A Guide to Online Mopologetic Behavior
Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 6:40 am
For the uninitiated, here's a helpful guide for you when trying to engage a Mopologist on the Internet:
Flushing a topic:
Mopologists use a technique called "flushing". Essentially, if there's a post or topic that's particularly damaging to a truth claim one of two things happen. First, a Mopologist will use multiple sock puppet accounts to make inane comments on a thread to push the relevant post out of view. Secondly, their followers will log-in and make unrelated or silly comments to "flush" the post off the main page. The same thing can happen to a particular topic in which multiple threads will be started with the intent to flush the thread off the main page. On a heavily moderated forum like the MD&DB locking the thread accomplishes the same thing. If you don't see the thread, it is soon forgotten.
Derailing:
Mopologists will continually insert unrelated posts on a particularly damaging thread with the intent to make the thread about personality traits rather than the content being discussed. It's pretty easy to derail a thread when you simply insult the OP or other posters who're contributing to a substantive discussion. The goal is to be able to give a misinformed opinion, and then devolve the conversation into an unrelated personality driven argument.
Gathering in real life information to be used against you:
This is pretty self-explanatory. One can see how Mopologists react toward perceived enemies of the Church by simply Internet Stalking said enemies, and then using that information to go after them in real life. From families being contacted to ecclesiastical leaders being given a head's up Mopologists just aren't debating you on an Internet forum, but are actively gleaning information from you posts to use against you with real life consequences. A good example on this forum is how badly Mopologists want to know Doctor Scratch's in real life identity. It's been said over and over again that they'd go after him in real life.
Trolling:
Essentially the Mopologist, to ensure constructive Mormon dialogue is ignored will deliberately antagonize people through various techniques, but with the end game of amusing himself to no end without ever having addressed a topic on a substantive level. Mr. Daniel Peterson was probably one of the better Mopologists at this. He would claim an interest on a topic, but spend thousands of posts trolling a forum while clearly enjoying the attention. Another technique for "Trollpologists" is to use multiple sock puppet accounts thus extending their lifetime on a forum when their usernames have been placed on ignore, or have been identified as trolls. You'll see most Mopologists go through many, many usernames because of this.
Getting a Moderator position:
Many a Mopologist has attempted to get a Moderator position, so he or she can simply edit, delete, or move posts that are damaging to Mormonism. The end game usually is one of two things. It's either to make the forum irrelevant, and cause people to lose interest in it, or to create an echo chamber in which perceived derogatory information simply isn't allowed to exist. Censorship is the key for the Mopolomoderator which is why forums with limited moderation tend to have the most participation, and most useful dialogue vis a vis things Mormon.
-------------
Unfortunately for the Mopologists, they're in a bind. They're charged with, or they're self-appointed defenders of the indefensible. It's because they're on such shaky ground they're left with the above noted techniques to defend their nonsense. The best thing to do when engaging a Mopologist is to do nothing. They will generally avoid any discussion of historical value, or contemporary relevance. Their only goal is to get you to stop discussing Mormonism on your terms. They want you to rely on their Church's public affairs arm and "educational system" (wow, that has an Orwellian feel to it) for information related to Mormonism.
Please note a Mopologist is not a Mormon. Mopologists are, oddly enough, heretics or apostates... They just don't know it for the most part. The most important thing to a Mopologist is that the Church is True. Historical facts, doctrines, policies, and even the plain meaning of words have no bearing on the reality for a Mopologist which is this:
The Church is True.
A good example to the uninitiated is the Mopologist Apple Analogy. Let's say an apple represents Mormonism. When a Mopologist offers you an apple, it's an apple. Easy enough, no? Well, not so fast. When a critic offers you an apple, the Mopologist will tell you it's not an apple. It never was an apple. It's not the right color, shape, size, taste, and lacks the texture of an apple. In fact, what is an apple? Do apples even exist? Who is offering you this purported fruit (or is a vegetable?)? What is his motivation? He must be anti-apples. That man is a complete, uninformed idiot. Don't listen to him, and don't take that, whatever it is, from him. In fact, we must stop that man from offering this stuff to unsuspecting people, so let's censor him, and additionally, let's contact friends, family, employers, and church leaders reference his nefarious activities.
If you look at FAIR or Mopologetic blogs you'll see the ultimate form on the above-written behavior. They have complete control over their content, as they should, and they're free to do what they ultimately set out to do which is shooting the messenger, or publishing misinformation about their ideology (I won't call it Mormonism because it's so warped that it's can't begin to compare to it).
My take is simply this: Most Mopologists, who aren't mentally ill, don't believe in Mormonism the way other people who are faithful do. I think, for whatever reason, they're obligated to remain in Mormonism, and they start out with good intentions to defend their faith. When confronted with historical and contemporary facts, they begin to twist Mormonism to fit "The Church is True" imperative. At some point, they abandon their faith in historical and contemporary Mormonism, and create a Mormonism that fits such a twisted, or nuanced niche that they themselves would be labeled heretics if they were to espouse their Mormonism in Sunday School or during a Fast and Testimony meeting.
I've gotten to the point where I don't feel anything but sympathy for these men. It's a shame. They're prisoners to something that holds them in this church. They're not free. Hopefully, future defenders of Mormonism will calm down, accept facts for what they are, and then work within their own organization to transform it to a more honest, transparent, and empathetic church. Because right now, Mormon apologetics is a bitter fruit, and it does more harm than good.
