I'm Struggling With Whether There is Any Value Here

[Storm Rider]

1 hour ago, 3DOP said:

Calm. I trust you won't be embarrassed, but you once asked me, perhaps on a whim, to have a Mass said for you. I don't think you knew what that meant. It probably meant more to me. But it was done. A Traditional Latin Mass! It gives me hope. It couldn't be for nothing. God bless you now and always. 

John XXIII famously opened the windows of the Church to the world. The world is so great isn't it? It so leads us to truth and goodness and everything we could ever want (sarcasm, not very PC).Vatican II opened "windows" in the 60's. Modern Mormons opened "doors" in the 2010's. 50 years late, but not much difference. Now "Catholics" and "Mormons" can believe whatever they want and behave however they want. Who is anybody to judge? We have a pope who won't genuflect before the Holy Eucharist (the Lord Jesus Christ) on one knee, but goes down on both knees to politicians (Communists/Globalists) he admires.   

I don't need to, but I if pressed, I would follow Bruce McConkie and Dan Petersen ahead of Jorge Bergoglio. I like Old Mormonism, but I have Eternal Rome. The democracy of the dead. Hundreds of good dead popes against one living infidel. Let all souls vote, dead or alive. I know that I know the result. Gay Francis and his queer cronies lose. Bergoglianism could never build the monuments of Rome or the liturgical splendour that has supplied the spiritual nourishment of saints for 2,000 years. I support Mormons who oppose Pope Francis over Catholics who support him. I don't say it saves sacramentally, but I would have more extra-sacramental hope for pre-Vatican II Mormonism, than post Vatican II Catholicism.     

Have I lured you out of hiding Miserere Nobis? You are welcome to "balance me out" (correct my rant). But except that you are a little bit of a lefty politically...I don't see how you can't agree with much/most of what I say. But correct me. I am listening.   

It is shocking what Francis has gotten away with on the Macro level, but there is a ground swell among the Catholic faithful that bit at the bit as you well demonstrate. I think those who actually read scripture and strive to understand the will of the Lord also stand on tradition and/or Tradition to understand that God does not change on a social whims of the faithless. We are too often backed into corners on topics that have for millia been condemned while discussions on the more important topics of drawing closer to Christ go begging for lack of discussion. 

Lately I have been reading some of the works of Venerable Bruno Lanteri on the Lord's mercy. We each are in need of his merciful love and forgiveness. It would be far better to talk on that than the those topics that are so obviously the work of the Evil One. 

[USU78]

1 hour ago, JulieM said:

I only saw where he and another poster worked things out on their own (which was good).  Did Smac97 get banned or reprimanded by a mod?  If so, I missed it!

He was given a public ultimatum by those who must be obeyed.

[bluebell]

2 hours ago, USU78 said:

Smac97 was compelled to walk back parts of a perfectly innocuous post in a highly contentious thread last week in which he was the recipient of some pretty snotty attacks, IMO.  I reached out to him to express my sorrow at the unfairness, etc.  He's more patient that I, though my impatience probably arises from having participated in the wars going back to the late 70s, and online from the early '90s.  This treatment of him under those circumstances was beyond beyond.  After stewing on my exchange with him and his treatment, I decided to post the OP.

I know a seachange when I feel it in my bones, and this feels like that.   It's no longer me watching my then friend Peggy herding the then Sunstone cats-of-all-stripes while she struggled with her own feelings of ambivalence while I struggled with mine.  This is feeling, like I posted above, like enemy territory, with the mods and the mob on one side, with the precious few on the other.  I don't much respect what's happened, and how things are.  Room full of passive-aggressive narcs and mother hens.  Yuck.

If this is sincerely how you feel, they why would you question whether or not you want to stay?  If I was in a room full of "passive-aggressive narcs and mother hens" I think I would quickly leave.   

[bluebell]

2 hours ago, JulieM said:

I only saw where he and another poster worked things out on their own (which was good).  Did Smac97 get banned or reprimanded by a mod?  If so, I missed it!

He was asked to remove the personal insults from his post.  

[MorningStar]

3 hours ago, USU78 said:

No.  I think they are so worried about the attackers being offended that they go overboard motherhenning the more faithful types.  This place used to be unapologetically friendlier to faithfulness, with the attackers nowadays getting quite a long leash, especially if they've been around for a while.  Now the faithful are compelled to go overboard in their innocuousness.  They are utterly defanged.

And, yes, the overall effect is to create a venue not particularly friendly to the faithful poster.  Smac97, of all people, being stagemanaged so he doesn't offend people who're being decidedly snotty to him.  Imagine.

I haven't been around much lately and missed those things, but it seems to me like we don't have many extreme posters on either side anymore. There are some people I really miss who were very devout, but their knowledge they shared was sometimes delivered with unnecessary nastiness. And there is one who completely turned around and went off the deep end. I think all of us have forgotten at times that we're all real people with feelings. I've learned a lot from some posters, but they've also made me cringe a lot. 

