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Charity among members

Mr. Warren

By Mr. Warren
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Mr. Warren

Mr. Warren

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One of our rules on Catholic Harbor is about charity (Rule #4), but what does it mean to maintain a spirit of charity in the forums and in our communication with other members?

Treating people with respect and avoiding offense is part of that, but not all of it. Treating being with respect and following social customs is being polite. Even secular and non-Christian societies can be polite. As Christians, we are called to charity, which is more than being respectful, it is being motivated by love. We might not know our fellow Catholic Harbor members in person, but we are still called to love every one on this board. Ultimately that means we need to see Christ in each and every person.

In debates, that means we are not trying to "prove someone wrong", but we are working together to find the truth. If we think we have the truth, then we might want to share that with someone else, but we have to do so in a way that they will be receptive. We share the truth not for our sake, but for theirs. St. Paul makes that point that even if we had all of the knowledge in the world, but did not have love, we would be nothing. (1 Cor: 13)

In general it means that we do not repay evil with evil, insult for insult, but rather we repay evil with good. If one member is being mean to us, we be kind to them. We bear wrongs patiently. That doesn't mean you shouldn't tell a moderator about a problem though. If a member is being uncharitable, you should certainly tell us, but don't let the hatred fester in your heart. Not only should we be trying to be good persons, but we want to help others be as good as they can as well.

No one is perfect, some of us are going to have bad days, but please, if you are angry, don't post. Take some time to step away from the phone or computer. Strong emotions can make it hard to communicate charitably. Sometimes we need to let ourselves calm so that we can think about what kind of charitable response would be best.

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Audienceofone11

Audienceofone11

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Thank you @Draper! ? yes it seems like lately there has been more fighting and arguing than normally. And its not good for our newer members to see these older members fighting as we have. It could turn some away from CH and that's not what we want. 

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Nina

Nina

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Thanks @Draper. Especially the part about not posting when you're angry/emotional. It's easy to go overboard if you don't take some time off to think about what you're saying, and if that's truly what you want everyone on here to see. :P 

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Kyle

Kyle

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Appreciate the effort to do something about uncharitable actions found consistently upon Catholic Harbor . We’re called to be greater not the secular norm.

 

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StAnn726

StAnn726

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On 9/20/2018 at 10:09 PM, Audienceofone11 said:

Thank you @Draper! ? yes it seems like lately there has been more fighting and arguing than normally. And its not good for our newer members to see these older members fighting as we have. It could turn some away from CH and that's not what we want. 

I've noticed this more recently, too. I really agree.

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StAnn726

StAnn726

Posted
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On 9/21/2018 at 5:13 PM, Kyle said:

Appreciate the effort to do something about uncharitable actions found consistently upon Catholic Harbor . We’re called to be greater not the secular norm.

 

I agree 100% with you! Yes, we are Catholic Homeschoolers and should rise above the secular norm. 

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Rio

Rio

Posted
Posted
On 9/20/2018 at 6:01 PM, Draper said:

One of our rules on Catholic Harbor is about charity (Rule #4), but what does it mean to maintain a spirit of charity in the forums and in our communication with other members?

Treating people with respect and avoiding offense is part of that, but not all of it. Treating being with respect and following social customs is being polite. Even secular and non-Christian societies can be polite. As Christians, we are called to charity, which is more than being respectful, it is being motivated by love. We might not know our fellow Catholic Harbor members in person, but we are still called to love every one on this board. Ultimately that means we need to see Christ in each and every person.

In debates, that means we are not trying to "prove someone wrong", but we are working together to find the truth. If we think we have the truth, then we might want to share that with someone else, but we have to do so in a way that they will be receptive. We share the truth not for our sake, but for theirs. St. Paul makes that point that even if we had all of the knowledge in the world, but did not have love, we would be nothing. (1 Cor: 13)

In general it means that we do not repay evil with evil, insult for insult, but rather we repay evil with good. If one member is being mean to us, we be kind to them. We bear wrongs patiently. That doesn't mean you shouldn't tell a moderator about a problem though. If a member is being uncharitable, you should certainly tell us, but don't let the hatred fester in your heart. Not only should we be trying to be good persons, but we want to help others be as good as they can as well.

No one is perfect, some of us are going to have bad days, but please, if you are angry, don't post. Take some time to step away from the phone or computer. Strong emotions can make it hard to communicate charitably. Sometimes we need to let ourselves calm so that we can think about what kind of charitable response would be best.

Thank you Mr. Warren.  This was an excellent post.  I'll keep it in mind.  I especially liked the parts about finding the Truth, and not posting when angry.  

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