Laudetur Iesus Christus!
Welcome to the discussion board
for the Fish Eaters
Website,
a virtual village for traditional Catholics who worship inside diocesan structures and who
love
Our Lord Jesus Christ!
Caveat: Please know that no given post at
this forum is indicative (necessarily) of the opinions or attitudes held
by the Fish Eaters Website. Opinions expressed at this forum come from a
variety
of traditional Catholics -- some of whom the site-owner,
VoxClamantis, may disagree with vehemently. We're just folks
here trying to find our way through the confusion, and worship Christ the
best we know how. Some of us are highly educated, some aren't. Some are
intellectuals; some are not. Some express themselves well; some don't.
This is a discussion forum, not an arm of the Magisterium, not a vehicle
of private revelation, and certainly not a replacement for prayer and for
the study of Scripture, catechisms, the writings of the Doctors and
Saints, and papal and conciliar documents. Take any given post with
a grain of salt, check claims for yourself, balance one post against another,
read posts over time so you can get a "feel" for the basic
premises and attitudes of the various posters, and, please, above all,
pray and read authoritative documents and books with imprimaturs. Christ
be with us all!
|
Welcome! All adult (18+)
traditional
Catholics are welcome here if they worship inside diocesan structures and as long and as they are not what the forum owner considers toxic trads.
Trads in full communion with Rome should consider this place both a virtual village and a sort of a threaded
"communal blog." Have an interesting thought or opinion? Find a fascinating
article? Reading a great book? Want to read a book with others? Discuss movies?
Share music and video? Discuss what's going on in your parish or chapel?
Jump on in!
Other's
Participation
Anyone is most welcome to
participate if they will respect the sensibilities of traditional
Catholics who respect the Petrine Ministry and the man who holds the office,
and if they obey the forum rules. In other words, read about what is meant
by
"traditional
Catholics" -- and don't come here to rile people who fit that
description. We get smeared everywhere else; it won't happen here.
Neither interreligious debating nor attempts to "convert" us are
allowed. You can ask sincere questions about traditional
Catholicism in the "Apologetics & Questions about Traditional Catholicism?"
forum -- but no barraging; ask a few questions at a
time. If you don't want to know the answer but are trying to "score points"
or "convert" us, don't bother!
Tradidionalists who worship outside diocesan structures are also very welcome and should be treated with respect and charity. They need to post knowing that the "default" position will be that of Ecclesia Dei trads, and that the onus in a debate will be on those who operate outside diocesan structures. Such debate about SSPX, sedevacantist, etc. matters are to be kept to one and only one place: the
"Diocesan vs SSPX vs Sedecavantism vs Novus Ordo" sub-forum. If, elsewhere on the forum, someone were to say something you do not like about these things, you are most welcome to start a thread in the aforementioned sub-forum and link to that thread in the thread that contains the post that annoyed you.
General Rules
When speaking about the current Holy Father or any previous Pope, he will be spoken of respectfully. In this regard, outside of the "Diocesan vs SSPX vs Sedecavantism vs Novus Ordo" sub-forum, sedevacantists are to post with the premise that the acclaimed Pope is the true Pope.
Any criticism of Papal actions must be done respectfully with due consideration given both to the person and office of the Pope, remembering that he is the Vicar of Christ and holds the Keys. This means referring to him as an heretic, accusing him of heresy, etc. is not allowed on this forum. Sarcastic or vitriolic comments, or anything not worthy of the dignity of the Papacy is not allowed. He should always be given the benefit of the doubt for his actions, as far as reason allows, out of respect for the Throne of Peter and the Magisterium.
