I'm through with CAF

[Eretria90]

I like the discussion forums on CAF far better. I don't know why people get their panties in a twist over CAF. It's far better in terms of [theological] discussion and isn't overrun by Protestants hating us like here on CF and CARM.

 

[St_Barnabus]

FYI, this is the post I responded to, which was about Social Security;

His post stayed, but because I asked if the 14 at the end of his name was his age, I got suspended.

Anyway, I was able to go in an report the post, but my guess I'm about to be banned for life, once again.

Jim

I have followed threads at Fisheaters where posters complain that they have been banned for the 5th time. Apparently, there is nobody checking new registrations to see if they are circumventing a ban.

People do that here, also. Nothing new on the face of the earth. What they fail to recognize is that their handwriting is as identifiable as their fingerprints and DNA. LOL!

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

CAF was a cool place with great discourse for several years. I thoroughly enjoyed it, had many wonderful friends (some I am blessed enough to know on here as well, like MKJ ), but when Eric Hilbert came there, he turned it into the online third reich. The guy is a Nazi as far as online forums are concerned. He especially hated the Orthodox posters. He was dead hateful of Protestants (notably Anglicans), but he became absurdly obsessed with banning Orthodox posters since the Orthodox had super convincing, well-documented, historically-accurate arguments. Most of the Orthodox posters were incredibly bright and didn't fall for short talking points or short sound bytes from the Fathers out of context. The "apologetics" on there fell really flat with a few Orthodox posters. I remember we had several hardcore Catholics on there start to read Orthodox theologians, delve deeper into the history of the Schism, deeper into the ancient papacy and modern claims, and they ended up converting to Orthodoxy. The minute someone would post, "I'm converting to Orthodoxy! Yeah!!" they were banned. Then when someone said, "I'm CONSIDERING converting to Holy Orthodoxy" they were banned. Bottom line was, even posters who had 20,000 posts in good standing, highly-respected and admired, they were suddenly banned.....

And yet the ultra liberal extreme leftist Episcopalians who were pro-gay marriage, pro abortion, and anti-Catholic were ALLOWED to stay, since they were great examples of loony folks that nobody took seriously. They were an unworthy opponent worth keeping around to argue with and use as a punching bag. The Orthodox were way too worthy, threatening, and scary to Mr. Hilbert and Karl Keating and the bunch. Therese Martin was another humdinger on there. Bottom line...they want to keep an agenda unthreatened, undebated against threatening intelligent people, and they really don't want a conversation, just ditto-heads.

I have followed threads at Fisheaters where posters complain that they have been banned for the 5th time. Apparently, there is nobody checking new registrations to see if they are circumventing a ban.

People do that here, also. Nothing new on the face of the earth. What they fail to recognize is that their handwriting is as identifiable as their fingerprints and DNA. LOL!

 

[MikeK]

That's pretty much exactly what I've observed at CAF. If a person is not satisfied with the "standard answer" they're given and express an interest in determining which conclusion the available evidence supports, without regard to what such accomplished scholars as Michelle Arnold (snort!) have to say, they're shown the door.

CAF was a cool place with great discourse for several years. I thoroughly enjoyed it, had many wonderful friends (some I am blessed enough to know on here as well, like MKJ ), but when Eric Hilbert came there, he turned it into the online third reich. The guy is a Nazi as far as online forums are concerned. He especially hated the Orthodox posters. He was dead hateful of Protestants (notably Anglicans), but he became absurdly obsessed with banning Orthodox posters since the Orthodox had super convincing, well-documented, historically-accurate arguments. Most of the Orthodox posters were incredibly bright and didn't fall for short talking points or short sound bytes from the Fathers out of context. The "apologetics" on there fell really flat with a few Orthodox posters. I remember we had several hardcore Catholics on there start to read Orthodox theologians, delve deeper into the history of the Schism, deeper into the ancient papacy and modern claims, and they ended up converting to Orthodoxy. The minute someone would post, "I'm converting to Orthodoxy! Yeah!!" they were banned. Then when someone said, "I'm CONSIDERING converting to Holy Orthodoxy" they were banned. Bottom line was, even posters who had 20,000 posts in good standing, highly-respected and admired, they were suddenly banned.....

And yet the ultra liberal extreme leftist Episcopalians who were pro-gay marriage, pro abortion, and anti-Catholic were ALLOWED to stay, since they were great examples of loony folks that nobody took seriously. They were an unworthy opponent worth keeping around to argue with and use as a punching bag. The Orthodox were way too worthy, threatening, and scary to Mr. Hilbert and Karl Keating and the bunch. Therese Martin was another humdinger on there. Bottom line...they want to keep an agenda unthreatened, undebated against threatening intelligent people, and they really don't want a conversation, just ditto-heads.

