Jason Bourne wrote: Furthermore, we have seen instances of the "gang" mentality in exchanges between apologists and critics, thanks to the "Skinny-L" list, which is used to pass along gossip about critics, and which is, I believe, used as a staging grounds for these verbal assaults on critics like Sandra Tanner.
There is nothing at all wrong with sharing resources to coordinate defending what one believe. You seem to have an endless supply of minions that inform you of all sorts of sordid gossip.
That may be so, but bear in mind that these guys are doing these things under the aegis of the LDS Church. And they are going about it in a very sneaky, Cosa Nostra-esque way.
But does it seem right for these men to go barging in to Sandra's place of business like this?
Let me see. Store is open for business and two people stop in. Maybe they wanted to buy a book or two. Who knows?
It is clear they meant to harass. by the way: I have discovered who the mysterious "3rd Man" was in this whole affair (and the likely operator of the camera that snapped that photo): Gary Novak. Tell me, does this seem like the sort of chap who'd stop into the Tanner's bookstore merely to "browse the wares"?:
Gary Novak wrote:If you are humor-impaired, leave immediately. This is not for the faint-of-heart, the thin-skinned, or especially humorless anti-Mormons. If you are a humorless anti-Mormon, this site is intended to mock you—I am laughing at you.
And this:
G. Novak wrote:I had some fun visiting Sandra Tanner's bookstore. I let her know about the problems with her website. But she clearly did not have a good idea of what is going on there. And I don't think she understood exactly what a secured server is. In any case I tried to explain that Utah Lighthouse Ministries may be setting themselves up for a lawsuit.
As Lou Midgley and I talked to Sandra about some other things (Mike Quinn's homosexuality and his beef with the Church and the Tanner's reliance on Quinn) Jerald showed up and kicked us out of the bookstore. The Tanner's love to brag that they don't kick anyone out. If there is any interest in this at all, please let me know and I will see about posting Lou's account of the incident.
I think it is worth noting how interested all these apologists seem in discussing Quinn's sexual orientation. Of course, as we all know, DCP tried very hard to distance himself from this subject, and he practically bent over backwards in order to try and defuse accusations of a whisper/smear campaign against Quinn. More and more, it is beginning to seem like he was misguided.
Furthermore, based on these comments, it is obvious that they were not there to purchase books. They were there to pick a fight, and to try and get themselves thrown out so that they could brag about it.
Obviously, they were bellicose to the point that Gerald felt the need to toss them out.
Or maybe he was just a woosy who could not stand anyone challenging his beliefs or his poor little woman's beliefs.
"Woosy"? Do you mean "wussy"? In any case, as has already been stated, Midgley & et. al. had been by a number of times, and he had been calling here on the telephone, etc. It seems to me that the Tanners were more than patient.
It is not as if the Tanners were barging into Midgley's classroom in order to trumpet their criticisms, right?
Oh let me see what might be the difference here. Midgley taught economics. The Tanners have a full time rag attacking the LDS Church. Not anywhere near the same thing.
To follow your analogy, in order for things to be equal, Midgley and his pals could have simply responded in print. Instead, they found it necessary to publicly confront S. Tanner, face-to-face.
Anyways, you are missing the larger picture, Jason. What we have here is some very disquieting proof of the range and extent of LDS apologetics. If you are a critic, you should be advised that these men will hunt you down, and will seek to badger and confront you in your place of business.