www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall POLL: Where are people religiously ?

John, my brother and friend,

Very nicely done and the most responses that I have ever seen to a poll on this site within such a short time frame.

Not necessarily the most meaningful but, to my mind, the most fascinating result, on a quick glance:

RC now - 11
RC 5 yrs ago - 16
RC 5 yrs hence - 3

My only complaint - using "Byzantine" rather than "Ruthenian" offends my traditionalist nature and my sense that the Carpatho-Rusyns need to assert their pride in their origins, versus co-opting a generic descriptor that, in truth, they share with others. End of speech-making.

The surprise to me is actually a sidelight - that our Ukrainian brethren are so little represented here compared to a few years ago.

Many years,

Neil

Neil,

That is fascinating, but at the same time, I would think, somewhat expected since many on this board come to learn things about Byzantine Catholicism in particular and Byzantine Christianity in general, so movement from Roman Catholicism eastward would be expected/

Not for me, though! I'm 33.3% of the "RC five years hence."

I suspect if you visisted Angelqueen Forum, a traditional Catholic forum of which I am also a member, one would see the opposite trend. Judging personally from the contacts I have there, I'm pretty sure it'd be something like that.

Logos Teen

Garrett,

I agree with you and note that, as I recollect (I'm feeling too lazy right now to go look it up) our past polls here that included queries about origin have always reflected somewhat similar results (lots of ECs and EOs who are not such from cradle, but originated in the Latin Church) but these numbers define it within a timespan (which I don't think others have done) and a short one at that and demonstrate percentages that are surprisingly high to my mind - of those responding who were Latins 5 years ago, 68.75% are still, but only 18.75% of those who were Latins 5 years ago will still be such by 5 years hence.

It may, and likely is, as you suggest, only an expected artifact of the environment in which the poll was conducted but, to my sleep-clouded mind of the moment, it is still rather remarkable - especially viewed in contrast to the EC and EO numbers:

EC now 20
EC 5 yrs ago 12
EC 5 yrs hence 22 (83% increase in 10 yrs)

EO now 7
EO 5 yrs ago 5
EO 5 yrs hence 9 (80% increase in 10 yrs)

RC now 11
RC 5 yrs ago 16
RC 5 yrs hence 3

Many years,

Neil

Neil,
Thank you, sir, for the kind words and wishes !

Steve,
I noticed that too: the one honest person who admitted to puffing up his/her ego as the main reason for coming to this forum, LOL.

Thanks, all, for taking the poll and for your kind comments !

-- John

Interesting Data at 44 Responses to the Poll: a lot of people here are moving religiously to the East.

Specifically, a lot of people are moving from Western forms of Christianity (especially Roman Catholicism) to Eastern forms of Christianity (the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Churches). AND, a lot of people here are in the midst of exploring and converting to Eastern forms of Christianity.

In short, this forum is not just a place to converse and to learn. It is also a kind of ministry to people who are religiously seeking.

If you haven't taken the poll yet, please do so; your voice matters ! (If you haven't yet, please make a profile: so you can see the poll results for yourself, and so you can participate and take the poll.)

-- John


Roman Catholic
5 years ago -- 17
now -- 12
5 years in the future -- 4

Eastern Catholic
(including "Byzantine", Melkite, UGCC, etc.)
5 years ago -- 13
now -- 21
5 years in the future -- 23

Eastern Orthodox
(including GO, RO, AO, OCA, etc.)
5 years ago -- 6
now -- 9
5 years in the future -- 11

Other Christian
5 years ago -- 6
now -- 1
5 years in the future -- 1

Non-Christian
5 years ago -- 2
now -- 1
5 years in the future -- 1

Not Sure / Seekers
5 years ago -- 0
now -- 0
5 years in the future -- 4

What I find the most interesting is that while just 28 pct of those who responded are Roman Catholics (expected to drop to just 11 pct in 5 years) a rather large (I thought) pct, 43 pct still reject the Eastern view of the Pope as the first among equals in favor of Papal Infallibility. And that's with just one Ukrainian Rite Catholic (what's up with that ?) voting.

Many of the possible answers seem too canned.

I remember once my eparchy took a survey like this and asked what ethnic background one belonged to. One of the choices was "Carpatho Russian." Sorry, but many of the Slovak Greek Catholics hated/hate anything "Russian". So they picked Slovak or something close. One could not pick Ruthenian or Rusyn (herumph! after all those years of Ruthenian customs being promoted ...) because it was identified as being "Russian."

"Byzantine" includes a number of churches.

Joe

Greetings and Blessings, John,

I was the one who identified the RC and BC relationships within your POLL.

Yes, this "forum" is a learning of the Eastern spirituality! I realize that I am a "new-be" on this forum, but I have (as a RC) been studying the Eastern Church for many years and I DO see change with both "lungs" of the Catholic Church. Your demographic POLL readily identifies a "ministry" as you so describe!

God Love YOU for your efforts and thought here!!

...from a Roman Catholic who has a deep LOVE for the Eastern Church within his heart!

Thank you, all, for your corrections and comments.

Does anyone have any suggestions for other questions that you would like to see, in order to get a sense of where people are religiously at this forum ?

-- John

New question suggestion: What was your main goal when you originally came here?

I'm curious how people's original intents compare to their eventual ones. I am curious if the board has more of an effect shaping the posters or if the posters have more of an effect shaping the board, and to what degree that effect is felt.

Given this board's sometimes heavy handed moderation of topics, (Editing of posts, thus changing the original poster's point of view; or altogether delting posts when inconvenient opinions interfere), coupled with some very strong minded posters, I would say the board attempts to shape the posters, IMHO.

Good subject for a new poll.

Steve

I have not found the moderation here to be heavy handed at all. Quite the contrary, I believe the moderators bite their lips quite a bit. I know that they tolerate quite a bit more than I know I would. Try some of the other Forums, such as the Indiana List or the Euphrosynos Cafe. Opposing viewpoints are booted so fast that no one is even aware of the posters existence. It has been my experience that those who bemoan moderation the loudest are those that find overwhelming opinion to be against them, and thus the moderators become an escape mechanism.
Just my opinion.
Alexandr

Steve,

Are you trying to test your theory?

Greetings and Blessings!

As John stated above:

Quote

"Interesting Data at 44 Responses to the Poll: a lot of people here are moving religiously to the East.

Specifically, a lot of people are moving from Western forms of Christianity (especially Roman Catholicism) to Eastern forms of Christianity (the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Churches). AND, a lot of people here are in the midst of exploring and converting to Eastern forms of Christianity.

In short, this forum is not just a place to converse and to learn. It is also a kind of ministry to people who are religiously seeking."

This is so true as I have seen...the negative remarks pushing the Moderator to eliminate a course of thought should not happen here, if the thought was the way of "charity, learning and understanding." True, there is a course of different opinions...as the POLL clearly shows! But, WE ALL share the same faith! We are all (regardless of ethnic backgrounds) true to our Catholic faith...both East and West, again as the POLL also shows!

This demographic POLL should be shared within the entire Byzantine Forum community! I don't know how this could take place, but, somehow, this is a very important tool that "everyone" on this forum should see and participate in!

I ask the Moderator...can this happen somehow?

Blessings of the Lord to you...

From a Roman Catholic with a deep LOVE of the East within his heart!

<bump> Take the poll if you haven't yet !