 

[AMDG]

What they fail to recognize is that their handwriting is as identifiable as their fingerprints and DNA. LOL!

Snipped to portion being addressed. Longer post above.

Maybe so but maybe not. You see, some places allow sock accounts and some places don't. I originally came from a site that didn't. (I guess they thought it was dishonest.) Yes, I know that there are also other reasons for having sock accounts, but since those reasons don't apply to me, I don't have a sock account. Still, it seems that my writing seems to have been mistaken for some other person's, so it's not as "cut and dried" as one might think.

 

[MoreCoffee]

I sometimes visit CAF and have benefited from some old discussions in the Eastern Catholics section. There are (or were) some well informed and informative individuals there. It is worth retaining membership even though I only visit a couple of times in a year. But, and it is sad to say, some of the moderators on CAF are intolerant and dictatorial which makes participating uninviting, in my opinion; so I stay clear of the debates and very rarely post there.

 

[St_Barnabus]

Snipped to portion being addressed. Longer post above.

Maybe so but maybe not. You see, some places allow sock accounts and some places don't. I originally came from a site that didn't. (I guess they thought it was dishonest.) Yes, I know that there are also other reasons for having sock accounts, but since those reasons don't apply to me, I don't have a sock account. Still, it seems that my writing seems to have been mistaken for some other person's, so it's not as "cut and dried" as one might think.

I wasn't talking about sock accounts, and I agree with you that even at CAF they permit a second account for specific reasons, providing it is not used to pump up secondary support for a viewpoint.
I know one of the moderators there who has two secondary accounts. What was disappointing was to see this person answer their own post in just this manner, yet if one of us did that, we would be history.

No, I meant people who were banned and re-registered with a new name, circumventing the forum's discipline dishonestly. In particular, remember PilgrimtoChrist who was banned but came back as VivaChristoRey?

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

When I was wandering in the wilderness as a Catholic, especially when my wife almost died from our last child's C-section, I got harangued and mocked and beat-down for not being ok with NFP, it was the most lynch-mob thing I'd ever encountered online. I was treated like garbage there by the Pharisee types.....I hear ya, man.

I don't hold malice toward Catholics for my bad experiences there. Not at all. I chose Orthodoxy out of faith in it and for my firm belief that Orthodoxy is the real deal. But CAF sure as heck didn't do anything to make me want to stay Catholic, I can tell ya that!

when I was looking for reasons not to return to the Church, I'd read CAF for an evening.

 

[WarriorAngel]

Well, i have a lifetime membership - being i seldom go in. And dont stir up enough of a response from a single soul as it is.
Sorry to hear it, Jim.

I assume the person was probably talking about welfare - but then i havent seen the whole conversation.
SS wasnt or isnt a hand out - since we work our whole lives paying into it. [OR used to since it was hypothetically a savings at one time - now it is so over used by the government we get in just enough to pay for the current users - tho we still pay into it]

 

[WarriorAngel]

When I was wandering in the wilderness as a Catholic, especially when my wife almost died from our last child's C-section, I got harangued and mocked and beat-down for not being ok with NFP, it was the most lynch-mob thing I'd ever encountered online. I was treated like garbage there by the Pharisee types.....I hear ya, man.

I don't hold malice toward Catholics for my bad experiences there. Not at all. I chose Orthodoxy out of faith in it and for my firm belief that Orthodoxy is the real deal. But CAF sure as heck didn't do anything to make me want to stay Catholic, I can tell ya that!

I nearly died having my last child - OBOB did the same thing to me because 3 priests said it would be ok to cure my body with surgery which happens to be tubal ligation.

I have a loose vein that is incurable in my womb which is easily engorged at pregnancy [because thats what they do in pregnancy]. Was told every child i would have after could kill me no matter how far along in my term. Also discovered my body was irregular - and no matter when i were to be intimate - i somehow got pregnant.

But priests can be aware of health crisis and the fact science makes it possible to know the odds of death now and how to avoid it. NFP is great - for a normal healthy human being. And is possible to use.

But CAF isnt the only group of armchair theologians in a forum - out there.
Priests and Bishops are good folks to talk to in instances of health. But i dont know what all the particulars there are - you could have directed the discussions to the priest.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Well, i have a lifetime membership - being i seldom go in. And dont stir up enough of a response from a single soul as it is.
Sorry to hear it, Jim.

I assume the person was probably talking about welfare - but then i havent seen the whole conversation.
SS wasnt or isnt a hand out - since we work our whole lives paying into it. [OR used to since it was hypothetically a savings at one time - now it is so over used by the government we get in just enough to pay for the current users - tho we still pay into it]

This is what the poster posted which the debate was over.

