Tags in VS: An Open Letter

[Gabriela]

Rather than putting the responsibility on the Mediators of Meh to prove that posters with the Religious tag are really Catholic Religious, why not put the responsibility on the poster themselves?

Most of the time, the Catholic Religious tag has been no problem, and the Catholic Religious who currently have the tag deserve it. Many of the Catholic Religious who post here are people that at least some of us "know"--even if we have not met them in person. Individual members of Phatmass can vouch for the authenticity of the longtime Catholic Religious members because we have corresponded with them.

I'd suggest that a new Catholic Religious who wants the Catholic Religious tag identify themselves by Religious name and provide a Web link to their Community. Ideally, the Catholic Religious would post the link to their Web site in a public post. Most Catholic Religious already do that anyway, because an important part of the reason they take the time to post on Phatmass is to be accessible to possible discerners and to anyone else who wants to ask them or their Community for prayers. However, personally, I'd be fine if the Catholic Religious, for whatever reason, chose instead to identify themselves privately by Religious Name to @dUSt, along with a link to their Community's Web site. @dUSt could then pass the task of giving the Religious tag on to one of the Mediators of Meh if he was not available. I'm pretty sure @dUSt now has a Contact link on the main Web site, so the poster would not need the PM system to contact @dUSt. This way, the Mediators of Meh don't have to put in the work of identifying Web IDs etc. 

I think this is a fine system, except where the religious are in communities that nobody lives near or has discerned with. In that case, we'd still need to figure something out. Though it hasn't been the case in the past (I think), those communities seem particularly likely to want to use the VS to promote more vocations to their community.

But in general, yeah, I agree: Using the vast vocational experience of VSers would help take the burden off the Mediators of Meh, and in most cases, would probably be plenty reliable.

EDIT: On second thought, a lot of communities have the names and bios of their members online. What's to stop someone from just picking a name off a community website—even one a VSer knows? Again, I'm not saying this is likely, and you're right that it's never been a problem so far. I'm just trying to foresee what could potentially be a problem in the future.

Edited July 9, 2015 by Gabriela

[beatitude]

 

OR, some kind of umbrella 'Consecrated' tag for all religious, CVs, secular whatnots, single vowed people. It can be so catch-all that it becomes simple again. When a noobie asks, 'Hey, am I not consecrated to God?' we can let them know that it's for people in formal vows.

And I'd take a Separated Brethren tag if there was one! The requirement would be to be a non-Catholic person trying to understand the Room of Requirement that is Catholic consecrated life, and I would be the only one ever to need it.

As soon as my post count is high enough for me to change my title, I'm changing it to 'secular whatnot'.

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

I think this is a fine system, except where the religious are in communities that nobody lives near or has discerned with. In that case, we'd still need to figure something out. Though it hasn't been the case in the past (I think), those communities seem particularly likely to want to use the VS to promote more vocations to their community.

But in general, yeah, I agree: Using the vast vocational experience of VSers would help take the burden off the Mediators of Meh, and in most cases, would probably be plenty reliable.

That's why I suggested that the Catholic Religious could post a link to their Community--ideally in a public post. That will allow VS'ers to get to "know" them--mostly by their posts, but also by the link to their Community. If a Catholic Religious posts a link to their Community, I, for one, often click on it just out of curiosity, even though I am not a discerner. I doubt that a Catholic Religious for whom identifying themself by their religious name is a concern is interested in posting on Phatmass in the first place. But, for reasons that I can't think of (but that doesn't mean they don't exist) a Catholic Religious who desired the tag but did not want to publicly post their Community's Web site, I suggested the option of sending a note to @dUSt via the Contact form, giving @dUSt the necessary information privately. If he wished, @dUSt could then ask a Mediator of Meh to follow up, or follow up himself. This would still mean some work on the part of @dUSt, but it would mean that at least he or the Mediators of Meh would not be responsible for checking Web ID's, etc.

I'm torn between two opposite goals. The first is to welcome as many Catholic Religious to VS as possible, and to encourage this by giving them the Catholic Religious tag. On the other hand, there is the very sad circumstance that there is a possibility of abuse of the Catholic Religious tag, so having steps in place such as providing a Religious Name and a Web link, could help.

Obviously, a troll who really wanted to abuse the system could get around this. However, as far as I know (and there could easily be situations I know nothing about) abuse of the Catholic Religious tag has not been something that has happened a lot. One thing that could help prevent this would be to have a general guideline that a new poster who is not "known" by other posters would need to make, say, 50 or 100 posts before getting the Catholic Religious tag. Usually, if a poster has made 50-100 posts, the poster starts to show inconsistencies or other "red flags" if the poster is not who they claim to be.

