You Are Not So Smart--an insightful and depressing site

[_Buffalo]

Some seem to go on and on about how LDS people are bad

Aside from Derrick, who does that?

[_Themis]

The opposite is true too, of course.

CFR

[_stemelbow]

When you feel the warm comfort of belonging to a team, a tribe, a group – to a party, an ideology, a religion or a nation – you instinctively turn others into members of outgroups, into outsiders. Just as soldiers come up with derogatory names for enemies, every culture and sub-culture has a collection of terms for outsiders so as to better see them as a single-minded collective. You are prone to forming and joining groups and then believing your groups are more diverse than outside groups.

Heya Buffalo. This gets at what I was thinking. I don't know if there are any here who oppose the Church who don't do the above, for instance. Are there any?

Interestingly in reference to political debate he says:

They must not understand, because if they did they wouldn’t think the things they think. By contrast, you believe you totally get their point of view and you reject it. You see it in all its detail and understand it for what it is – stupid. You don’t need to hear them elaborate. So, each side believes they understand the other side better than the other side understands both their opponents and themselves.

I don't think it could be put any better in regards to attitudes here regarding LDS.

[_stemelbow]

The opposite is true too, of course.

CFR

CFR that there are LDS out there who try and paint "the enemies of the Church" as one simple group who just doesn't get it and is wrong? Or what?

[_Buffalo]

When you feel the warm comfort of belonging to a team, a tribe, a group – to a party, an ideology, a religion or a nation – you instinctively turn others into members of outgroups, into outsiders. Just as soldiers come up with derogatory names for enemies, every culture and sub-culture has a collection of terms for outsiders so as to better see them as a single-minded collective. You are prone to forming and joining groups and then believing your groups are more diverse than outside groups.

Heya Buffalo. This gets at what I was thinking. I don't know if there are any here who oppose the Church who don't do the above, for instance. Are there any?

Interestingly in reference to political debate he says:

They must not understand, because if they did they wouldn’t think the things they think. By contrast, you believe you totally get their point of view and you reject it. You see it in all its detail and understand it for what it is – stupid. You don’t need to hear them elaborate. So, each side believes they understand the other side better than the other side understands both their opponents and themselves.

I don't think it could be put any better in regards to attitudes here regarding LDS.

My question was, who here goes around saying that all Mormons are bad? Pointing out irrational behavior isn't the same as saying Mormons are bad people.

In any case, I don't know of anyone who doesn't engage in tribal behavior. You see it in religion and in politics and in sports and in the business world.

[_Themis]

CFR that there are LDS out there who try and paint "the enemies of the Church" as one simple group who just doesn't get it and is wrong? Or what?

No CFR this

Then when I head over to MDD, while I see some basis for complaint, I'm often confused why so many here are so prone to show such anymosity for others there. The opposite is true too, of course.

CFR that the opposite of what you accused critics of is also true.

[_stemelbow]

My question was, who here goes around saying that all Mormons are bad? Pointing out irrational behavior isn't the same as saying Mormons are bad people.

In any case, I don't know of anyone who doesn't engage in tribal behavior. You see it in religion and in politics and in sports and in the business world.

I just tried to explain what I meant by what I said regarding Mormons are bad. Its quite an effort among the regular poster here to paint a Mormon as someone whose too stupid to get it or too gullible to be taken seriously. On top of that, its quite a practice here to take a certain experience with a Mormon and then offer comments about how and why Mormons do stupid things. I'm surprised you're trying to challenge this, Buffalo. The name-calling and rigid categorizing of Mormons for generalities is also quite common. With this, I'm just explaining how the point made is quite readily seen here on this site. I'm not saying anyone is wrong for doing it per se.

[_stemelbow]

CFR that the opposite of what you accused critics of is also true.

I am suggesting that I'm often confused and/or surprised, if you will, when I see some LDS posters showing anymosity for certain critics, some of who post here--which I'm defining as the opposite of posters here who show anymosity for certain LDS. I'm not really interested in giving you a CFR for that. Take it as my opinion, if you disagree--you disagree.

[_Themis]

When you feel the warm comfort of belonging to a team, a tribe, a group – to a party, an ideology, a religion or a nation – you instinctively turn others into members of outgroups, into outsiders. Just as soldiers come up with derogatory names for enemies, every culture and sub-culture has a collection of terms for outsiders so as to better see them as a single-minded collective. You are prone to forming and joining groups and then believing your groups are more diverse than outside groups.

Heya Buffalo. This gets at what I was thinking. I don't know if there are any here who oppose the Church who don't do the above, for instance. Are there any?

You might want to define what you mean by oppose the church. The problem I see is that there is not two camps here. Everyone in many ways is on a spectrum. Many many disbelieve certain claims of the LDS church while believing some. Other may disagree with some of the LDS truth claims while seeing the church as a good group of people, and some may view critics or member as all bad. While I agree with the article asbestosman brought up, we need to make sure we don't carry it to far. I think many positive things about the church and especially the members, whom represent many friends and family, and even myself.

[_Buffalo]

I just tried to explain what I meant by what I said regarding Mormons are bad. Its quite an effort among the regular poster here to paint a Mormon as someone whose too stupid to get it or too gullible to be taken seriously. On top of that, its quite a practice here to take a certain experience with a Mormon and then offer comments about how and why Mormons do stupid things. I'm surprised you're trying to challenge this, Buffalo. The name-calling and rigid categorizing of Mormons for generalities is also quite common. With this, I'm just explaining how the point made is quite readily seen here on this site. I'm not saying anyone is wrong for doing it per se.

I don't really see that. I see people painting homodox mos as tending towards being irrational or clannish, but that's not the same as "bad." Don't forget, must of us awful hateful antis were homodox Mormons for most of our lives, and most of the people in our lives who we care about are also Mormons. I think you're internalizing criticisms too much. The harshest criticisms are really directed toward apologists and general authorities, not average Joe members.