OT: Let us all take a moment...

[Taom Ben Robert]

Lord have mercy on us

 

[~Anastasia~]

I'm still relatively new. I haven't had time to dislike being here.LOL

Hello, and welcome to CF, and also welcome to TAW!

I usually offer to have folks let us know if they need any help finding their way around the forums, but looking at your post count, I'd say you've gotten comfortable here. Still, there is the offer, if you need any help.

And we are glad to see you here in TAW as well.

 

[~Anastasia~]

If that's true, then perhaps I have to offer my thoughts on what has made this place great in the past. I might assemble my thoughts later, but a large part of it was an awareness that what we're saying is going to be seen by a lot of people whose first (and hopefully not last) encounter with Orthodoxy may be this message board, and therefore to avoid controversy and acrimony - that isn't to say we couldn't go over topics that we disagree on, but care was taken to avoid scandalizing people. I would also say that politics were generally not under discussion for this reason.

I do think that's a good thing to keep in mind.

Sometimes I cringe when I see things folks post, and consider that we are representing the Church. We've done a poor job of that sometimes - may God forgive us.

 

[~Anastasia~]

There are a lot of good posters who aren't still here, but we have a really good core group of people still here. That said, I appreciate the important reminder, EC! TAW was critical to me becoming Orthodox - and I hope we can be a witness to others as well.

Btw, I don't want all my complaining and concerns to obscure the fact too - that I agree we have a really great group of core folks that have been here all along and are still here. And I REALLY appreciate you all!

 

[dzheremi]

Thank you for this well-meaning thread, OP. I don't post on TAW enough to comment on any of the subjects you've touched upon (I'm not here often enough to notice if it has been especially bad lately), but whatever it is that needs to happen or stop happening here, I hope it does. I am sorry to any who I may have upset or hurt with my words in any post on this forum. That is never my intention as a guest, or even just as a person trying to communicate with other people.

Thank you as well for posting the Armenian video from my signature. Honestly, I had forgotten about it. I think it has been there long enough. I'm going to change it now to the prayers of one of our bishops prayed in the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem for the safe return of the kidnapped bishops of Aleppo, HG Yuhanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and HG Boulos Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church, and for the safety and protection of all Christians of Syria and Iraq. Perhaps that is in the spirit of how we should strive to care for one another more than anything else I could share.

 

[prodromos]

Wait - am I the guy who's been here the longest?

Na. I beat you by a few months

 

[Ioustinos]

I've only been Orthodox since 2012 but I joined CF all the way back in February of 2002

 

[All4Christ]

I've been here since July 14th, 2004.

Lol I just realized that you were one of the first people I got a PM from - 5 days after you joined....According to the PM, you are exactly 2 days older than me?

Sometimes it's interesting to look at what we did that many years ago! Apparently I've changed a lot in 12 years.

 

[All4Christ]

I've only been Orthodox since 2012 but I joined CF all the way back in February of 2002

That beats my date of joining CF (2003).

I thought ArmyMatt was here when I started posting...@ArmyMatt, when did you start posting in TAW?

 

[E.C.]

I have to say, the responses have been better than I could have imagined. Wow. When I reread it after posting I felt like John Belushi in the sketch when he's an old man going through the cemetery lamenting the deaths of his fellow Saturday Night Live cast mates. In the end he dances.

I dunno, I always thought this place was still very cordial, except for recent posts on here that I was a part of. we have our little flair ups, but for the most part I think this is still pretty positive.

For the most part we are, yes, but the flair ups seem to be happening more viciously and more frequently. Hopefully I'm wrong. I've been wrong before. Once.

There are a lot of good posters who aren't still here, but we have a really good core group of people still here. That said, I appreciate the important reminder, EC! TAW was critical to me becoming Orthodox - and I hope we can be a witness to others as well.

You're welcome!

If that's true, then perhaps I have to offer my thoughts on what has made this place great in the past. I might assemble my thoughts later, but a large part of it was an awareness that what we're saying is going to be seen by a lot of people whose first (and hopefully not last) encounter with Orthodoxy may be this message board, and therefore to avoid controversy and acrimony - that isn't to say we couldn't go over topics that we disagree on, but care was taken to avoid scandalizing people. I would also say that politics were generally not under discussion for this reason.

The uber emphasized bit is something that I have forgotten. Thank you.

Thank you for this well-meaning thread, OP. I don't post on TAW enough to comment on any of the subjects you've touched upon (I'm not here often enough to notice if it has been especially bad lately), but whatever it is that needs to happen or stop happening here, I hope it does. I am sorry to any who I may have upset or hurt with my words in any post on this forum. That is never my intention as a guest, or even just as a person trying to communicate with other people.

