Hostage to fear

[Randy Carson]

I'm happy to have a civil discussion. Rather than take over your thread however, which is really about your apparent conversion to atheism, post your question in the "Ask a Catholic" (My thread) and everyone who wants to ignore the conversation can do so more easily.

Sound good?

One point, I'm having one of these "quiet conversations" there with Neimenovic, too, but it shouldn't be to difficult to keep the two trains of thought separated.

It doesn't sound good. I'm not going to "ask a Catholic", because, as I've said twice previously, it would be doing more of the same.  I'd like to ask you as a person, who might be reaching to help me in this rough time I'm having from the personal perspective of a Catholic.  However, you've just been copy/pasting catechism.  Going on over to "Ask a Catholic" means I need Catholicism to explain to me all that I already know.  I've spent years reading Catholic literature and I find Catholicisms answers to be inadequate.  If you have a convincing argument (outside of the catechism), then yes... I'm ready to be convinced.

I used to use this conversion / deconversion / reversion argument too.  If the truth were really written in our hearts, why is it so hard to find?  Given enough education, a person can easily take Christianity off like a t-shirt.  Though I recognize each person is different, I know enough about Christianity and just enough about the universe to abandoned the attempt of faith.

If you come to me as a person, I'll gladly be open to convincing.  If you just recite catechism, as if I hadn't read it (or papal bulls, or the Early Church Fathers, or respected Bishops of post modern Christianity, or apologists, or anthropologists, or biologists, or physicists, etc)... I'll be offended.  I'm sure you can understand that.  One of our greatest achievements as a species is empathy (no seriously, it really is), surely you have some of that... enough to see that regurgitating catechism to a catholic with answers that don't exist within it... is offensive because it lacks empathy, the crowning achievement of our species that lead to us becoming so much more than the other animals.

Wouldn't it depend on the question?

I might quote a chunk of the Catechism if someone asked me a doctrinal question. I might give you my opinion if you ask what I think of Pope Francis.

Tell you what, I promise not to quote the Catechism in any of our exchange. I might still offer a thoroughly Catholic response to a question (and why wouldn't I if the question requires it), but I won't beat you over the head with encyclicals, etc.

Deal?

You talk. I'll listen for starters.