All of the former mo'pologists, now exmo, please stand up!

[_Polygamy-Porter]

Previous defends, now exmormons, on this board?

I am sure I will miss many. Here is my list of the top of my head.

Tal.

Kevin Graham.

Paul O. (Shulem)

Kelly. (Philo)

Water Dog.

Others?

Please feel free to take the mic and bury your exmo testimoany!

[Guest]

I was never an apologist but my road to atheism was paved by Nibley. Had I not discovered FARMS, I would not have become an atheist. Or at least, I would have gotten there at a later date by other means. And the real kicker is that my Chapel Mormon seminary teacher / Bishop in my mission interview warned me to stay away from FARMS. I didn't listen, and proved him right.

I'm here to tell you that Shades is right, and Mopologetics and FARMS is literally an apostate offshoot of Mormonism.

[_Meadowchik]

When I was small, I would construct ways for "God" I was taught about at church to make sense to me. I distinctively remember defining god as Love and Truth. I was 5 or 6. For forty years, I expanded on it.

Then I woke up.

[_Philo Sofee]

I was never an apologist but my road to atheism was paved by Nibley. Had I not discovered FARMS, I would not have become an atheist. Or at least, I would have gotten there at a later date by other means. And the real kicker is that my Chapel Mormon seminary teacher / Bishop in my mission interview warned me to stay away from FARMS. I didn't listen, and proved him right.

I'm here to tell you that Shades is right, and Mopologetics and FARMS is literally on apostate offshoot of Mormonism.

I find it fascinating how we can react differently to Nibley. What about him made you atheist? I think he had the opposite effect on me, he kept me in the Mormon game for years. I'm not trying to bore the board are dredge up old dead horses here, but would you mind sharing some of the details of what he was saying that was so weird to you that you went to non-believer. I think it would make useful and fun reading myself. Thanks Gd, yer awesome.

[_Shulem]

Paul O. (Shulem)

Most of my efforts were spent in defending the Book of Abraham and my top priority was to move LDS thinkers away from the Missing Roll Theory and get them to embrace the Catalyst Theory. I knew that the Catalyst Theory would hinder and even thwart antiMormon arguments -- thereby providing a huge gray area in which the church could safely rescue the Book of Abraham and set it down on safe ground.

I was right all along. The Catalyst Theory really was the only way to go. The Missing Roll Theory in which most apologists relied was already on life support and I knew that magnifying the problems associated with Facsimile No. 3 would prove the fatal blow and the only thing left for the church would be the Catalyst Theory.

Again, I was right. The recently published essay on the Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham is without question proof that the church is going to embrace my former ideas of Representationalism and sweep the whole Book of Abraham project into the realms of unconventional mystery.

But, here is the kicker: I knew that the Catalyst Theory was DOA and Facsimile No. 3 showcased Joseph Smith's fraud and when coupled with direct citations from Smith and his associates there was no where left to turn. The Catalyst Theory is shot down! I'm very excited about my recent discovery of the missing jackal snout and am confident this will further indict Joseph Smith in proving his translations/interpretations of hieroglyphs and pictorial imagery were centered around fraud and deceit.

In other words, the missing jackal snout is coming back to bite the prophet in the ass. The church is going to be forced to have to deal with the full ramifications of Facsimile No. 3 and how it proves the LDS church has slandered the ancient Egyptian religion. The jackal snout proves that Mormons altered the original record in order to serve their own purposes and create so-called Explanations that really have nothing to do with ancient Egypt but everything to do with the fraudulent mind of Joseph Smith.


Polygamy-Porter, you need to vote. 1-10?
BOOK OF ABRAHAM FACSIMILE NO. 3​​ WEBSITE

[_Gadianton]

I find it fascinating how we can react differently to Nibley. What about him made you atheist? I think he had the opposite effect on me, he kept me in the Mormon game for years. I'm not trying to bore the board are dredge up old dead horses here, but would you mind sharing some of the details of what he was saying that was so weird to you that you went to non-believer. I think it would make useful and fun reading myself. Thanks Gd, yer awesome.

