Philips:

Who said it is defamation? It may well be true but there is not much point in discussing it with you given your very limited capacity for self-reflection.

If you feel defamed then you can sue me.

I see you’re being obtuse again, phanto.

<<Who said it is defamation?>>

When you post offensive remarks about someone, that you later demonstrate you have no basis for, then that is defamation (or slander) as it becomes apparent that you had no legitimate reason for making the remark in the first place.

<<It may well be true but there is not much point in discussing it with you given your very limited capacity for self-reflection.>>

So, now Dr. phanto has determined that I have a limited capacity for self-reflection, eh?

Do you have any examples of that? No, of course you don’t. You just thought you’d sling some more mud in my direction. I guess it must have just been by some miracle, then, that I went from being a devout Christian to realising that I had no justification for my beliefs.

But thank you for once again derailing what could have been an interesting discussion by attacking personalities with your tedious pseudo-psychology instead of addressing arguments.

You’re nothing more than a troll.

"You’re nothing more than a troll."

It seems to work well with you!

phanto,
When a prominent person, in this case the acting PM, makes a public statement on anything, it is always worthy of discussion. Obviously the forum moderator deemed it worthy as he approved it. The moderator does not approve all topics, that I can testify to, my previous submission to this one, was not approved.

I can recall there was much justified public debate and outcry, when PM Rudd said "fair suck of the sauce bottle". that faux pas of Rudd's clearly demonstrated he was out of touch with dinky-di Aussies, and had no understanding of what it is to be an fair dinkum' Aussie ocker! The bloke even privately admitted he didn't wear thongs, didn't even own a pair. And such a person had the gall to lead our great nation. I put the blame squarely at the feet of Rudd's mother, forcing the little tike to suck sauce bottles. Many people don't know this, but Rudd had a deprived childhood, not allowed to eat a meat pie, or even a lamington, always forced to eat quiche! Terrible depravity wouldn't you say. Fortunately after much debate, the good Aussie battlers, like the green and gold tracky dacks Howard, were able to boot the unworthy one from office.

Paul1405:

Rudd wasn’t expressing an opinion though was he? Joyce was expressing an opinion about the Catholic Church. If he was just doing so as a private citizen then there was no real need to refer to him. You could have expressed the same opinion yourself as a prelude to a discussion if that is what you wanted to discuss. Every discussion on this forum does not have to be triggered by a politician’s utterance.

You picked it up and decided to initiate a discussion about it. Your initial post was not about the Catholic Church as it now exists, which might have been a worthy topic for discussion, but about your experiences growing up in the Catholic Church. This is not really a worthy discussion on a public forum. Your experiences were hardly unique – millions had the same experiences.

We did not need to know what happened to you we only need to know what you think about the Catholic Church as it exists in society today. This is the only discussion which would be appropriate in a place where people come to exchange ideas or opinions.

My first post was to highlight how people such as yourself and Philips allow their personal experiences of the past to colour their judgement of the present which is decidedly unfair. Many had the same experiences as you did but are able to judge the Church as they find it in 2017 which is the only judgement that matters.

If you expose your past to us then you must expect a reaction to that and just because it is not the reaction you would have liked does not mean that it is not a reasonable reaction.

And exactly how have I ever done that, phanto?

<<My first post was to highlight how people such as yourself and Philips allow their personal experiences of the past to colour their judgement of the present which is decidedly unfair.>>

Give me an example and I will retract what was said now.

That being said, just how exactly would overwhelmingly positive experiences like mine inspire an alleged bitterness (that you cannot point to an example of, I might add)?

You haven't been reading this thread very carefully, have you?