The Rappleyes' Revenge: New Podcast Aims To Stop You From Googling And Trusting Science

[Doctor Scratch]

Huh. This is certainly an intriguing development. I clicked on the link to the YouTube channel... Is it just me, or does Smoot--with his short haircut and his grey suit--bear an odd resemblance to Pee-Wee Herman? (Or James Strang, I guess, in DCP's view?) And I noticed a crucifix on one of the shelves! What's up with that? It would seem that this trio of young Latter-day Saints are interested in pushing boundaries.

But this is really what caught my attention:

The couple tiptoed around the reasons for their exodus. (“We felt that the organization was going through a lot of changes,” Jasmin said, “and that it was time to move on.”) Like the Bible’s Lot, they aren’t looking back, only forward to their new endeavor with Smoot

What does *THAT* mean? I was under the impression that Jasmin--probably their most popular podcaster--was let go due to financial cuts, but this makes it sound more like there were ideological differences. Perhaps Welch and Co. had decided to take a more aggressive anti-LGBTQ+ stance, and so the Rappleyes took their leave? It's quite peculiar, in any case.

And yes: it is very right to wonder about the monetization of their operation. How might this sit with the traditional Mopologetic venues, and how will this play in the COB?

[I Have Questions]

The thing that strikes me as a consistent thread that runs through all of these type of amateur apologetic ventures, is that they are effectively saying that they don’t think the Church (the Brethren) are doing a good enough job of providing information to members. And that they, by self-appointment, are having to step in. Their existence is tacit criticism of the job the Church, the Brethren, etc. are doing and they are setting themselves up to be people with better answers than the Church has got.

Not being official representatives of the church confers an advantage to the church. Anything they say, if it plays well, can be adopted or adapted. Anything that does not play well is easily ignored or downplayed as mere speculation by uninspired men and women.

That’s possibly the case. But that is also a tacit admission, this time on the part of the Brethren, that they and the Church aren’t doing a good enough job of providing information to members because they don’t have answers to important questions.