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I have always just assumed that WD was Schryver, for what it's worth. Given the above posts, though, I cannot help but wonder about what happened with Hamblin. After Jenkins mopped the floor with him, he seemingly vanished. He retired from BYU so you kind of have to wonder why he never got involved more aggressively with Mormon Interpreter. At the outset, he was a major player, but he very publicly withdrew after announcing that his department at BYU had admonished him over his involvement, and had told him that Mopologetics was "not real scholarship." Midgley still pops up in the comments on DCP's blog here and there, and Gee is still adding entries to "Forn Spoll Fira," but Hamblin has been noticeably absent from the scene.

Doctor Scratch wrote:I have always just assumed that WD was Schryver, for what it's worth. Given the above posts, though, I cannot help but wonder about what happened with Hamblin. After Jenkins mopped the floor with him, he seemingly vanished. He retired from BYU so you kind of have to wonder why he never got involved more aggressively with Mormon Interpreter. At the outset, he was a major player, but he very publicly withdrew after announcing that his department at BYU had admonished him over his involvement, and had told him that Mopologetics was "not real scholarship." Midgley still pops up in the comments on DCP's blog here and there, and Gee is still adding entries to "Forn Spoll Fira," but Hamblin has been noticeably absent from the scene.

There was a brief time when I first started reading this board (long before I first posted) that I wondered whether YOU might be Daniel Peterson, Dr. Scratch, and that he was really trying to “F” with people. In the end, though, your sentence patters are clearly different, but more than that your expert anonymity was clearly incompatible with his obvious need to be known.

Symmachus wrote:

Doctor Scratch wrote:I have always just assumed that Water Dog was Schryver, for what it's worth. Given the above posts, though, I cannot help but wonder about what happened with Hamblin. After Jenkins mopped the floor with him, he seemingly vanished. He retired from BYU so you kind of have to wonder why he never got involved more aggressively with Mormon Interpreter. At the outset, he was a major player, but he very publicly withdrew after announcing that his department at BYU had admonished him over his involvement, and had told him that Mopologetics was "not real scholarship." Midgley still pops up in the comments on DCP's blog here and there, and Gee is still adding entries to "Forn Spoll Fira," but Hamblin has been noticeably absent from the scene.

There was a brief time when I first started reading this board (long before I first posted) that I wondered whether YOU might be Daniel Peterson, Dr. Scratch, and that he was really trying to ____ with people. In the end, though, your sentence patters are clearly different, but more than that your expert anonymity was clearly incompatible with his obvious need to be known.

I like Dr. Scratch. I've been one of his confidential informants, on a trivial topic. I was almost railroaded off this board by saying I thought he was a woman or that he was a committee.

Yahoo Bot wrote:I like Dr. Scratch. I've been one of his confidential informants, on a trivial topic. I was almost railroaded off this board by saying I thought he was a woman or that he was a committee.

Yeah, his writing and insight is pretty compelling, or at least a fun read. I miss the days of him badgering the apologists and watching him get under their skin. Fun times...

- Doc

Doctor CamNC4Me wrote:

Yahoo Bot wrote:I like Dr. Scratch. I've been one of his confidential informants, on a trivial topic. I was almost railroaded off this board by saying I thought he was a woman or that he was a committee.

Yeah, his writing and insight is pretty compelling, or at least a fun read. I miss the days of him badgering the apologists and watching him get under their skin. Fun times...

- Doc

There just aren't truly qualified apologists here any more. All driven off by one tactic or another. I know Dr. Peterson was threatened by a (I mean, "with a") lawsuit and with violence from this board. This board is not a pleasant place. Dr. Shades banned me for an entire month. And I'm an old grandpa in a wheelchair. Like one of the Muppets guys in the balcony.

In the end, DCP left because he couldn't deal with the arguments, and with the sheer volume and variety of criticism. If I recall correctly, he was being asked questions about the Book of Abraham right before he permanently abandoned MDB, which he calls a "wretched board." He realized that he could assert far more control (in the form of censorship, naturally) by sticking to blogging. Plus, the expulsion from the MI happened, and believe he was likely chastised by the Brethren (or their delegates) about doing certain things online.

But the business about the lawsuit--yes, I certainly remember that, and Prof. P. was chased off the board for a time, but he wound up coming back. There was also that time when he was testifying in the Brian David Mitchell trial, and Infymus threatened to send his posts to Mitchell's defense team. DCP responded by threatening to sue Dr. Shades and MDB! Talk about misplaced anger. In the end, it's probably most accurate to say that he was just overwhelmed by the criticism he faced here.

Always nice to stroll down memory lane, in any event....

Yahoo Bot wrote:And I'm an old grandpa in a wheelchair. Like one of the Muppets guys in the balcony.

The old grandpa in a chair who does triathlons. Yeah.

Yahoo Bot wrote:
There just aren't truly qualified apologists here any more. All driven off by one tactic or another. I know Dr. Peterson was threatened by a (I mean, "with a") lawsuit and with violence from this board. This board is not a pleasant place. Dr. Shades banned me for an entire month. And I'm an old grandpa in a wheelchair. Like one of the Muppets guys in the balcony.

I am having a hard time not taking this post personally, because we are about the same age Bob.

Kishkumen wrote:

Yahoo Bot wrote:And I'm an old grandpa in a wheelchair. Like one of the Muppets guys in the balcony.

The old grandpa in a chair who does triathlons. Yeah.

The grandpa story seemed to make sense of some of his readings of my post, but if he does triathalons I'll have to fall back on my previous theory that he has a drinking problem.

Water Dog is Will Schryver.

I have no idea whether Will has truly left the Church or if he's just playing another one of his silly little games with his Water Dog sockpuppet. I guess I don't really care. Will has always been a bore to me.

I do know that Bill Hamblin has stopped attending Church. Bill will show up for the occasional Sacrament meeting every few months, but for the most part Bill is done attending Church.

I'm not sure if Bill no longer believes in the Gospel or whether he's still upset from the perceived mistreatment he's received from BYU and the Church. It's also possible that he finds attending Church to be dreadfully tedious just like Lou Midgley recently admitted.

It could also be that Bill's crumbling marriage and subsequent divorce have taken their toll and have caused him to continue his emotional downward spiral, which started with his ouster from the Maxwell Institute.

Finally, it's entirely possible that Bill has had much time to reflect on his wasted and empty career in Mopologetics and the damage it caused numerous individuals, including his own family. And, Bill just wants to spend what precious little time he has left attempting to salvage relationships and undo the damage done in the name of Mopologetics.

The story of Mopologetics is one filled with sound and fury, but in the end, signifying nothing. At this point, we can do nothing, really, but stand here and pity them. The surviving Mopologists (DCP, Midgley, Gee) can stop whenever they want to. But somehow they can't stop, and as the hundreds and thousands of hours of weariness and futility wasted on Mopologetics begin to accumulate we clearly see that behind the Mopologists' forced smiles and desperate faces, they are truly trapped in their tragic roles.