Edited July 9, 2015 by IgnatiusofLoyola

[sr.christinaosf]

So...I'm confused...Am I supposed to have some sort of 'tag'?

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

So...I'm confused...Am I supposed to have some sort of 'tag'?

We try to give nuns, Religious Sisters, and priests who post in VS a special tag of "Catholic Religious."

Not sure why you don't have one yet. You have shared with us some lovely posts.

I'll send a note to the Mediators of Meh to see if we can get you one! You deserve it! 

[BarbTherese]

Nunsense:

BT used to have 'Part of the system' as her title but it appears she has changed it - first to Aussie, and now it says Chummy Commoner - perhaps she wanted the title and the tag to be the same? 

 

No reason I changed my title to whatever, just experimenting to see what happens.  Now I know.

Since we can change our titles, no reason I know of why a Consecrated Virgin and Canon Lawyer can't put that in her title...........or Secular Institute member, Hermit under Canon 603............or some other title or qualification.   This means that dUSt doesn't have to change anything.

 

[BarbTherese]

 

............edit..........

 

Normally, the @ function does work. You just type "@" and then start typing in the person's name. Stop in the middle of it and hover your mouse over the name, and there should pop up a drop-down menu-like little window with the person's name in it. Click on that, and it inserts the full name and hyperlinks it, and notifies that person (if they have notifications enabled for that).

But right now, it seems to not be working. @BarbaraTherese

Opa. There it goes again. I must say it can be unpredictable!

At any rate, you don't have to enter the person's name into the URL function to get their name to hyperlink. That's the hard way!

Thank you, Gabriela  and clearly explained- think I have got it @‌Gabriela....nope, would not work........... ‌perhaps this is because I have quoted you - will try something else ‌@BarbaraTherese   Seems to work ok with the 'hover method' - don't know why it wouldn't work with ‌@Gabriela ............. but now it is!   Thank you!  The mysterious mysteries of Phatmass

‌

[Gabriela]

 

Thank you, Gabriela  and clearly explained- think I have got it @‌Gabriela....nope, would not work........... ‌perhaps this is because I have quoted you - will try something else ‌@BarbaraTherese   Seems to work ok with the 'hover method' - don't know why it wouldn't work with ‌@Gabriela ............. but now it is!   Thank you!  The mysterious mysteries of Phatmass

‌

Glad to see your vows in your title now, too!  

[BarbTherese]

Glad to see your vows in your title now, too!  

Thank you - tossed it around it for a bit and then decided that it might be helpful for some perhaps interested in information re private vows and more obvious as a title than in a profile.  The profile is a click away while the title is immediate. 

[Egeria]

Just a point of clarification: Does the Catholic religious tag apply only to those in solemn/final vows, or does it include novices and those in temporary vows? Just so that we know...

[marigold]

Just a point of clarification: Does the Catholic religious tag apply only to those in solemn/final vows, or does it include novices and those in temporary vows? Just so that we know...

I seem to remember Faith Cecelia got the religious tag as a kind of celebratory thing when she entered her monastery. I would say it's probably case-by-case and hasn't got rules that specific.

[Antigonos]

I seem to remember Faith Cecelia got the religious tag as a kind of celebratory thing when she entered her monastery. I would say it's probably case-by-case and hasn't got rules that specific.

By the way, has anyone heard from Faith Cecelia and how she is faring recently?

[AccountDeleted]

I seem to remember Faith Cecelia got the religious tag as a kind of celebratory thing when she entered her monastery. I would say it's probably case-by-case and hasn't got rules that specific.

I have had it from time to time when I entered a convent but then had to ask to have it removed after I had left. I also know of at least one other person on VS who still has the Religious tag even though they are not in a convent anymore. For that reason alone, I think it would be a good idea not to give it to anyone until they have made final vows. But that's just my opinion.

[Egeria]

Thanks @marigold and @nunsense. Giving it to people in formation does seem to rather undermine the idea of it being an indicator of trustworthiness. But then I don't suppose we can have any guarantee of people being trustworthy, and certainly not over the Internet!

[veritasluxmea]

I seem to remember Faith Cecelia got the religious tag as a kind of celebratory thing when she entered her monastery. I would say it's probably case-by-case and hasn't got rules that specific.

I think going case by case is fine. If someone joins then leaves and are still active on phatmass they can have it removed. Just my two cents though... guess I've learned if it ain't broke don't fix it!