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As I have said numerous times, the issue is not so much doing apologetics, the issue basically comes down to having an endless bickering contest with people who just aren’t interested in the truth. You are not convincing them. They are not convincing you. You are not converting them. They are not converting you. You think you are defending Holy Mother Church. They think they are knocking irrefutable holes in the whore of Babylon.

There is no reason for these 3, 4, or 10,000 post long threads other than to provide an opportunity to drag us into sin.

To repeat once again:

Sirach 8:4 (DRB) Strive not with a man that is full of tongue, and heap not wood upon his fire.

Sirach 8:3 (RSV-CE) Do not argue with a chatterer, nor heap wood on his fire.

Sirach 8:3 (NAB) Dispute not with a man of railing speech, heap no wood upon his fire.

Genuine apologetics, fine. Absolutely. No problem. But getting in an argument for arguments sake, no thanks.

I agree with Mark on this completely.

That being said, what would be great on Free Republic IMO, are "informational" threads, which would be threads people could click into to ask questions without being hassled by those that like to dump on the Catholic faith (or any other faith). So if I (not a Baptist) wanted to learn something in regard to how Baptists believe, I could go on one of their informational threads and ask my question(s), and someone (from a group of someones, who was pre-selected, that knows their stuff regarding the Baptist faith) could then get back to me via commentary.

There are lurkers that would like to join in conversation (a number have FReepmailed me) but for fear of having their question or commentary jumped upon (on open threads), they relinquish from posting publicly. Although Ecumenical threads would seem to cover this, they are not particular to one faith. And Caucused threads exclude those not of that caucus designation. So this is just a thought, that, of course, needs refining, but since this is a time in our world when folks could benefit by buckling down to learn about Our Savior, what better place to use as a springboard than Free Republic? (The "friction" threads do not accomplish much, if anything, in this regard.)

And I'm not suggesting over 20,000 different informational threads for all the Protestant denominations; just the main ones, and/or those of interest to FReepers.:)

I agree! Prayer and example are the most powerful tools we have. Apologists can only be effective when they have undertaken their task with GREAT wisdom and under the leading/guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is particularly true in the Internet situation....which can often result in useless and/or even sinful arguing.

“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”
...St. Francis of Assisi