I saw a lot written about that, both here and on CAF itself. I guess the changeover didn't make an impression on me, since websites change appearance all the time. It just felt there like nothing ever got settled. I have a strong interest in liturgy and sacred music, and a deep disdain for that terrible state of much Catholic worship today (and the resultant damage to the Body Catholic - lex orrandi, lex credendi), but I never did see a fruitful discussion on the subjects on CAF. There was also a great deal of accusations in the general form of "don't you know you should view those people and things you disagree with in the most charitable light, you terrible hateful monster?!" Lots of logs in many eyes.
That’s a big change then from when I was there, closer to 2014-2013, when the common response to someone like me was, Quiet you heretic, know your place when the catholics are in the room.
Yeah, both attitudes existed side by side, sometimes in the same thread. It was maddening. Maybe I was part of the problem as well - when every thread is contentious, it can bring out the worst in people.
All I ever saw when I looked at Catholic Answers forum is a bunch of people who claim to know the catechism pointing fingers and saying the other is a heretic that doesn't know how to interpret it.
I have seen the toxicity on CAF, too. I believe there is a reason for it there and not here at AF. I could be wrong but I think Anglicans are used to a much broader church than Roman Catholics. We Anglicans range from those who appear indistinguishable from Evangelical Protestant churches, both the liberal and more conservative ones, to those who are bearly different from very traditional Catholics with the exception (usually) of Latin. There is everything inbetween. Whilst we have our own preferred churchmanship Anglicans, it seems to me, are more tolerant of other styles of churchmanship. The toxicity on CAF seemed to me to be between those Roman catholics who class themselves as traditionalists, prefer Latin than the vernacular, only like polyphonic music, want Mass and other liturgies in the Extraordinary Form and refer, pejoratively, to the Ordinary Form as the Novus Ordo. On the other pole are those Catholics who have fully embraced Vatican II and may be even do not think it goes far enough. I think both of these camps are not used to the idea of a broad church as we have in Anglicanism. As a result both camps are firmly entrenched and there can often be a lack of charity between the two.
You should have seen these forums in 2014. Everyone was cutting everyone else down for “their” version of Anglicanism. It was very toxic. That’s why the badge of historic orthodoxy was introduced. When it was installed, almost everybody left. But now, six years later, there is an understood ground of Anglican orthodoxy as a final appeal. Also we pretty heavily moderate in order to make sure that all discussions are kept civilized - no easy feat given how Twitter and social media bring out the primitive animality in people. People know that you have to be civilized here. Those two things probably set us apart. But then again perhaps those same qualities turn prospective members away, if they’re used to being animals to their fellow man in the other corners of the internet. A smaller but civilized community is a trade off we are willing to make. Perhaps Catholic Forums were unwilling to enforce civilization among their members, making their culture animalistic. And perhaps Roman Catholic theology is convoluted enough to permit multiple “orthodoxies”, which prevented a common ground of appeal.
Oh no, CAF did enforce civility. As you will know, though, bad behaviour has occurred before you can moderate it. I did not know that thia forum was like that but I am glad it is not now. Unfortunately, the Internet often brings out the worst in people. It is, of course, easy to be cruel, rude, uncharitable, etc. when you post on the Internet because you are safely sat there with your device and no repercussions like someone thumping you. I still belieeve overall the Internet is a good thing and we should focus on its positive aspects. I will be more than happy if standards are maintained here.
I used to post there pretty regularly, but the layout change killed it for me. Everything was easy to navigate before, particularly threads you were commenting in and had been responded to. But afterward nothing was the same. Add into that, the tenor of the place changed drastically in the last few years and any outside opinions I espoused were flagged, even in parts of the board that had previously been dedicated to that. Oh well. I can always remember them fondly for helping me complete my move to Anglicanism if nothing else.
I was/am a member there (as a lapsed Catholic), but that layout update......wow. It made the forum really difficult to use. I asked some questions a couple of years ago and the amount of people on there was just abysmal, and honestly not helpful. It was a great place for a time, but unfortunately I do not find it useful any longer.