shouldn't judge people if they know their Catholic faith or not. Some people may not be good with writing about the Catholic faith, that doesn't mean they don't know it and understand it and embrace it, it means that they are not good with writing. There is a difference. And we all have biases Shannon as you know. That is not what this is about either. It's about the ugly hostility and poison and venom that happened here as a result of the political threads which had nothing to do with our Catholic faith.

If you post on this board regularly I recommend that you do so with a Catechism sitting right next to your computer to fact check.

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Thanks for the advice, the Catechism and many good Catholic books is a good way to start the process of learning about our wonderful Catholic faith. Hopefully, it will be wonderful to get the OBOB back on track with sharing the Catholic faith, so that we all can get back with edifying, learning, praying and growing in and with our faith and with each other in Christ.

God's peace

Antigone said:

I don't care how many staff contacts I receive, I still think this is a lame measure. And I'm sorry if that offends you, but I think I am allowed to say so.

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You're getting staff notices for discussion a staff action the staff posted in an open thread? If that isn't baiting people then what is it?

Might as well have said "Only those who agree with this are allowed to post here in this thread"

Hey staff - news flash for you. If those who don't like this silly rule are breaking the rules for saying it then certainly those who are posting in support of this silly little rule of yours are apparently breaking the rule about discussion staff actions as well. Punish them for the sake of consistency.

MikeK said:

You really want to "share the Catholic faith"? Why not start by correcting those who preach error and are either ignorant of Church teachings or are enemies of the church - you know, the ones who say that voting for Obama is always grave matter...well, actually, because they are ignorant, they say it is a mortal sin.

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Why talk about this limited subject? Let's instead talk about Mary and praying the Rosary. Or, let's talk about what the early church fathers say about Papal Infallibility... there are many issues and topics that we all can talk about.

I won't debate politics and I won't bash anyone for voting whatever way they deem right. That is between each person and God.

If I see error and can help in a loving and gracious way to point out what the Church truly does teach on some issues and subjects in a respectful way that is not relating to politics, I'll do my best to share our faith.

I won't put anyone into categories and assume that anyone is ignorant because they vote for whoever. I won't judge another's soul because they are against abortion or against partial abortion or against stem cell research or against contraception or any of the other issues that all of us Catholics are working through.

I will do my best to share what the Church teaches about what is mortal sin verses venial sins and the things that I'm still learning about or am not sure about, I'll do research and ask my husband to help me out with as well. I'm not afride to ask questions. And asking questions does not mean someone is ignorant or doesn't know the faith, it means that it's impossible for Catholics to know everything about the Catholic faith. This is not about putting people down for not knowing the faith, it's about learning the faith and encouraging people to learn the faith. It's about being patient and loving as we learn and share faith together.

I'm not a teacher, but that doesn't mean that I'm ignorant or that I know everything or nothing. We are all still learning. And that is another reason why we should be sharing faith instead of debating politics, so that we continue to learn and grow in our faith. Talking politics isn't the answer. No one is going to learn the Catholic faith by debating politics that have nothing to do with our Catholic faith.

I suspect it's because you are either yourself ignorant of the Faith, or because you have that little Elephant by your name and it blinds you. It's very sad, D'Ann.

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Mike... What you wrote above is hurtful and unkind of you. I know that you are hurting and angry and therefore, I'm praying for you and hope that you will keep me in your prayers too. You are my dear brother in Christ and I have never meant you any harm.

God's peace,

Deb

D'Ann said:

And maybe you shouldn't judge people if they know their Catholic faith or not.

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I sure as heck hope that one is able to make a prudential judgement about whether or not something someone is writing about "what the Church teaches" is in fact, what the Church teaches. This has nothing to do with the ability to write well. This has to do with the ability to present Church teaching in a manner consistent with the Church. Things like knowing which books are included in the Canon and the wording of the Catechism when it comes to discussing Mary. I am not talking about nuances here- I am talking about just fundamental knowledge that is not simply a matter of communicating well.

Gwenyfur; can you see how it would appear that one particular poster, Antigone, was being treated more harshly than any others today? And that that would fit into a pattern of "liberal" posters being bulldozed from the site?

Mark; I'm not accusing you are any other Mod of having this agenda. Just asking if you can understand that it appears that way, and that it strikes many of us regular posters as disproportianate

Hence the frustration your getting vented at you.

I also don't much like this idea.
I liked politics in my home forum.

O well. Wish yas well with that.


Thanks for the info Gweny.

ShannonMcCatholic said:

I sure as heck hope that one is able to make a prudential judgement about whether or not something someone is writing about "what the Church teaches" is in fact, what the Church teaches. This has nothing to do with the ability to write well. This has to do with the ability to present Church teaching in a manner consistent with the Church. Things like knowing which books are included in the Canon and the wording of the Catechism when it comes to discussing Mary. I am not talking about nuances here- I am talking about just fundamental knowledge that is not simply a matter of communicating well.

