Praise for Robert Boylan

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Kishkumen
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Praise for Robert Boylan

Post by Kishkumen »

In another thread about Robert Boylan, the following video was brought to my attention by drumdude:
drumdude wrote:
Sun Aug 20, 2023 8:58 pm
He doesn’t seem physically or mentally well in his latest video:

https://youtu.be/oDcNE5xFsHg

It’s like watching someone in a manic phase. His hands are more all over the place than that flamboyant LDS pianist. He’s just reading paragraphs at his guest without letting him speak. Bizarre.
I want to thank drumdude for posting this. Far from being grounds to ridicule Mr. Boylan, what I see is grounds for high praise.

Robert Boylan is happy to invite someone from another branch of the Restoration to appear on his show, and he treats this gentleman and his church with respect. It should also be noted that the gentleman in question is Black. Maybe Robert is not so racist after all?

I don't know all the details here, but what I see on the face of this situation is heartening. Kudos to Mr. Boylan for willingness to dialogue respectfully with people who belong to other branches of the Restoration!
"He disturbs the laws of his country, he forces himself upon women, and he puts men to death without trial.” ~Otanes on the monarch, Herodotus Histories 3.80.
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Re: Praise for Robert Boylan

Post by drumdude »

Kish,

Did you watch the video in its entirety? I’ll freely admit that I may have been completely wrong on it as I only skimmed through. Boylan doesn’t tend to organize his blog or videos for anyone who values their time, it’s typically just a flood of words with no context.

Would you be able to summarize the discussion between them?
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Re: Praise for Robert Boylan

Post by Tapir Rodeo »

Kishkumen wrote:
Tue Aug 22, 2023 3:38 pm
In another thread about Robert Boylan, the following video was brought to my attention by drumdude:
drumdude wrote:
Sun Aug 20, 2023 8:58 pm
He doesn’t seem physically or mentally well in his latest video:

https://youtu.be/oDcNE5xFsHg

It’s like watching someone in a manic phase. His hands are more all over the place than that flamboyant LDS pianist. He’s just reading paragraphs at his guest without letting him speak. Bizarre.
I want to thank drumdude for posting this. Far from being grounds to ridicule Mr. Boylan, what I see is grounds for high praise.

Robert Boylan is happy to invite someone from another branch of the Restoration to appear on his show, and he treats this gentleman and his church with respect. It should also be noted that the gentleman in question is Black. Maybe Robert is not so racist after all?

I don't know all the details here, but what I see on the face of this situation is heartening. Kudos to Mr. Boylan for willingness to dialogue respectfully with people who belong to other branches of the Restoration!
Boylan, like most people, is a complex person full of contradictions. Why does this guy get to come on Boylan's show and have a discussion while other people who have disagreed with him get a hit piece on his blog, or doxxed? As far as I can tell Boylan is more charitable towards people who disagree with him if they praise him. For example, "I think you are wrong Robert but you are also so smart and credible and I really respect you" goes a lot farther than "I think you are wrong Robert." Of course this isn't always true. I saw a black Reformed guy engage with Boylan on his own blog. The Reformed fellow praised Boylan and said he has respect for him. Boylan responded by calling this black Reformed guy a retard. So why the massive difference between the two reactions? I don't know.
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Re: Praise for Robert Boylan

Post by Kishkumen »

Tapir Rodeo wrote:
Tue Aug 22, 2023 5:14 pm
The Reformed fellow praised Boylan and said he has respect for him. Boylan responded by calling this black Reformed guy a retard. So why the massive difference between the two reactions? I don't know.
Could it be that Boylan is intolerant toward Reformed theology?
"He disturbs the laws of his country, he forces himself upon women, and he puts men to death without trial.” ~Otanes on the monarch, Herodotus Histories 3.80.
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Re: Praise for Robert Boylan

