Dear NYer, I am pinging you with a Catholic question. I chose your name because I have noticed you posting on many Catholic threads. You seem devout and knowledgeable, and I am willing to trust your judgment.
I have been accused of Catholic persecution. That strikes me as a very serious charge. I am a Christian. If I am in fact persecuting my own brothers and sisters in Christ, would not God take that sin very seriously?
For the record, Catholic persecution is the last thing on my mind, as it was when I made the post in question. Is it even possible to persecute people or a religious order without the least intention of doing so?
I believe the above post, number 196 [it being the post that earned me the charge of being a Catholic persecutor], is self explanatory. If not, the balance of the exchange could clarify any questions, or you could ask me to explain anything that’s unclear. If you don’t have the time or inclination to get involved, perhaps you can refer me to another knowledgeable Catholic. I am very serious about wanting and needing to understand this situation more fully. I have been active on FR since 2000, and I’ve never been accused of anything remotely anti-Catholic to date. The few doctrinal discussions I’ve participated in involved a particular Protestant sect. Even then I was always polite. The persecution of fellow believers is the last thing I want any part of.
Thank you in advance.
One more thing. The party that accused me of being a Catholic persecutor took some of my words entirely out of context. They weren’t even directed at him! The following is the quote, which, if read *in context,* is not what it was made to appear:
‘It’s sad, embarrassing (for you) and pathetic that you couldn’t figure this out for yourself.’
You can safely ignore this person with issues.
Says a lot that Fantasywriter would continue with this attack on my Christianity without having the decency to ping me to it. That should give you a warning that he/she has issues that neither you nor anyone else here can help with (short of prayer).
To save you time wondering what this could possibly be about, I posted a single sentence predicting a poll with the end result of Trump getting a bounce from his convention.
Seriously. LoL!
I know!... you are thinking "huh??"
I made not one but two replies to Fantasywriter answering to the question. That wasn't acceptable to Fantasywriter who was then harassing me with spam and started accusing me of things.
Compare my being obliging - to the very first reply Fantasywriter made to someone who joined the discussion: It’s sad, embarrassing (for you) and pathetic that you couldn’t figure this out for yourself.
If I had responded at first to Fantasywriter with piling on insults such as "sad, embarrassing and pathetic" then Fantasywriter would have a case and I might even be apologizing now.
Finally, at the end, I simply posted a link to a poll and not much else. Certainly no insults whatsoever and you can see the disgusting attack I got on my Catholic values and Catholics in general. Sheesh... Huh?? Right?
Next time maybe I will first respond by calling someone and their post out as "sad, embarrassing and pathetic" like Fantasywriter did. Then at least if you get pinged it would actually be worth your consideration in some sane and meaningful way.