I am glad to read that you feel this way. I am Roman Catholic. I am interested in discussing what is in the news and analyzing what is going on. If the media are dumping on the Catholic Church, I would rather see it posted and Freepers expose what is going on by discussion and analysis. Underneath the Catholic bashing is an agenda that is as dangerous to the Republic as it is devastating to people of faith
When I have posted one of these articles dealing with the crisis in the Catholic Church in America it has been for the purpose of awareness and discussion which is what I thought FR was about. I have in no way sought to dump on the Church I love, but rather to keep FReepers informed and aware of the tenor of information as well as the agenda behind it. Perhaps I have not achieved my goals in that regard.
I do thank you for the time I have had on this forum. I have enjoyed it and getting to know the very able and bright minds and good souls here, but now I bid you and all adieu and God's peace.
Honestly, you cannot have a serious discussion regarding the crisis in the church when fundies invade a thread and begin to bash all things catholic. You've been here long enough to realize that you can neither reason with them or regain control and get a thread back on topic once that "the Catholic Church is an evil, satanic cult" crap starts.
I don't think it's worth leaving FR over.
Jim makes mistakes in judgement just like we all have at one time or another. He has to deal with so much on this forum from, bigots, people who have agendas, and disruptors, so the error was understandable. I hope you'll give your decision a second thought.
God Bless,
EODGUY
patent
And I hate to criticize, even gently, one who has been kind to me, but I really think you are taking offense where none was intended. And I've never understood your objection to the Religion forum as a ghetto. (My only problem with it is that The Never-Ending Story has so many posts, it's hard to find anything else.)
Jim, I never took part in the threads criticizing the new design. I wasn't enthusiastic at first, but I recalled that I wasn't enthusiastic about the last major redesign at first, and I'm such a creature of habit (like most people) that what is familiar is easier. I assumed the breaking down into separate forums was necessitated by the sheer volume of posts. Naturally, any vast amount of material has to be organized somehow, and any organization will be to an extent arbitrary. And practically any form of organization will be adequate once users become accustomed to it.
This thread reminds me too much of bitter scholarly disputes over whether a given writer should be classified as medieval or Renaissance (my own studies were largely in English literature) -- reality doesn't come in neat packages, and the labels we more or less agree on merely make it a bit more manageable.
Bless you both, and bless FR.
God bless.
The settlements, over the years, do give some credence to the allegations. I understand that sometimes the Church may have settled, just to prevent what is happening in the news now. But, we live in an age where there cannot be secrets of this nature.
The fact that the lawsuits--civil in nature, are coming into play, one must realize that there could be false accusations. Deep pockets, you know. To me, the position of the Church should be that when there are accusations, the accuser should take the case to the DA, and the DA could decide whether it should be filed, just lie any other molestation case. It is more reasonable inasmuch the burden of proof is much greater.