Oh, but Mr. Sofee our paths were similar, yours path just took the scenic route around the mountain, or maybe around the entire mountain chain, or perhaps even around every mountain chain on the planet? Nibley was exactly what I needed to get me in gear to go into the MTC somewhat willingly. I had quite a FARMS collection I'd purchased with my money from the temp jobs I worked that I was proud of. I was a huge Nibley fan. Anyway, I got into a Bible bash on my mission with some guys who actually came to the table with some quality stuff they'd researched at the local university library for once instead of reciting Ed Decker. The topic doesn't matter but it was Old Testament related. Little did they know they were dealing with a student of Hugh Nibley, why, I dragged my comp to the same library on p-day to show them how it's done. I immersed myself in hard-core Bible commentaries for about an hour and irrespective of that dumb topic, I realized quickly that all the FARMS books I had were crap. I never read another one after that.

I'm a huge armchair fan of mountaineering, philo, and what Nibley and the apologists did was give me the false confidence that I could go out there and climb K2 by the Polish Line in the dead of winter and laugh my way to the top. The taste I got of the real thing was akin to, in the metaphor, getting on with the trek and beholding the glory, and horror, of K2 swirling with storms with my own eyes for the first time. My seminary teacher / bishop who was a handsome and charismatic guy was indeed, the king of all the Mormon fluff that's so irritating but I realized he was the king of fluff for a very good reason. Stay inside the Chapel where it's warm because nobody conquers the Savage Mountain.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

I'm a huge armchair fan of mountaineering, philo, and what Nibley and the apologists did was give me the false confidence that I could go out there and climb K2 by the Polish Line in the dead of winter and laugh my way to the top. The taste I got of the real thing was akin to, in the metaphor, getting on with the trek and beholding the glory, and horror, of K2 swirling with storms with my own eyes for the first time. My seminary teacher / bishop who was a handsome and charismatic guy was indeed, the king of all the Mormon fluff that's so irritating but I realized he was the king of fluff for a very good reason. Stay inside the Chapel where it's warm because nobody conquers the Savage Mountain.

Boy, ain't that the truth. What fascinates me is... How do they keep selling this nonsense snake oil claim to the folks? You look at the comments section of Sic et Non and these people think Mr. Peterson is sprinting up and down Everest with nary a concern.

Weird.

- Doc

[_Jesse Pinkman]

I was accused of being a Mopologist by Scratch, but I don’t really consider myself one. I’ve been through a faith crisis; l spent many years as a NOM, and am now basically inactive.

I don’t have any desire to do the Church harm, etc., but I disagree with the bulk of its policies and have basically formed my own personal set of beliefs.

I feel very free to do as I please, particularly since the divorce since my fiancé is a non-Mormon.

I am happy with where I am on my faith journey and would like to thank my friends here at Shady Acres for your support.

[_Kishkumen]

I was never part of the Mopologist scene, but I was a big reader of Nibley from my late teens all the way through my undergrad years. On my mission I was a “go-to” Elder for dealing with anti-Mormon writings and anti-cult ministry stuff. I debated Mormonism in a Christian bookstore, attended a morning Bible study led by a pastor (again, to debate Mormonism), kept some wavering investigators (of other missionaries) on the road to baptism by responding to their concerns, and even kept one missionary from bailing on the mission. I kept up the apologetics a bit at home, accompanying the elders to visit investigators who had encountered anti-Mormon material.

I took courses from Nibley at BYU and became something of a FARMS groupie. Then I became involved in online apologetics, crossing swords with the anti-Mormons (mostly Christian ones) in cyberspace.

It was in the process of arguing with anti-Mormons online and learning a lot more about Church history that I realized how poor and misleading LDS apologetics often were. Before long I found myself arguing more against the apologists than the critics. Reading Mopologetic book reviews turned me into a critic of Mopologetics. The skullduggery of Mopologists was a key factor in turning me into a critic.

[_Kishkumen]

I was accused of being a Mopologist by Scratch, but I don’t really consider myself one.

You’re not an apologist, but you do have a big (and in my opinion not fully justifiable) soft spot for your friend DCP, which you honor by taking up his cause here regularly.