The stupidity of forum posters

I shouldn't care what anonymous people think.

After all, they are just words on a computer screen. No faces, no back story. I don't have to worry about running into anonymous people on Twitter or in forums at a bake sale for church, or in the paper towel aisle at the Wegman's.

So the fact that I give a shit what anyone says online is stupid. Convoluted. Makes no sense. Yet here I was last night, furiously typing away at the Catholic Answers Forum at people ridiculing The Catholic Channel (Sirius XM 129).

The post (an old one at that) started with someone bashing news commentator Bob Dunning, who has a show on the station. Mostly from people who think that if you lean left on ANYTHING, it means that you somehow hate unborn children and burn Bibles for kicks and giggles. Then the thread turned into "The Catholic Channel has gotten so bad lately," and bla bla bla.

Thanks to my friend Dan, I was alerted to such nonsense and posted my own two cents. My issue with these commenters? Nobody gives any kind of solid evidence as to why The Catholic Channel is inane and horrible, confusing their own personal tastes with the Cathecism of the Catholic Church.

I fired off my own posts. One of which just asked someone to give specific examples of how TCC causes hate and slander in others, and the other ripping someone for calling the station bad and inane.

"If you dislike TCC because it's not your style, that's fine," I wrote. "Im happy that there are so many options to enlighten and entertain folks. God bless EWTN for the joy they give others! But don't you dare belittle a station that is a God-send to some of us and label it "inane." That attitude is the only inane thing here."


As Tim Kitzrow of NBA Jam would have said, "He's on fire!" Or "ugly shot!" depending on which side of the fence you might be on.

Part of me feels like I might have gone overboard with that last post, but the other part of me feels justified. Yes I'm biased: I love the personalities on the station. Especially Lino Rulli, whose show not only helped me convert to Catholicism, but also led me to Allicia, whom I will marry in nine days.

I don't think those people realize how much damage they do by those disparaging words. It poisons, in my mind, other good Catholic media folks. I know it shouldn't, but when you hear someone criticize TCC for no good reason, then turn around and say, "Oh but I love EWTN and Al Kresta!!!" how can you not think to yourself, "There's no way I'm tuning into those stations."

It's stupid, it really is, to punish other media types like Al Kresta just because of what his message board fans have to say. But my mind still connects those dots, and makes me NOT want to give others a chance.

My mind is a mess.

But at the end of the day, I suppose that criticism is guaranteed if you are doing God's work. And God knows TCC has influenced others besides myself to get back into the faith. So I shouldn't get so upset when I see anonymous posters who clearly lead lives so sad that they thrive on criticizing a station that brings joy to so many people. It's not like their words are going to erode all the good things TCC and it's shows do for people's lives.

Still, I just wish the stupidity of others would stop glaring at my brain so much.