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That's fine Shannon. Since you are concerned about this, start threads and help people to learn without judging what they know or not know.

FYI, when it comes to Mary... that is one area of our faith that I'm strong in.

When it comes to the Canon, I know which books are included and which books have been excluded. When it comes to Mary and the Catechism, I now how to do research and I know how to look things up and I know how to ask my husband questions... and well, maybe I can ask you questions too.. but please don't assume that I don't know our Catholic faith because I don't get involved in debates... or because I don't explain and express the knowledge with perfect Catholic terminalogy. And maybe you are not assuming anything, God bless you either way.

But I'm always open to learning new things or things worded differently than the way I have learned thus far.

Shannon, what does the knowledge or lack of knowledge on the Catholic teachings have to do with not allowing political discussions? Obviously, you acknowledge that there are some Catholics who need to learn more about the Catholic faith... awesome, share your faith with those who need to learn... put politics aside... put personal opinions aside... and let's learn together. (but please don't under estimate others or myself... you have no idea what others or I may know or not know. )

God bless,

Deb

D'Ann said:

That's fine Shannon. Since you are concerned about this, start threads and help people to learn without judging what they know or not know.

FYI, when it comes to Mary... that is one area of our faith that I'm strong in.

When it comes to the Canon, I know which books are included and which books have been excluded.

But I'm always open to learning new things or things worded differently than the way I have learned thus far.

Shannon, what does that have to do with not allowing political discussions? Obviously, you acknowledge that there are some Catholics who need to learn more about the Catholic... awesome, share your faith with those who need to learn... put politics aside... put personal opinions aside... and let's learn together. (but please don't under estimate me... you have no idea what I know or don't know. )

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That wasn't directed at you, D'Ann- rather at your statement. You told me that we can't judge what people know...I think we MUST judge whther or not someone we are reading has a firm grasp on Church teaching if this place is going to be of any value whatsoever. Should I just believe that whatever anybody writes on this board is representative of Catholic teaching or do I need to make a judgement about what they are writing?

It relates, because my point was that there's a perception that there were certain offenders on one particular end of the political spectrum-- and that everyone is all "We want to talk about the Faith! Woot! Woot!"--which is great, truly fine to want to do on a Catholic part of a forum...however the other side of the story is that many of the unreported, unbanned offenders who set themselves up as purveyors of Catholic authenticity are themselves underinformed when it comes to the Faith. ANd so as we foray into talking about the Faith (LOL! or as we morph into being a completely dead forum)- I think that's important to know. You don't think that's important to know. Both opinions can exist simultaneously.

ShannonMcCatholic said:

Naw...they all just moved to another board.

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I know.

faithfulchild said:

When I saw 4 against 1...I decided the US Vice-Presidental debate would be more interesting.

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Even with four against the one, it wasn't really an even match. the one had them out-gunned.

I know that none of them have the personality of a Sarah Palin, but none of them have the personality of her opponent, Ted Baxter either.

Gwenyfur said:

Nice false assumption there geo...

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So, for the record, are you saying no one is getting notices for discussing your unilateral staff action in rewriting our forums rules?
Are we free to speak freely on the topic?

stephenc said:

Gwenyfur; can you see how it would appear that one particular poster, Antigone, was being treated more harshly than any others today? And that that would fit into a pattern of "liberal" posters being bulldozed from the site?

Mark; I'm not accusing you are any other Mod of having this agenda. Just asking if you can understand that it appears that way, and that it strikes many of us regular posters as disproportionate.

Hence the frustration your getting vented at you.

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Well, I have had post removed from here too.

Does that make me a liberal, or do I have to publically complain before the label fits?

BAFRIEND said:

I disagree with the ban at the same time I agree with it.

I disagree because the issues will be debated differently when outside the Catholic Forum and will degenerate into attacks against the Church.

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I agree.

I was in the politics, and i wont go back.

Well -

I'm not sure I have a problem with this but it may be for entirely different reasons than for those of anyone else.

I grew increasingly frustrated with the political threads being only about one issue. Granted it doesn't change how I feel about abortion - but I was sick to death of no other issues in this campaign being given any attention and that I felt were crucial to the country. It started to get on my last nerve. Sorry

Gwenyfur said:

I don't care if a person is liberal, conservative, protestant, Orthodox, or Catholic, purple, green, orange, or blue!!! if they're breaking the rules, they receive a notice....period...end of story.

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Fair enough. Neither do I, btw.

But if we're having this discussion; what's your take, as a neutral observer, naturally, on the fact that the members who are finding it increasingly difficult to remain at OBOB are all members who would be designated with the epithet "liberal"?

(Which is a silly label for a wide range of people and opinions, btw, but in this context it saves time).