As I said above, I don’t typically post “conversion” threads around here. I think that this is the first one I’ve posted in over 2 years. No matter how delicately they’re written, I find that posting them is utterly toxic. However, I believed that Stanley’s writing was such that perhaps this one could be a source of encouragement for Catholics. Keep in mind that, as I said in post#1, I was actually addressing it to my fellow Catholics. I was absolutely not posting it as an effort to denigrate anybody else.
Because I was posting it to my fellow Catholics, I logically should have made it a “caucus” thread. However, since Stanley mentioned his intermediate stops on the way to Catholicism, I was faced with a choice: either delete the references to those intermediate stops or not make it “caucus.” Had I snipped out the paragraphs where he talks about his intermediate stops on the way, I believe that far too much would have been lost out of his story; thus that was not an option.
I decided that it would be better to make it “Ecumenical” rather than “Open” because, while I never object to respectful discussion, even if that discussion is candid, even forthright, I really don’t see where ad hominems really do anything but to add to dissension. I believe that is the purpose of the “ecumenical” designator.
Just to re-emphasize, as I posted in #1, above, the specific group I posted this TO was my fellow Catholics.
markomally,
It is perfectly to discuss disagreement on an ecumenical thread, according to the section of the Religion Moderator’s page that covers this. This, I’ve tried to do in a way that meets his instructions.
I also passed on the adhominem comments directed at me. I agree that they do not further civil discussion.
I believe that since this is an open thread, your intent in posting is different than the reality of who it is posted to. It is open. That should not prevent it from encouraging Catholics for some reason, nor from being a vehicle for civil discussion.
Best.