The CathNews discussion board is a shambling ruin of what it once was.

It was once a place where people could learn, develop, even grow. Respectful conversations displayed a shared commitment to sharing insights, deepening understanding and seeking truth. Disagreements were often fruitful. Even troubled and disruptive posters were received with sympathy.

Not any more.

The standard of discourse is appalling. The tone, set by a relatively small number of very frequent posters, is a disgrace. The dominant posters are either boors, determined that if they are unable to hold a constructive conversation nobody else must be allowed to; or obsessives, endlessly re-posting the same thoughts on a small number of themes, or holding interminable conversations with themselves, in an attempt to bolster their own insecurities. Vituperation, name-calling, shrill denunciation, sneering and an entirely unconvincing triumphalism are the principal modes of expressing disagreement on any issue. Any attempt to conduct a meaningful conversation which actually explores the differences people have is swamped by a tide of ignorance and fear.

I am deliberately not mentioning any names here, for a couple of reasons.

• The problem goes beyond individuals; it's the culture of the place. True, individuals are responsible for creating and maintaining the culture, and some individuals are no doubt more responsible than others . But I don't wish to suggest that if only so-and-so would change his or her behaviour, or leave, the problem would go away. It's gone beyond that.
• If I did start naming individuals, there'd immediately be a hunt to see whether I was blaming "conservatives" or "liberals" (and, I fear, to accept or reject my criticisms on that basis). But that is not the point. The dysfunctional culture of CathNews transcends any conservative/liberal divide, any Catholic/Protestant divide or any other ideological or theological divide you may care to suggest.

But, regardless of who is to blame or how the situation is arrived at, CathNews is now pretty much a write-off as a forum for evangelism, for the preaching and living of the gospel. It presents the most unappealing possible picture of what it is to be a Catholic, or to live as a Catholic. It's absolutely unthinkable that anybody coming across CathNews would see the faith as presented there as worth exploring or engaging with; quite the reverse. Many of the participants are bolstering their own security or their own identity, or simply gratifying themselves, even at the expense of repelling others from the gospel of Christ. Do they care? Apparently not. On the most charitable view of the matter, they don't even notice what they're doing, never mind care about it.

Equally, as a forum for communion, CathNews is hopeless. Nobody looking for support, for understanding, for guidance or for solidarity would dream of exposing themselves and their need on CathNews any more, although it used to happen regularly.

A disaster and train-wreck…

I could go on, but I think my point is made. As an expression of Catholicism and Catholic life, CathNews is a disaster. A train-wreck. It embodies everything that is broken in the church, and nothing that is whole.

The CathNews community — and here I include both the regular posters, the hosts and the sponsors — must take responsibility for themselves, and for what they make of the forum. If, by their behaviour, they make themselves irrelevant as a forum for evangelism or communion, then they will have to learn to live with irrelevance.

But the issue that faces us is not what the CathNews community should do, but what we should do. How are we called to respond to CathNews and the plight that it is in?

Some of us have an emotional stake in CathNews. It hurts to see a space that we once supported and benefit from destroyed in the way that it has been.

But in the end, it is not the space that is important. What matters is the communion, the sharing of faith and life, and the evangelism, the preaching and living of the good news. If CathNews is no longer the best space in which to do that, then we can do it elsewhere.

And so how, in a spirit of communion and of evangelism, can we respond to the decline of CathNews?

The first way is something we are already doing; trying to create an alternative space for a truly Catholic discourse, now that CathNews no longer provides that space.

The second, I suggest, is to keep open the road between CathNews and Catholica Australia, so that those who find their way to CathNews and are repelled by it can find their way on to here.

What we are not called to do, I believe, is to seek to have CathNews closed.

Yes, it hurts to be maligned and slandered in the way that is all too common on CathNews. And I admit that I myself get off very lightly in this regard; others get it much worse than I do. So maybe this is easy for me to say.

But "blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me". I'm not suggesting that we are all living saints whose place in heaven is assured by the treatment we get from CathNews. But I do think the gospels give us an idea as to how to respond to vicious, harsh or unfair speech, and silencing the speaker isn't really part of the gospel response.

To be honest, feelings aside, I don't believe we are greatly injured by the vituperation that comes from some on CathNews. A stream of curses emanating from a madhouse is not taken all that seriously, and you don't have to spend too much time browsing on CathNews to realise that, for some posters there, abusive speech of one form or another is pretty much their normal mode of speaking. Like bad language, slander is only effective if it is rare.

Yes, what's going on in CathNews is damaging to the church, and maybe Church Resources does have some responsibility to do something about it. But any attempt on our part to have the discussion on CathNews terminated, or to have some participants censored, would make matters worse, not better. It would be just more evidence of division, more display of bitterness, more betrayal of what is, or should be, to be a Catholic.

We can most effectively counter the damage done by CathNews by providing a healthy alternative; a forum in which differences are explored, not castigated; a forum in which loving participants is more important than abusing them. There are other ways to be Catholic, to be church, and the real challenge that the current state of CathNews presents is to exemplify those ways.

What are your thoughts on this commentary? You can contribute to the discussion in our forum.

Peregrinus can be contacted at: Peregrinus <peregrinus@catholica.com.au>

©2007 Peregrinus

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