I don't think this board's for me...
Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 12:50 am
I have to hand it to Wade Englund.
Whether through sheer dumb instinct, or some profound genius, he is literally able to turn any discussion into an entirely different discussion - about how stupid he is or isn't.
The distraction tactics of course are a favourite of many Mormon apologists. "Dr. Peterson", in addition to the drama queen I'm a victim hissy fit schtick, seems to have a natural talent for either misunderstanding even the most straightforward points, or deliberately distorting them into something else so as to maintain that mental state in which Mormonism actually seems true, or rationally defensible; but I don't see how he can hold a candle to Wade. The master's ability to derail the inquiries of even the most sober-minded investigator of Mormonism, and of course myself as well at times, is really something.
Start out talking about the "retroactive" marriage between Joseph Smith and his teenaged housemaid Fanny, or irreconcilable contradictions in Mormon doctrine (a sure giveaway of untruthfulness), or any other matter, and with but a single Wadean post, the focus is no longer on the enterprising adulterer, but on Wade himself.
I myself spent quite a bit of time on Wade Englund on our interview thread of many months ago - and that was even after Wade himself ended up arguing, evidently with no sense of vulnerability, that he might actually not be conscious.
Perhaps this dynamic is inevitable. People who spend their entire lives without romantic intimacy in service to a transparently fraudulent cult, and who talk about how they might not actually be conscious, and who can so frequently, and with such apparent earnestness, so misunderstand things and say such incredibly asinine things, are a rare find. It would be like teaching a class in basic addition, and all of a sudden, up shoots a hand - and the person says, "Two plus two DOES NOT EQUAL FOUR, and I KNOW IT". How do you not stop and listen? How do you keep the lecture going? It's so shocking, so bizarre, so fascinating, so comical and yet tragic at the same time, that everything stops. AND - no doubt we'd even spend the rest of the hour debating the guy on whether, if you have two oranges and then get two more, you actually have four oranges.
So...it kind of seems like serious discussion with others is kind of impossible on here. Even I can hardly restrain myself from responding to the poor soul. The mixture of horror, bemusement, irritation, entertainment, and ultimately sympathy, is so potent, it's almost impossible to focus on anything else on a thread.
Yet, I do long to have substantive discussions, not even so much about Mormonism anymore, but almost about anything, that I suppose I ought to find some new place.
Best to all, perhaps I'll check in some time.
Tal
Whether through sheer dumb instinct, or some profound genius, he is literally able to turn any discussion into an entirely different discussion - about how stupid he is or isn't.
The distraction tactics of course are a favourite of many Mormon apologists. "Dr. Peterson", in addition to the drama queen I'm a victim hissy fit schtick, seems to have a natural talent for either misunderstanding even the most straightforward points, or deliberately distorting them into something else so as to maintain that mental state in which Mormonism actually seems true, or rationally defensible; but I don't see how he can hold a candle to Wade. The master's ability to derail the inquiries of even the most sober-minded investigator of Mormonism, and of course myself as well at times, is really something.
Start out talking about the "retroactive" marriage between Joseph Smith and his teenaged housemaid Fanny, or irreconcilable contradictions in Mormon doctrine (a sure giveaway of untruthfulness), or any other matter, and with but a single Wadean post, the focus is no longer on the enterprising adulterer, but on Wade himself.
I myself spent quite a bit of time on Wade Englund on our interview thread of many months ago - and that was even after Wade himself ended up arguing, evidently with no sense of vulnerability, that he might actually not be conscious.
Perhaps this dynamic is inevitable. People who spend their entire lives without romantic intimacy in service to a transparently fraudulent cult, and who talk about how they might not actually be conscious, and who can so frequently, and with such apparent earnestness, so misunderstand things and say such incredibly asinine things, are a rare find. It would be like teaching a class in basic addition, and all of a sudden, up shoots a hand - and the person says, "Two plus two DOES NOT EQUAL FOUR, and I KNOW IT". How do you not stop and listen? How do you keep the lecture going? It's so shocking, so bizarre, so fascinating, so comical and yet tragic at the same time, that everything stops. AND - no doubt we'd even spend the rest of the hour debating the guy on whether, if you have two oranges and then get two more, you actually have four oranges.
So...it kind of seems like serious discussion with others is kind of impossible on here. Even I can hardly restrain myself from responding to the poor soul. The mixture of horror, bemusement, irritation, entertainment, and ultimately sympathy, is so potent, it's almost impossible to focus on anything else on a thread.
Yet, I do long to have substantive discussions, not even so much about Mormonism anymore, but almost about anything, that I suppose I ought to find some new place.
Best to all, perhaps I'll check in some time.
Tal