Actually, seniors are an entitled class, and to a large extent an undeserved entitled class. There are plenty who could work, but prefer to receive government handouts instead.

I merely asked after he had posted about his parents, whether the number "14" at the end of his name was his age?

Based on the tone of his posts, I really thought I was conversing with a teenager, not a working adult.

Anyway, I plan to stay out of CAF News Forums after my suspension is over. It's arguing with neocons on a 12-1 ratio.

FYI, if they complain against you, even if you haven't violated a rule, it still goes against you. Enough complaints, along with a subjective violation will still get you banned for excessive moderation. That's how I was banned for life the last time.



Jim

 

[MikeK]

Anyway, I plan to stay out of CAF News Forums after my suspension is over. It's arguing with neocons on a 12-1 ratio.

Well, the ration of usernames might be 12-1. I've found in our politics section that the neocons tend to create clones of themselves to agree with, as if they think that an apparently popular bad argument somehow trumps a reasonable, researched good argument.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Well, the ration of usernames might be 12-1. I've found in our politics section that the neocons tend to create clones of themselves to agree with, as if they think that an apparently popular bad argument somehow trumps a reasonable, researched good argument.

Yeah but you can often pick up the similarities in writing styles when they do this.

I'm not good at it, but I know some one who is and has caught people using multiple user accounts.

Jim

 

[JimR-OCDS]

The thing is, I always thought I was a conservative, until I discovered CAF.

In that forum, I'm not even a moderate.

Jim

 

[MikeK]

Yeah but you can often pick up the similarities in writing styles when they do this.

I'm not good at it, but I know some one who is and has caught people using multiple user accounts.

Jim

Our own St_Barnabus has proven herself to be quite the sleuth. I appreciate the service she provides. I've caught a couple of bumbling numbskulls myself, but Barnie is really good at it.

 

[St_Barnabus]

Our own St_Barnabus has proven herself to be quite the sleuth. I appreciate the service she provides. I've caught a couple of bumbling numbskulls myself, but Barnie is really good at it.

Thank you for the vote of confidence, Mike! My hobby is solving cryptograms in puzzle books that I subscribe to monthly. It becomes second nature to quickly recognize word patterns, thusly. The Holy Spirit doesn't tap me on the shoulder, IOW. It's just a skill that anyone can acquire with a lot of habitual practice. I never dreamed it would be so handy in such as these forums.

 

[St_Barnabus]

FYI, if they complain against you, even if you haven't violated a rule, it still goes against you. Enough complaints, along with a subjective violation will still get you banned for excessive moderation. That's how I was banned for life the last time.

This is very true, Jim. I received a notice from Therese Martin that since I had so many complaints against me, I was going to be suspended, for the exact reason you mentioned. At that time there was a band of five who would PM one another whenever I made a post, and they would all come in and gang up. I learned this by stealth at Fisheaters where they were all bragging about it in public, and I sent a report to administration. All five were banned, but I was so disgusted at that time, that I just quit the forum. One of the five has re-registered and been banned at least 4 times. Two years later, I registered again. Not much has changed, has it?

 

[JimR-OCDS]

This is very true, Jim. I received a notice from Therese Martin that since I had so many complaints against me, I was going to be suspended, for the exact reason you mentioned. At that time there was a band of five who would PM one another whenever I made a post, and they would all come in and gang up. I learned this by stealth at Fisheaters where they were all bragging about it in public, and I sent a report to administration. All five were banned, but I was so disgusted at that time, that I just quit the forum. One of the five has re-registered and been banned at least 4 times. Two years later, I registered again. Not much has changed, has it?

Yeah, and sadly, the same thing happened here if you recall.

Jim

 

[AMDG]

This is very true, Jim. I received a notice from Therese Martin that since I had so many complaints against me, I was going to be suspended, for the exact reason you mentioned. At that time there was a band of five who would PM one another whenever I made a post, and they would all come in and gang up. I learned this by stealth at Fisheaters where they were all bragging about it in public, and I sent a report to administration. All five were banned, but I was so disgusted at that time, that I just quit the forum. One of the five has re-registered and been banned at least 4 times. Two years later, I registered again. Not much has changed, has it?

Your post reminded me of the Flame Warriors--the Swarm.

Flame Warriors: The Swarm | Politics Forum .org

 

[St_Barnabus]

Your post reminded me of the Flame Warriors--the Swarm.

Flame Warriors: The Swarm | Politics Forum .org

Oh my gosh, that's horrible! But it is painfully true. They can really disrupt honest communications and discussions. The article did not give much help in knowing how to survive a swarm. Lucky for me, I found out about my swarm at Fisheaters. Think this happens here? Nah, people are so loving, huh?