"I Hate This Board"

[_Ray A]

I've had my own love/hate wrangles with MDB, but for some reason I find this a fascinating board.

We often hear the term, "you can leave the Church, but you can't leave it alone". I make no bones about that fact that from a distance I still find Mormonism "fascinating" in some ways, and I often comment about it, here and elsewhere.

I'm just wondering what the TBMs here find fascinating about Mormon Discussions.com? Why is it that the reverse seems to apply in the case of TBMs? That is, they can leave Mormon Discussions, but they can't leave it alone. What is the attraction?

So my line of thinking here is that there's nothing sinister in exmos retaining an interest in Mormonism, any more than there's something sinister in Mormons retaining an interest in Mormon Discussions. Or is there something sinister in both approaches?

Have I missed something? Why do people keep commenting on places they hate, and keep coming back to places they hate?
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[_harmony]

Was that a direct quote?

[_Ray A]

Was that a direct quote?

Just a reflection of what some have expressed.

[_Scottie]

I've kind of noticed that too.

Some posters seem awfully vocal about their disgust and plans to never post again, yet we see them here time and time again.

I think Bond even garbled his password, but couldn't stay away!

[Guest]

Honestly, I think the TBM's are here for a combination of damage control and prostlyting toward lurkers.

(spelling correction)

[_Daniel Peterson]

Honestly, I think the TBM's are here for a combination of damage control and prestlyting toward lurkers.

Neither one of those is true in my case. But I can't speak for others.

[_Mike Reed]

Honestly, I think the TBM's are here for a combination of damage control and prestlyting toward lurkers.

Neither one of those is true in my case. But I can't speak for others.

Is it the entertainment value for you then, Dan?

[_Daniel Peterson]

Is it the entertainment value for you then, Dan?

Partly.

Another reason: I've explained for years, though few seem to take me seriously, that I'm fascinated by the egregrious incivility and bad behavior in which -- though it's not limited to them -- a significant proportion of apostates and anti-Mormons indulge. I really do find it mesmerizing to observe.

There may be lots of lurkers here, but I have no reason to believe that the numbers are high. And I don't know what kind of "damage" some here imagine themselves to be inflicting, and on whom they imagine they're inflicting it.

[_moksha]

And I don't know what kind of "damage" some here imagine themselves to be inflicting, and on whom they imagine they're inflicting it.

If there is no damage, then this helps confirm Ray's thought that addictions to message boards are harmless. Thus the best response to someone who mutters the words "...can't leave it alone" is "So what, it does no damage".

[_Jersey Girl]

Uh, Ray? You forgot the never-Mo's.

I don't assign any particular emotion to this board, much less do I hate it. As I mentioned on another thread, I couldn't be more satisfied with the pinned thread about the Stanford Book of Mormon authorship study. I'm completely impressed (words fail me) by the contributions of Danna, Byron, Dale and Alma there. I look in on it every day and there's an enormous amount of talent, working cooperatively through a variety of issues and related topics.

The dynamics between the posters on that thread are what I feel constitutes authentic discussion and those dynamics are in such short supply on this board. You can't change human nature though transformations have happened on the road to Damascus, or so I hear.

Jersey Girl