New Member Seeks Your Input

Tanny · September 17, 2019, 02:48:15 AM

Greetings all, and thanks for allowing me to have an account here.

I'm not sure if I belong here so I thought before I share any thoughts I'd seek your advice.

I've been participating over on the StrangeNotions blog (didn't post a link so as to not trigger any spam system). It's a quite interesting Catholic site with many content rich articles, and I've met some nice people there.

Regrettably the comment system they use (Disqus) is incurably broken and I've run out of patience with it. I'm hoping to find a forum I can invite a few StrangeNotions members to visit so that we can continue some conversations in a technology that works.

My own situation is that I come from generations of Catholics, was raised Catholic, baptized and confirmed, but I wandered away over 50 years ago. I'm still incurably interested in the kinds of topics Catholics like to talk about but, to put it simply, my views today would not be described as Catholic by most people.

My parents taught me to question everything, and that's perhaps the simplest way to describe where I still am today. To me, such questioning is very much a part of Catholic culture, but I do realize that many would disagree, which is ok with me.

Most of the folks on StrangeNotions do seem to be conventional Catholics. I'm not sure of the degree to which they might be labeled traditional.

If the above doesn't sound like something that fits here, no problem, please just let me know and I'll move along.

Best I can tell, this seems like the most appropriate section of your forum for this. If not, of course please move with my blessing, thanks.

Should I invite my StrangeNotions friends here? Or would it be better to look for other solutions? Thanks!

clau clau · September 17, 2019, 03:13:49 AM

"Pilate therefore said to him: Art thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice."
John 18:37

If you agree with the above you are in the right place.

Tanny · September 17, 2019, 05:32:14 AM

Hi there, thanks for your reply.

The quote you offer seems a good place to start. It seems the quote could be interpreted in a variety of ways, as is true of much of the Bible. As example, there are traditional Catholics and progressive Catholics, who sometimes interpret various teachings and doctrines in different ways.

It's too soon for me to start offering interpretations, so instead I'll ask...

What if I interpret that quote differently than somebody else? What if I interpret it differently than you might? In such a case would I belong here? Or would it be better if I shared my interpretations elsewhere?

I'm agreeable to either, just trying to determine whether the kind of conversations happening on StrangeNotions would be welcomed here, or considered too intrusive.

If it helps, StrangeNotions is a blog set up by Catholics for dialog with atheists, I believe in response to a call from the Pope for such dialogs. The articles are mostly Catholic, but the comment section contains a variety of perspectives. I like the theme of the site and much of the content, but the technology pretty much stinks. Thus I'm looking for an alternative.

One possible solution could be that I keep my participation on this forum limited to this Non-Catholic section so that I'm easily avoided if needed. I have no problem with that.

Michael Wilson · September 17, 2019, 06:19:22 AM

Welcome to the forum!
The best way to find out if you or the other people that you want to invite over will fit in, is for you to spend some time over here, say a month, and then you can get a better idea of what kind of people hang out here and how they think and interact.

Tanny · September 17, 2019, 06:38:21 AM

If I politely claimed that what you just said is all wrong, what would happen next?

clau clau · September 17, 2019, 07:10:20 AM

Quote from: Tanny on September 17, 2019, 06:38:21 AM
If I politely claimed that what you just said is all wrong, what would happen next?

I bet you are popular at parties. (/sarcasm)

Tanny · September 17, 2019, 09:52:45 AM

QuoteI bet you are popular at parties.

No, you're wrong!!

Sempronius · September 17, 2019, 09:54:19 AM

We even have moslems on here so there is room for many opinions and interpretations

Tanny · September 17, 2019, 09:58:40 AM

Quote from: Sempronius on September 17, 2019, 09:54:19 AM
We even have moslems on here so there is room for many opinions and interpretations

Ah, this is good news, thank you.

clau clau · September 17, 2019, 10:04:21 AM

Quote from: Tanny on September 17, 2019, 09:58:40 AM
Quote from: Sempronius on September 17, 2019, 09:54:19 AM
We even have moslems on here so there is room for many opinions and interpretations

Ah, this is good news, thank you.

St.Justin · September 17, 2019, 03:18:32 PM

Give us a "for instance" and lets see where you are in the Catholic Faith.

Michael Wilson · September 17, 2019, 03:46:02 PM

Quote from: Tanny on September 17, 2019, 06:38:21 AM
If I politely claimed that what you just said is all wrong, what would happen next?

Happens all the time around here; the reaction will vary according to which poster you said that to.

Tanny · September 17, 2019, 04:03:21 PM

Quote from: Michael Wilson on September 17, 2019, 03:46:02 PMHappens all the time around here; the reaction will vary according to which poster you said that to.

Ok thanks Michael, sounds good.

Tanny · September 17, 2019, 04:24:39 PM

Quote from: St.Justin on September 17, 2019, 03:18:32 PMGive us a "for instance" and lets see where you are in the Catholic Faith.

Well, ok, for instance, I'm incurably interested in philosophical / theological type topics. As I understand it, this arises from the centuries of Catholic DNA up my family tree. It's kind of like being Catholic beyond choice, more in a cultural way than an ideological way.

Ideologically my relationship with the Vatican might be compared to the relationship Jesus had with the Jewish clergy of his day. And we know how that turned out.

As example, I just heard on NPR that Cokie Roberts just died. She was one of the founding correspondents on NPR and I've been listening to her for decades now. Anyway, apparently she was Catholic, and in the bio story they said she used to suggest the priests and nuns should swap jobs, a suggestion I've made many times.

Another example. One of my favorite places is the oldest church in America: https://missionandshrine.org/

I don't attend services, but I really enjoy the property the church is located on, it's very peaceful there. My wife enjoys feeding the squirrels because she's an avid wildlife rehabber. Catholic squirrels :-) are the friendliest squirrels we've ever met (and we've raised at least 1,000). They come right up to you and take nuts right out of your hand. Don't try this at home! :-)

Well, that's a start I suppose.

Michael Wilson · September 17, 2019, 05:42:53 PM

https://www.jta.org/2019/09/17/obituaries/pioneering-journalist-cokie-roberts-who-with-her-husband-wrote-about-their-interfaith-marriage-dies
Very interesting story; personally I couldn't stand their column, because of its liberal outlook. May she rest in peace.