Post by Kishkumen »

drumdude wrote:
Tue Aug 22, 2023 4:26 pm
Kish,

Did you watch the video in its entirety?
I don't know all the details here, but what I see on the face of this situation is heartening. Kudos to Mr. Boylan for willingness to dialogue respectfully with people who belong to other branches of the Restoration!
"He disturbs the laws of his country, he forces himself upon women, and he puts men to death without trial.” ~Otanes on the monarch, Herodotus Histories 3.80.
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Re: Praise for Robert Boylan

Post by drumdude »

I’ll sacrifice some driving time and listen to all of it to get a more informed opinion on this then. Perhaps Boylan does deserve praise.
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Re: Praise for Robert Boylan

Post by Kishkumen »

drumdude wrote:
Tue Aug 22, 2023 7:04 pm
I’ll sacrifice some driving time and listen to all of it to get a more informed opinion on this then. Perhaps Boylan does deserve praise.
He may be deserving of more praise, but I would say that his willingness to have someone from another Restoration church on his show and to show a measure of respect to this representative is already praiseworthy.
"He disturbs the laws of his country, he forces himself upon women, and he puts men to death without trial.” ~Otanes on the monarch, Herodotus Histories 3.80.
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Re: Praise for Robert Boylan

Post by Tapir Rodeo »

Kishkumen wrote:
Tue Aug 22, 2023 6:25 pm
Could it be that Boylan is intolerant toward Reformed theology?
There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to his actions. For every example of intolerance or even bigotry towards a certain group there is an exception. The only thing that seems to keep Boylan from raging is if you kowtow to him before you disagree with him. He is obsessed with himself so that makes sense to explain some of his behavior. But even then, there are exceptions. For example, he calls protestants Satanic. He claims to have protestant friends. These protestant friends all sing Boylan's praises. One of these guys is black and Boylan calls him a retard. Boylan has a black guy who is a member of a different restorationist group on his podcast and treats him with respect. This black guy also praises Boylan. Boylan is part of a group that viciously attacks heartlanders and blames it on a fake black guy Boylan invented. And the unpredictability goes on and on.

When it comes to Boylan being respectful towards those who disagree with him, the common denominator is that they all kiss his butt. But even that doesn't save everyone from his rage.

It's also possible that the respectful thing is just an act that allows Boylan to build his "career" as an apologist. When people point out his nasty behavior he likes to appeal to the rare times when he as been cordial to an opponent as proof that his critics are lying. Even though his behavior towards dissenters is overwhelmingly vicious and the proof is still there for people to see.
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Re: Praise for Robert Boylan

Post by drumdude »

I’ve made it through their discussion of Mosiah 15. The video is incredibly boring and hard to slog through.

They’re just arguing about if God and Jesus are two separate beings or if they’re two roles in the same being.

Boylan isn’t doing any real work. He’s just laying out common arguments that have been used for 2000 years. I’m not really sure what the point of the debate even is.

I guess you could say the new part is the restoration and its view. But the debate brings up a serious problem. Why isn’t this debate settled amongst restorationists? The whole point of the restoration was to restore these lost truths. Yet here are two followers of Joseph Smith who can’t even agree on who and what God is.

I would much rather be hearing from Blake Ostler, or William Lane Craig, or James White, who know much more about the problems with modalism than Boylan. Boylan seems to just be using this as a platform to show the world he has read a bunch of books. He’s not adding anything to the discussion.
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Re: Praise for Robert Boylan

Post by Everybody Wang Chung »

Tapir Rodeo wrote:
Tue Aug 22, 2023 5:14 pm
The Reformed fellow praised Boylan and said he has respect for him. Boylan responded by calling this black Reformed guy a retard. So why the massive difference between the two reactions? I don't know.
Not a good look for Boylan to invite a black man on his podcast and then call him a "retard" afterward. It was only a few months ago that Boylan and Parker invented a fictional black Mormon apologist named Richard Nygren. Boylan's actions sure feel racist to me. Maybe Boylan hasn't completely reformed from his DezNat days?
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