Catholic Answers hosts what is probably the largest and most well-known online Catholic community. As an apologetics apostolate, Catholic Answers is a trusted source of truth. Unfortunately, the trusted personalities of the Catholic Answers apologetics team has little to do with the Catholic Answers forums.
On the positive side, these forums are full of information. Topics vary greatly, covering almost any Catholic subject you may have questions on. Unlike other choices, these forums are very active as well. If you ask a question, chances are very good that you'll have at least one answer on the same day you ask it. However, these answers come from other users like you, who may or may not have expertise or knowledge. In addition to open forums, there is also the Ask an Apologist forum. However, this forum is monitored only periodically and the chances of getting a timely answer from an official Catholic Answers apologist are pretty small.
The downside of the Catholic Answers Forum may come from its size, or it may be the kind of person Catholic Answers ministers to. As a staunch, no-nonsense defender of the faith, Catholic Answers tends to attract not only faithful Catholics, but traditionalists as well as the more hardcore Evangelicals and Atheists. While the ability of Catholic Answers to attract these people is a great strength of the work of the apostolate, it is not always a strength of the forums. The tone of the forums is very often adverserial or even downright hostile. I have been personally insulted at least three times on the forums, and many of my thoughts have been unnecessarily attacked by people who take positions that are much more extreme than those of the Magesterium. The Catholic Answers Forums makes for exciting discussion, but it is not for the thin-skinned.
It has always seemed full of heretics to me. Speak the truth, get an infraction. Speak it again, get banned. Be a well known orthodox Catholic get banned during the annual roundup of banning non-heretics. The liberals and heretics have taken over that forum.
Instead of banning faithful Catholics for saying something they think might could just possibly in some way be construed as mean somehow, why not ban the cafeteria Catholics?
Frederico,
That's interesting! I haven't been on the forum for a long time, but I have found that those who err on the side of hyper-traditionalism dominate the Catholic Answers forums. Perhaps things have changed. Either way, I have a hard time recommending those forum for those who seek truth.
I don't know if this comment is in reference to my review or to your experience on the forums. If the latter, I would wholeheartedly agree with you. If the former, I would say that my comment about the meanness is not in reference to someone staunchly defending truth that someone might find offensive. I am talking about the mean-spirited way that people attack each other. Personal attacks do not lead anyone to truth. They turn people off, close their minds and hearts, and originate in a pride that closes the insulter as much as it does the insulted to truth.
Thanks for your comment! Feel free to respond to me. I promise not to personally attack you. :0)
I would like to delete my account at Catholic Answers Forum, but it appears like that is not possible.
I wrote a post hoping to inform faithful Catholics to a couple of anti-Christian pages at Facebook and the post was deleted and I was reprimanded as if I had done something wrong. Any website that does not support exposing anti-Jesus and anti-Christian pages on other popular websites is not a good Christian site.
When I posted I attended the funeral service of my Baptist grandmother in South Carolina (I live in NY and converted in 98) and found the minister to be a good hearted real Christian and I was so greatful for the eulogy he gave...... They banned me!
Interesting - there is nothing in Catholic theology or even Canon Law that I know of that would prohibit a Catholic from attending a Baptist funeral, or appreciating the eulogy of a non-Catholic preacher.
I can certainly see someone getting "flamed" on the Catholic Answers forum for such a comment, but I don't understand why the administrators would ban you. They allow non-Catholics, non-Christians and Traditionalists free voice.