No blasphemy, sacrilege,
obscenity (a few "bad words" here are OK), prurience, or posts that seem to the moderators 1) to
promote Church-banned ideologies (Communism, Nazism, socialism, usurious
capitalism, Jansenism, religiously-based Zionism, dispensationalism, Noahidism,
Freemasonry, racism) or 2) to promote un-Catholic attitudes and acts (vengeance, encouraging
unjust wars and violence, Puritanism, misogyny, needlessly offending
those who struggle with same sex attractions, needlessly inflammatory
language, etc.) or 3) to needlessly expose the forum to undue scrutiny (e.g., by loose talk
of insurrection, revolution, civil war, baseless conspiracy theories rather than simple reporting
of facts that readers can piece together for themselves, etc.). 4) No discussion of race issues in a manner the average, reasonable, prudent man would find insensitive. Moderators also frown on those who are pugilistic, sniping,
snarky, always looking to find sin or scandal, never give the benefit of
the doubt, vicious to good-willed non-Catholics and non-trads, and so forth.
People like that will not likely last long around here.
Discussion is better than arguing! If this place ceases to
be joyous and fun in addition to being serious, then fuhgetaboutit.
Sourpusses begone!
Another thing frowned upon around here is needlessly making
enemies, the "gang-banging" mentality of group-think, the
overly-critical, knee-jerk bashing of certain persons or groups
that are unpopular with some trads. Slander,
detraction, and attitudes that convey the idea that "X is wrong
about Y; X said Z; therefore Z is wrong" are not only illogical,
they're mean-spirited. Even broken clocks can be right twice a day. Please
try to discuss issues instead of arguing against people. We want
this place to be warm and friendly and fun.
And, please, for the love of all that's holy, cushion personal opinions
and conclusions about where and how to worship, etc., in phrases
such as "in my opinion" or "it seems to me" or "this
is what my family has decided to do" -- and don't pretend
to be speaking authoritatively unless you are known all over the world as
the Holy Father. Don't generalize your personal experiences,
callings, preferences, and sense of aesthetics in this regard such that what you've
decided right for you and your family in terms of worship,
penance, devotions, how to dress modestly, which music to listen to, whether or not to watch TV,
etc., is a must for all Catholics everywhere. The
old "I live on Communion Hosts and water like St. So-and-So. Everyone
must! It's Church teaching! Anyone
who doesn't do that isn't a 'real Catholic' or a 'real trad'!" routine
won't fly here. Purveyors of such arrogance and judgmentalism will
get gone.
This forum is for mature conversation
about real life, including frank discussion of sexual matters. The forum is for adults, with most of us having
grown up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Leave the fake coyness, the shocked expressions,
the tongue-clucking, the swooning, the unwillingness to properly name
body parts, the Holy Card Impersonator schtick, the "Why, I nevah"
stuff (especially when you most certainly have), and other such
silliness to other people's forums. Prudery won't be tolerated.
Leave any Puritanism back in the hands of 17th c. Calvinists and Jansenists;
we are 21st c. Catholics here, and as Hilaire Belloc wrote:
"Wherever
the Catholic sun does shine,
There's music, laughter and good red wine.
At least, I've always found it so:
Benedicamus Domino!"
Moderators have the right to remove
posts that violate the rules, and other posts that are disruptive to
or harm the purposes and "culture" of this forum -- and to do so without
having to explain. If a post is removed or edited, do not PM moderators
asking why, and don't ask why in the forum. Moderators should be respected
and not sassed or argued with about how they moderate. Moderators
also have the right to ban -- and will ban -- members who consistently
post against rules or who disrupt the "culture" of the place, setting a tone by their posts that the moderators think does not serve the cause of Tradition or which helps create an atmosphere that does not live up to the goals of the forum owner. Do not expect an explanation as to why a ban was made.
Specific
Rules
-
Don't be shy! Please participate;
that's what will keep the board alive. Read an interesting article? Post
it! See a movie? Write a review or talk about it in the Art and Entertainment
forum! Want to read a work of fiction and talk about it with others?
Start a book club! Want to read St. Augustine's "City of God" with people?
