Who is the most annoying apologist?

[_Kishkumen]

Of late, Ash has been going to extra lengths to make himself annoying, such as the judgmental condescension on Bishop Bloor's webblog, and writing some pretty intellectually dispicable things for Mormon Times.

Ah, I see. I guess I just expect apologetics to be intellectually deficient, bankrupt, or dishonest. That doesn't bug me as much as someone being a prick about it.

[_Runtu]

Ah, I see. I guess I just expect apologetics to be intellectually deficient, bankrupt, or dishonest. That doesn't bug me as much as someone being a prick about it.

Not all apologetics is intellectually deficient, bankrupt, or dishonest, though quite a bit of it is. Sometimes I read Mike Ash's stuff and wonder how he could write that with a straight face. But you're right, some people have raised nastiness to an art form. Those people I tend to avoid. for example, I've interacted with Hamblin just twice, but that was enough.

[_Kishkumen]

Not all apologetics is intellectually deficient, bankrupt, or dishonest, though quite a bit of it is. Sometimes I read Mike Ash's stuff and wonder how he could write that with a straight face. But you're right, some people have raised nastiness to an art form. Those people I tend to avoid. for example, I've interacted with Hamblin just twice, but that was enough.

Yeah, I suppose I was being pretty harsh. Regarding the issues I spend the most time thinking about, I see huge methodological problems.

[_Runtu]

Yeah, I suppose I was being pretty harsh. Regardign the issues I spend the most time thinking about, I see huge methodological problems.

Of course. Almost without fail, whenever I look into an apologetic argument and its source material, I'm struck at how weak and misleading it turns out to be. That DNA piece and John Clark's "Convergence" piece are good examples. It's usually overstated, and sometimes just plain dishonest. But I suppose that's the best you can do when reality is stacked against you.

[_Kishkumen]

It's usually overstated, and sometimes just plain dishonest. But I suppose that's the best you can do when reality is stacked against you.

This is essentially what I meant, but you put it much more politely.

[_Runtu]

This is essentially what I meant, but you put it much more politely.

I try to be polite (or maybe it's just fake), but there is a difference between producing bad apologetics and treating others with contempt. Sometimes I think the nastiness and condescension are just apologists compensating for what they know are poor evidence and bad logic.

[_Kishkumen]

Sometimes I think the nastiness and condescension are just apologists compensating for what they know are poor evidence and bad logic.

When I think back to the time when I was an amateur apologist BYU student, I recall being combative to Christian anti-Mormons. You might say I was an asshole. I guess I still am toward people I have little patience for. Maybe I am not so different from the apologists who annoy me.

[_Runtu]

When I think back to the time when I was an amateur apologist BYU student, I recall being combative to Christian anti-Mormons. You might say I was an asshole. I guess I still am toward people I have little patience for. Maybe I am not so different from the apologists who annoy me.

I've been snarky and mean on occasion, so I shouldn't be one to throw stones. I'm still waiting for the long-promised "Runtu's Greatest Hits" dossier that Will tells me some of his MAD friends are keeping, which is guaranteed to blow the cover off my faux niceness. That would be entertaining.

[_Kishkumen]

I've been snarky and mean on occasion, so I shouldn't be one to throw stones. I'm still waiting for the long-promised "Runtu's Greatest Hits" dossier that Will tells me some of his MAD friends are keeping, which is guaranteed to blow the cover off my faux niceness. That would be entertaining.

Yeah, Will has all kinds of stuff up his sleeve, or at least so he claims.

[_Runtu]

Yeah, Will has all kinds of stuff up his sleeve, or at least so he claims.

In my case, I'm sure he has plenty of material to choose from.