New LDS Slur

[_Yoda]

I really don't get this at all. The apologists, such as David B, DCP, etc. have referred to themselves as apologists! That is the proper terminology.

Scratch's cute little term, Mopologists, could be seen as a slur, I suppose, but I have never really seen it that way.

I am really confused as to what is offensive about that term?

Minos is normally one of the more even-handed moderators over there. I'm surprised this came from him/her.

[_DarkHelmet]

Apologist is an accurate name for someone who defends a belief. So why is it now a slur to call someone an apologist? It reminds me of when Amway changed their name to Quixtar because everyone had a negative view of them, so they thought a name change would give them a fresh start. It's not our fault that "apologist" now has a negative connotation. Maybe we should start calling Mormon apologists "Mormon quixtars".

[_Kishkumen]

Scratch's cute little term, Mopologists, could be seen as a slur, I suppose, but I have never really seen it that way.

When I used the term "Mopologist," I did not intend it to be a compliment. In fact, I reserved the term for those whose apologetic activities I deemed to be deeply problematic.

[_Gadianton]

It's not Scratch's "slur".

Long before Scratch, Dr. Shades pointed out that "Mopologist" is derived from the contraction of "Mormon" and "apologist".

It is a dry, scholarly designation.

Just like the term "anti-Mormon" refers to contra Mormon endeavor absent any normative cannotation, as the Mopologists have explained many times.

And for the record, the term "anti-Mormon" had been used by Mopologists in their scholarly way to dryly and without judgement, catalog critics with "anti-Semites" for far longer than the relatively recent term "Mopologist" has been used by critics to save key strokes when referring to Mormon apologists.

Another scholarly term coined by Dr. Shades, I believe, long ago is "Labotomopologist." This term compactly refers to a Mormon apologist who has undergone a frontal lobotomy, should there be any who have. A lot of white space saved by this one in the event the word is needed.

[_Kishkumen]

It's not Scratch's "slur".

Long before Scratch, Dr. Shades pointed out that "Mopologist" is derived from the contraction of "Mormon" and "apologist".

It is a dry, scholarly designation.

Just like the term "anti-Mormon" refers to contra Mormon endeavor absent any normative cannotation, as the Mopologists have explained many times.

I defer to the scholarly acumen and experience of my superiors in the study of Mopologetics. All I can say is that when I use the term, I do so to distinguish between a principled LDS apologist and one who shows evidence of conducting their defense while compromising their integrity and/or scholarly duty. The latter I called Mopologist, and I did so partly because the word simply sounds derogatory to my ear. But that's just me.

[_Sethbag]

I think "apologist" is implicative (I really hope that's a word) of a person's devotion primarily to what one has chosen to defend, rather than to the truth. In that sense, to me, it is derogatory, because it implies a certain intellectual dishonesty.

[_The Dude]

Once or twice the word "apologist" has slipped out of my mouth in real life, and every time people look at me like "what the hell is an 'apologist'"?

And trying to explain it to regular people is even more embarrassing. It's like trying to explain Dungeons & Dragons to the uninitiated.

Killing gnolls with twenty-sided dice? WTF are you talking about?

[_Kishkumen]

Once or twice the word "apologist" has slipped out of my mouth in real life, and every time people look at me like "what the hell is an 'apologist'"?

And trying to explain it to regular people is even more embarrassing. It's like trying to explain Dungeons & Dragons to the uninitiated.

Killing gnolls with twenty-sided dice? WTF are you talking about?

Huh. Christian apologetics has been around since the second century AD. I guess historical illiteracy is truly rampant.

[_Dr. Shades]

Another scholarly term coined by Dr. Shades, I believe, long ago is "Labotomopologist." This term compactly refers to a Mormon apologist who has undergone a frontal lobotomy, should there be any who have. A lot of white space saved by this one in the event the word is needed.

Please allow me to issue a minor clarification, my esteemed colleague. I more specifically used the word "lobotomopologist" to refer to a Mopologist (i.e., a Mormon apologist) whose church-salvaging theories are so wild and unbelievable as to cause the hearer to justifiably conclude that the originator of theory must have voluntarily undergone a prefrontal lobotomy in order to convince himself of it.

(In other news, I look forward to resuming our discussion of ethics and Wittgenstein in the faculty lounge tomorrow during our office hours.)

[_ludwigm]

What about tetrapyloctomist?