Ask someone to start a formal study -- or start one yourself if you have
the expertise! Got a joke? Tell it in the Pig Roast forum! Learn
something recently? Teach it! Find an interesting video at Youtube or
Google? Embed it to share with others!
-
Don't just post URLs with no summaries,
no effort at explaining what the URLs link to. Preferred is the posting of
entire articles (or, if they're extremely long, their relevant parts)
-- and especially preferred is the posting of articles accompanied
by some of your own commentary. It makes things much more interesting and
stimulates responses! And please cite sources!
-
Use descriptive titles in your
subject lines. For ex., if you have a question about Confession, instead
of writing "Question" for your subject line, write "Question about
Confession."
-
Don't type in ALL CAPS,
especially in subject lines. Use capital letters for emphasis.
Don't use smilies/emoticons in subject lines.
-
If you post a link to a PDF file,
warn people that it is, indeed a PDF file. Please. Oh, please.
-
Don't bump threads unless, and
only unless, it is to bring to others' attention something that is
timely or in some other way relevant. If you post something
and no one responds, then no one wants to talk about your post, apparently.
-
Don't derail threads. Stay on topic. And, especially, don't derail threads with unnecessary personal attacks.
-
When replying to a post, try to
eliminate as much as possible any excess, unecessary quoting. If you
are only responding to one line in someone's long post, just quote that one
line. Avoid "me too" type replies.
-
Take personal sniping and unnecessary name-calling to e-mail
or PMs. No one wants to hear it. Grow up, grow a thick skin, and try to handle things yourself.
I dislike "mommified" boards and don't want to run one. This is a forum for adults, not whiny crybabies who need Mommy to protect them from insults.
-
On reporting posts: Don't report posts just because someone hurt your feelings. Man up. Rub some dirt on it and move on. And don't feel singled-out if a post you make gets reported, gets a reaction from me, and someone else's post with the same sort of content doesn't get reported and doesn't get a reaction from me. I don't read every post so sometimes things get by me.
-
When posting, watch your mouth. Be careful with and don't overuse "dirty words"; people are reading over your shoulder and many do get offended by such things. People who "cuss" too much (as determined by moderators) may be banned. I may sometimes use a word replacement feature that the forum software provides to replace letters in certain words with asterisks.
-
This board is an English language-based
board. Don't post things in other languages unless you provide translations,
are asking for translations of Church-related materials, are attempting to
show a primary source in a contentious issue, are doing so ordinately in
an otherwise English post, are posting in a sub-forum set up for other languages, or are posting things in Latin in an appropriate
way and in the appropriate place. If for such a good reason you need to post
in a non-English language, indicate so in your subject line, e.g.: Pope's
Letter to Artists (Spanish)
Note, though, that there are many people who post here whose first language
isn't English; we have members whose first language is French, German,
Dutch, Polish, etc. So if you come across a misspelled word, the occasional
bit of bad grammar, an apparent insult, etc., make sure the issue isn't a
matter of someone trying to express himself in a language he doesn't think
in.
-
Don't set up different usernames.
One account per person.
-
If you decide to leave the forum, don't ask me to delete your account. I don't do that. Just leave and all will be well. And on your way out, do not advertise for another forum, as in "I am leaving this forum and going over to Forum XYZ." That is uncool.
P.S. All must
pay proper obeisance to Marta the Cat, the site owner's cherry pie-loving, mighty mouse
1 huntress and FE's village mascot. Miss Puss shall not be mocked!
1 By "mighty mouse huntress" it is meant that she is
a mighty hunter of meeses. She has not slain Mighty Mouse.
Yet. |
 |
One More Thing...
I don't know who this cat is, but
the picture is too perfect:
C r a z e d F i s h - E a t e r C a
t
Kitty likes the Fish Eaters theme song, we're sure.
It's ole Fats Waller, so if you don't like crazy jazz, you don't want to
hear it!
But if you do,
click
here to download the
MP3. Right click and choose
"Save Target As" to save to your hard drive.
|