Thank you as well for posting the Armenian video from my signature. Honestly, I had forgotten about it. I think it has been there long enough. I'm going to change it now to the prayers of one of our bishops prayed in the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem for the safe return of the kidnapped bishops of Aleppo, HG Yuhanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and HG Boulos Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church, and for the safety and protection of all Christians of Syria and Iraq. Perhaps that is in the spirit of how we should strive to care for one another more than anything else I could share.

dzheremi, as far as I can recall I don't think that you've had a negative post here. I was impressed with when you cited the last mutually recognized patriarch of Alexandria in the thread about the Theotokos. Well played, sir.

Wait - am I the guy who's been here the longest?

Na. I beat you by a few months

I've only been Orthodox since 2012 but I joined CF all the way back in February of 2002

You old people you!

 

[ArmyMatt]

For the most part we are, yes, but the flair ups seem to be happening more viciously and more frequently. Hopefully I'm wrong. I've been wrong before. Once.

I think that'd happen anywhere. sometimes we have theology lulls where there is little interesting posted on here no matter how hard we try, sometimes we have very passionate yet positive discussions (which I think on here happens for the most part), and sometimes we have those seasons where our fallenness shines. to everything there is a season, as it were.

 

[RobNJ]

Some years ago, I said that:
"Some days, I believe I became Orthodox with the help & witness of the folks in TAW
Some days , I believe I became Orthodox IN SPITE of the "help & witness" of the folks in TAW"

If it seems more like the latter holds true today.. Maybe its because there are much fewer of us here, so the disagreements stay at the forefront longer & longer.

 

[ArmyMatt]

ArmyMatt, when did you start posting in TAW?

2007 I think, just after jckstraw

 

[seashale76]

I've been on CF since December 29, 2004. I've only ever been an occasional poster here in TAW though. I think many Orthodox posters have left CF because of changes CF has gone through that they don't like. I cannot STAND the way CF is now, and I've felt that way for about a year now. The issues I've had have been ignored and not resolved at every turn. I think it's worse than it has ever been. TAW is, and always has been, tame compared to what goes on in the rest of this site.

 

[gzt]

What exactly is so awful about the way CF is now? I thought the old version was awful in a lot of ways, though there are certainly a lot of things about this that annoy me (on the one hand, mobile is a lot better, but, on the other, with all the nonsense that has to load it can be pretty annoying).

 

[seashale76]

What exactly is so awful about the way CF is now? I thought the old version was awful in a lot of ways, though there are certainly a lot of things about this that annoy me (on the one hand, mobile is a lot better, but, on the other, with all the nonsense that has to load it can be pretty annoying).

That's one of many issues. CF is the only site I go to that crashes my browser regularly. It never did that before. I'm glad I've never tried to do anything with CF via mobile. I don't need another way to be aggravated by this place.

There's also a preponderance of trolls and those that don't follow forum rules being allowed to post without any consequences. I suppose if you become a site supporter, then your posting sins will always be overlooked. It's the only thing I can figure. My issues with this place as of late could take up a book. It all came to a head for me when I was given a warning for 'flaming Islam' about a year ago (not a person/another poster- but the religion of Islam), when those that 'flame Christianity' get away with it on an ongoing basis. I've been over this place for a while.

 

[gzt]

Anyway, I went looking back through my own old submissions (I realize that looks self-congratulatory, but I'm not going to look through anybody else's history, that would be creepy) and tried to find a couple good conversations that I think would be typical for the "golden era", and perhaps we could see what makes them "good" (or not):

http://www.christianforums.com/thre...irituality-for-all-the-wrong-reasons.1309115/
http://www.christianforums.com/threads/fr-seraphim-rose-on-converts.1882296/ (only a little conversation at the end)
A slightly later conversation: http://www.christianforums.com/threads/12-things-for-new-converts.4708215/


This isn't a conversation, but I think it's one that Armymatt and jckstraw will find interesting: http://www.christianforums.com/threads/ordination-tomorrow.1920445/

 

[ArmyMatt]

This isn't a conversation, but I think it's one that Armymatt and jckstraw will find interesting: http://www.christianforums.com/threads/ordination-tomorrow.1920445/

is that one Dcn Alex Cadman?

 

[gzt]

Indeed it is.

 

[~Anastasia~]

The problem with reading old threads .... Is that I always want to comment. Not not are they closed, but the folks involved are mostly gone. I'm glad to see a few familiar names though.