[Calm]

5 hours ago, USU78 said:

This is feeling, like I posted above, like enemy territory, with the mods and the mob on one side, with the precious few on the other. 

You choose to view the world how you want to a great extent...especially in what we choose to invest our efforts and thoughts in, imo.  If this view is what you want to focus on, this is what the board will be like for you.

If that is how you see things ("enemy territory"), doesn't seem like a worthwhile investment of your time and effort to me, why put yourself in an unnecessary fight when you could be doing more constructive things?  Why put yourself into a battle if you don't need to?

 And from my point of view, it diminishes any enjoyment I might get out of reading your posts to think that you see others in such a way.

Edited August 23, 2019 by Calm

[Calm]

4 hours ago, 3DOP said:

Calm. I trust you won't be embarrassed, but you once asked me, perhaps on a whim,

It wasn't a whim to me.  It felt like something that was meant to be in that moment it occurred to me to ask.  I am glad you reminded me of it, my memory is so patchy these days with the drugs I take and maybe genetics hitting already, I am glad that got dug back out and I got to experience it again.  It is helping cleanse some hard things of the past week with my mom.  I hate when I lose the important stuff and yet hold on to the trivial.

I don't always (often?) understand the power of Faith (and I don't mean wishful thinking, but rather thought that accesses the Divine in my own Faith and in others' Faiths), but I can feel it at times.  I have felt it through a few Catholic friends, you are one of them.

Edited August 23, 2019 by Calm

[JulieM]

3 hours ago, bluebell said:

He was asked to remove the personal insults from his post.  

Ok, I guess I missed that.  Knowing Smac, he removed them and was nice about it.  We all get worked up and sometimes get personal.  The mods are here to keep things fair and do a great job, imo.

[Stargazer]

@USU78 I find that this place is quite valuable. Frequently someone posts something profound and I copy/paste it into my OneNote, a kind of library of awesomeness.  I try to stop myself from posting things sometimes, just because I don't want to defend my position, but sometimes I post because I want pushback.  My reasons for being here are to learn to better understand those who are struggling, or have already lost their faith, as well as to get inspired by some of those who still have it -- so I can warm my hands with their fire.  And if I can warm someone else's hands with my own fire, so much the better.

If you don't have what you consider to be a good reason to be here, then by all means go elsewhere.  But I will miss you if you go.  And so will others.

[Damien the Leper]

On 8/20/2019 at 8:52 PM, The Nehor said:

I am a privileged class now? Woohoo!

You are seriously the type of relative I want at every family reunion. 

[USU78]

On 8/23/2019 at 4:16 AM, Stargazer said:

@USU78 I find that this place is quite valuable. Frequently someone posts something profound and I copy/paste it into my OneNote, a kind of library of awesomeness.  I try to stop myself from posting things sometimes, just because I don't want to defend my position, but sometimes I post because I want pushback.  My reasons for being here are to learn to better understand those who are struggling, or have already lost their faith, as well as to get inspired by some of those who still have it -- so I can warm my hands with their fire.  And if I can warm someone else's hands with my own fire, so much the better.

If you don't have what you consider to be a good reason to be here, then by all means go elsewhere.  But I will miss you if you go.  And so will others.

Thanks, Stargazer. I truly appreciate it.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

In case I forgot in my last post, in this thread stay. Continue to speak an represent the truth.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Bill “Papa” Lee

[The Nehor]

I think the mods may have overstepped after my last ban in forcing me to wear this shock collar that goes off whenever I get too insulting.

On 8/24/2019 at 9:10 PM, Valentinus said:

You are seriously the type of relative I want at every family reunion. 

Yeah, my sister’s husband is fun to play off of in our family get togethers. We have differing but complementary senses of humor. I really need to count blessings more. I still like all my six siblings and like the spouses of the five who married. Not one dud yet.

Anyways the mods have definitely overstepped with this latest action and they should be....

[Damien the Leper]

7 hours ago, The Nehor said:

I think the mods may have overstepped after my last ban in forcing me to wear this shock collar that goes off whenever I get too insulting.

Yeah, my sister’s husband is fun to play off of in our family get togethers. We have differing but complementary senses of humor. I really need to count blessings more. I still like all my six siblings and like the spouses of the five who married. Not one dud yet.

Anyways the mods have definitely overstepped with this latest action and they should be....

What number are you amongst your siblings?

[The Nehor]

4 hours ago, Valentinus said:

What number are you amongst your siblings?

The oldest.

[USU78]

On 8/22/2019 at 8:38 PM, Calm said:

 And from my point of view, it diminishes any enjoyment I might get out of reading your posts to think that you see others in such a way.

Not all others.  Certainly I've enjoyed and valued our interactions.

I certainly don't value the moderation policies, however, and decry the "narc 'em out" philosophy of several posters.  Too many posters.

[USU78]

On 9/8/2019 at 8:49 PM, Bill “Papa” Lee said:

In case I forgot in my last post, in this thread stay. Continue to speak an represent the truth.

Not now.  Perhaps later.  I greatly appreciated your message earlier.  Thanks again.