[mlizzy]

I would prefer that people unable to tolerate open debates about their religion refrain from coming here since they seem only to cause flame wars and disrupt the progress of the discussion.

You've never been responsible for a flame war via your commentary? That's an accomplishment! :)

But "progress"? Here comes John McEnroe: "You must be joking!"

I've been here since '08 and the exact same stuff is being mulled over on these type discussions as was back then. They are dark threads (in one way or the other). I'm trying to shed some LIGHT as best I can, calling on Our Lord and Our Lady to help me. If you wish to infer I can't tolerate open debates about my religion, I would have to disagree. Jesus has my back (through the Sacraments), and I'll stand up for Him and His mother however I can.

"It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do so without the Holy Mass." - Padre Pio

[caww]

Your reference to Padre Pio...I see he's been dug up and put on display to "venerate" yet another. They cut out his heart too!

[Iscool]

"It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do so without the Holy Mass." - Padre Pio

It would be easier for Catholics to get to heaven without the advice of Padre Pio...

[Elsie]

I'm trying to shed some LIGHT as best I can, calling on Our Lord and Our Lady to help me.

Don't you have that backward?

You call on your lady to get Jesus' attention; right?

[boatbums]

I've been here longer than that and I agree that the same arguments keep getting recycled. Instead of actually discussing the topic of threads, they usually devolve into flame wars because one side is feeling bashed and persecuted. So, the same defenses and counter defenses get tossed out and threads go to thousands of posts and we rarely see anything resolved.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've read a FRoman Catholic say, "Yeah...but you guys have Martin Luther and he threw books of the Bible in the garbage can.". I've corrected that false statement at least a dozen times this year complete with links and everything, but the same people will state it anyway as if they were oblivious to ever being corrected. Why is that?

I pray for every person that reads these threads and I sincerely try to be respectful because I know that it is only through the Holy Spirit that eyes and hearts can be opened to hear and know the truth. I can't say I have never answered back in anger, but I do feel I have grown and I don't see this site as anything other than a mission field for spreading the good news of the grace of God who saves us through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe if everyone started thinking that way, flame wars could be avoided. I know they don't honor the Lord and they don't project a good image of Free Republic. We should all be mindful of that.