DiscussMormonism.com

Dan Petersen has referred to this board as the Dan Petersen obsession board. There have been a number of threads that respond to something he has written or said. My impression is that DanP spends a lot of his writing focusing on contributions to the Interpreter or writings on NDEs.

I have benefitted on many contributions made here on several issues. There are some smart dudes on this board. Would it be a fair comment that most contributors here are either atheists' or agnostic on the subject of religion.

Are there any good things the church does? If it takes a more liberal approach to its scriptures there might be a larger number exiting he church.

If you had the opportunity to talk to Dan face to face what would you ask him.

hauslern wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 21, 2022 12:33 am

Are there any good things the church does?

Yes.

hauslern wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 21, 2022 12:33 am

If you had the opportunity to talk to Dan face to face what would you ask him.

Why does the LDS church need apologetics?

It's always fun to see Prof P refer to DiscussMormonism without giving his readers the link to determine how far his descriptions represent reality.

Yes, there are plenty of threads that involve him in some way or another, but there are lots more that don't, and in which substantial conversations take place. And, yes, there are lots of really smart people here.

The church "does" some things really well. I know people in real life who have almost certainly been saved from a life of misery for themselves and their families by joining the church. This has been mainly as a result of abstaining from alcohol, and from learning to respect others - especially by being faithful to their spouses.

I've had a couple of exchanges of ideas with DCP in the past, and am not much inclined to ask him anything at all. Based on our (brief) history, I'm not sure that he would either understand what I might conceivably ask or respond in a thoughtful and respectful way. In one of our last exchanges - about 15 years ago - I found his reading comprehension skills to be so poor that I gave up completely. It seemed to me that he was determined to fit our conversation into a pattern that was familiar to him so that he could accuse me of indirectly maligning him. Not worth the effort.

doubtingthomas wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 21, 2022 12:38 am

hauslern wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 21, 2022 12:33 am

Are there any good things the church does?

Yes.

hauslern wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 21, 2022 12:33 am

If you had the opportunity to talk to Dan face to face what would you ask him.

Why does the LDS church need apologetics?

If you consider that question honestly, really honestly, I think you know the answer to that.

There is an inordinate amount of threads and posts dedicated to Dan here, one has to admit.

Dan doesn’t allow any pushback on his blog, although he still engages with it by reading here. It’s a very silly system that he could avoid by allowing critical comments on his blog. Or posting here, as he used to do.

I think Peterson would do well to actually converse with critics every now and then. But he’s content to have gemli as a punching bag. He enjoys being the big fish in the small pond.

hauslern wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 21, 2022 12:33 am

Are there any good things the church does?

In my opinion, the LDS church's usefulness, like that of all religions, is waning. There was a time when organized religions brought some social cohesiveness to a community, especially when society was more agrarian and there was substantial distances between houses. By appealing to an all-powerful character as the source of edicts, that squelched debate that often over politics mired the public discourse. All looking in the same direction, towards "God" and collectively hissing and booing in the other direction at Satan gave people a greater commonality and less devisiveness. It helped quell that basic human restlessness. As that Faustian melodrama played out, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday, the parishioners were recharged to face the harsh realities of nature for the week to follow, having a renewed sense of community to defeat their loneliness and a renewed belief that the all-powerful, all-just "God" would after we die rectify all of this life's harsh injustices.

Today, as societies are more urban and suburban, and we have more means of instant communication available (like the internet) we can instead choose to associate and communicate with those that share more of our interests and ideas (like those of us attracted to this, discussmormonism.com). We might not know our physical neighbors, those in close geographic proximity, but we do know more about those who we choose to interact with, no matter how many hundreds or thousands of miles away.

This change risks a return to greater homogenization culturally, and less diversity. That in turn reduces tolerance of others. But, religions--especially those with aged gerontocracies--cling to past notions of intolerance, and in so doing, are also causing less diversity and less tolerance. To wit, the LDS church as recently as November 2015 issued the homophobic policies that it did, that led to many leaving the LDS church. So even where religions could serve a useful, civic purpose they come up short.

Are there any good things the church does? I think if one in need of comraderie keeps there involvement at arm's length and keeps in mind that as that need passes, most likely to will any involvement, then I think the church provides a good stop-over as people rebuild their lives so that they can then move on without it. Other than that, I think any good things are way outbalanced by the negative aspects of the church.

drumdude wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 21, 2022 5:24 am

Dan doesn’t allow any pushback on his blog, although he still engages with it by reading here. It’s a very silly system that he could avoid by allowing critical comments on his blog. Or posting here, as he used to do.

I think Peterson would do well to actually converse with critics every now and then. But he’s content to have gemli as a punching bag. He enjoys being the big fish in the small pond.

But DCP doesn't like anyone to be allowed to disagree with him. That's why he's created the dynamic he has.

sock puppet wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 21, 2022 3:45 pm

Today, as societies are more urban and suburban, and we have more means of instant communication available (like the internet) we can instead choose to associate and communicate with those that share more of our interests and ideas (like those of us attracted to this, discussmormonism.com). We might not know our physical neighbors, those in close geographic proximity, but we do know more about those who we choose to interact with, no matter how many hundreds or thousands of miles away.

It’s looking like this - with politics layered across it - replaces religion, serving to provide that ‘commonality’ or community between a particular group of individuals, without the stifling requirement of having to follow some of religion’s social requirements and moral niceties, too.

All of that ‘love thy neighbor’ stuff can be downright exhausting for some folks.

Binger is saying he is banned from terrestrial, is that true? It so is it permanent?

in my opinion he should be allowed to return and participate and if he violates the rules he can simply be banned temporarily again.

Salvete wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 21, 2022 2:24 am

There is an inordinate amount of threads and posts dedicated to Dan here, one has to admit.

Who cares? The guy says a lot of stupid crap.

If people want to create threads about Peterson, just let them. It's not a crime.