- VRDRC
* Any edits are for grammar or spelling.
Flushing a topic:
Mopologists use a technique called "flushing". Essentially, if there's a post or topic that's particularly damaging to a truth claim one of two things happen. First, a Mopologist will use multiple sock puppet accounts to make inane comments on a thread to push the relevant post out of view. Secondly, their followers will log-in and make unrelated or silly comments to "flush" the post off the main page. The same thing can happen to a particular topic in which multiple threads will be started with the intent to flush the thread off the main page. On a heavily moderated forum like the MD&DB locking the thread accomplishes the same thing. If you don't see the thread, it is soon forgotten.
Derailing:
Mopologists will continually insert unrelated posts on a particularly damaging thread with the intent to make the thread about personality traits rather than the content being discussed. It's pretty easy to derail a thread when you simply insult the OP or other posters who're contributing to a substantive discussion. The goal is to be able to give a misinformed opinion, and then devolve the conversation into an unrelated personality driven argument.
Gathering in real life information to be used against you:
This is pretty self-explanatory. One can see how Mopologists react toward perceived enemies of the Church by simply Internet Stalking said enemies, and then using that information to go after them in real life. From families being contacted to ecclesiastical leaders being given a head's up Mopologists just aren't debating you on an Internet forum, but are actively gleaning information from you posts to use against you with real life consequences. A good example on this forum is how badly Mopologists want to know Doctor Scratch's in real life identity. It's been said over and over again that they'd go after him in real life.
Trolling:
Essentially the Mopologist, to ensure constructive Mormon dialogue is ignored will deliberately antagonize people through various techniques, but with the end game of amusing himself to no end without ever having addressed a topic on a substantive level. Mr. Daniel Peterson was probably one of the better Mopologists at this. He would claim an interest on a topic, but spend thousands of posts trolling a forum while clearly enjoying the attention. Another technique for "Trollpologists" is to use multiple sock puppet accounts thus extending their lifetime on a forum when their usernames have been placed on ignore, or have been identified as trolls. You'll see most Mopologists go through many, many usernames because of this.
Getting a Moderator position:
Many a Mopologist has attempted to get a Moderator position, so he or she can simply edit, delete, or move posts that are damaging to Mormonism. The end game usually is one of two things. It's either to make the forum irrelevant, and cause people to lose interest in it, or to create an echo chamber in which perceived derogatory information simply isn't allowed to exist. Censorship is the key for the Mopolomoderator which is why forums with limited moderation tend to have the most participation, and most useful dialogue vis a vis things Mormon.
-------------
Unfortunately for the Mopologists, they're in a bind. They're charged with, or they're self-appointed defenders of the indefensible. It's because they're on such shaky ground they're left with the above noted techniques to defend their nonsense. The best thing to do when engaging a Mopologist is to do nothing. They will generally avoid any discussion of historical value, or contemporary relevance. Their only goal is to get you to stop discussing Mormonism on your terms. They want you to rely on their Church's public affairs arm and "educational system" (wow, that has an Orwellian feel to it) for information related to Mormonism.
Please note a Mopologist is not a Mormon. Mopologists are, oddly enough, heretics or apostates... They just don't know it for the most part. The most important thing to a Mopologist is that the Church is True. Historical facts, doctrines, policies, and even the plain meaning of words have no bearing on the reality for a Mopologist which is this:
The Church is True.
A good example to the uninitiated is the Mopologist Apple Analogy. Let's say an apple represents Mormonism. When a Mopologist offers you an apple, it's an apple. Easy enough, no? Well, not so fast. When a critic offers you an apple, the Mopologist will tell you it's not an apple. It never was an apple. It's not the right color, shape, size, taste, and lacks the texture of an apple. In fact, what is an apple? Do apples even exist? Who is offering you this purported fruit (or is a vegetable?)? What is his motivation? He must be anti-apples. That man is a complete, uninformed idiot. Don't listen to him, and don't take that, whatever it is, from him. In fact, we must stop that man from offering this stuff to unsuspecting people, so let's censor him, and additionally, let's contact friends, family, employers, and church leaders reference his nefarious activities.
If you look at FAIR or Mopologetic blogs you'll see the ultimate form on the above-written behavior. They have complete control over their content, as they should, and they're free to do what they ultimately set out to do which is shooting the messenger, or publishing misinformation about their ideology (I won't call it Mormonism because it's so warped that it's can't begin to compare to it).
My take is simply this: Most Mopologists, who aren't mentally ill, don't believe in Mormonism the way other people who are faithful do. I think, for whatever reason, they're obligated to remain in Mormonism, and they start out with good intentions to defend their faith. When confronted with historical and contemporary facts, they begin to twist Mormonism to fit "The Church is True" imperative. At some point, they abandon their faith in historical and contemporary Mormonism, and create a Mormonism that fits such a twisted, or nuanced niche that they themselves would be labeled heretics if they were to espouse their Mormonism in Sunday School or during a Fast and Testimony meeting.
I've gotten to the point where I don't feel anything but sympathy for these men. It's a shame. They're prisoners to something that holds them in this church. They're not free. Hopefully, future defenders of Mormonism will calm down, accept facts for what they are, and then work within their own organization to transform it to a more honest, transparent, and empathetic church. Because right now, Mormon apologetics is a bitter fruit, and it does more harm than good.
- VRDRC
* Any edits are for grammar or spelling.
