Hello, Possums...My Final Exit from MD&D

[Craig Paxton]

Hi Craig,

I’m sorry you were treated so poorly. And by “treated poorly” I mean silenced despite being polite. There was one day, way back yonder, where, after reading a post by a Mopologist, I realized they operate by different rules than the rest of us. By “operate differently “ I mean given preferential treatment when posting in their sandbox, whatever manifestation of sandbox they leave their droppings.

At some point it dawns on you you’re essentially arguing over the length of Gandalf the White’s sword at the Battle of What-the-“F”-ever in Lord Dickmore’s epic ‘Magic Land with Orcs n’ crap’.

So. Yeah. I’m not saying there isn’t value in a community of Mormons, ex-Mormon, and Never Mormons talking about Mormonism, because there is - but, as with most things, you’ll just have to assign a value to talking about Mormonism and decide if you want to make space for it in your brain. It sucks when the nerds kick you out of the club, but you’re essentially telling them the Magic Land of Orcs n’ crap isn’t real and that sucks for nerds. They kinda want to make believe, and they don’t need Sir Buzzkill reminding them they’re LARPing. They know they are, and when they’re ready to stop it; they’ll come around.

Anyway. You’re awesome. Chin up ol’ chap. Carry on.

- Doc

I love this...thanks for sharing

[Craig Paxton]

I mistakenly assumed that by abandoning my anonymity, I might encounter a more civil experience on that board.

Nope. Once they became able to doxx you, you should've expected a LESS civil experience on that board.

I find being more transparent has had mental health benefits

Over the years, I had posted there anonymously under various tags. Initially as Craig Paxton, who was promptly banned, then as Johnnie Cake, Aussie Boy and probably other's that I have long since forgotten about, but they all had one thing in common, they all eventually got banned.

What's the word for doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Very true

I also naïvely believed that by being so open and transparent that the MD&D board members would be more respectful, fair minded, sympathetic and less arrogant in their cherished truth claims with me as well. That was dumb of me.

With all due respect, you're right. And so I"ve learned ...I need to stop running head first into that brick wall

1. She asserted that because the quotes came from a website critical of Mormonism (though the quotes themselves weren't critical) they should be somehow suspect or discounted, . . .

Not only is that Mopologetics 101, it's right there at the top of the syllabus. I should have read the syllabus lol

. . . and 2. for implying that because I hadn't cited the source of my copy-paste, I was therefore a plagiarist for not providing proper citation. As if posting on MD&D meet the same standards as a doctrinal dissertation.

That might be something you learn on Day 2, but it's still Mopologetics 101. Thankfully I'm done with MD&D, they can kiss my arse

Certainly, you must have been doing this longer than that.

But you've won. You have successfully disrupted the flow of the conversation, turning what could have been a lively and engaging exchange of ideas into a tedious nitpicking session of meeting your exacting standards for proper posting.

Umm, McFly? Mopologists aren't interested in lively and engaging exchanges of ideas with disbelievers. Certainly you must've picked up on this long before now. I will always hope that there can be a path to a civil discussion but probably not when discussing religion.

Instead of focusing on the substance of my OP, you've put me on the defense, attacked my character and forced me to get bogged down in trivial details, detracting from the overall enjoyment of this conversation.

Your enjoyment of the conversation is not a Mopologetic concern. MD&D is a microcosm of the Mormon church and its suffocating

This board is not a safe place to ask questions or present subject matter unless it meets your exacting standard.

Was it ever? Be honest. I had hopes and I gave it my honest effort but alias...

Perhaps not your intent, but your stilted, painfully irritating need to dot every i and cross every t, creates a hostile atmosphere for many of the posters here and honestly it drive us away. It's exhausting. But perhaps that is you[r] intent.

Gee, YA THINK?? LOL, right?

You prefer homogeneity instead of a diverse platform of ideas and opinions. You seem to get more pleasure from the policing of this board than from creating an environment where a civil discussion and exchange of ideas can take place.

Craig, Craig, Craig. . . Did you actually, truly manage to convince yourself that Mopologists have any interest whatsoever in "creating an environment where a civil discussion and exchange of ideas can take place?"

If so, I have some beautiful beachfront property in Arizona to sell you. MD&D is a very painful place full of micro aggression in it's mental gymnastical defense of Mormonism.

You've created a board where people like myself feel hesitant to express ourselves freely for fear of being scrutinized and corrected at every turn over seemingly minuscule matters that are of over whelming importance to you.

Umm, . . . that's not a bug, it's a feature. Their board their rules...but damn they make it such a painful place to play

For what its worth here is my advice for you, your annoying exactitude stifles honest and genuine expression. By driving folks like myself away, mind you I don't hide behind a wall of anonymity like everyone else here, you are diminishing the value of this community as a space for meaningful dialogue and mutual understanding.

"MD&D" and "a space for meaningful dialogue and mutual understanding" don't belong in the same sentence. I'm a lazy learner, what can I say

You are shrinking the idea gene pool and you know what that does to the over all health of your close-knit community.

When have they ever cared about that? I really gave it my best efforts to meet them half way, but their cherished beliefs would not allow them to meet me there

And as expected, all of the board members doubled down in their support of poor little Calm, many expressing their love and appreciation for Calm's rule keeping.

And the only thing surprising is that you're surprised. Honestly I was surprised by their unapologetic defense of Calm, and yes in hindsight that was just plain stupid

MD&D is a suffocating environment.

That's the most true thing you've said. Agreed

So my experiment and attempt at civil dialogue at MD&D is over. My attempt, though very flawed, is done. They can enjoy their silo of ideas and their mental inbreeding by patting themselves on their backs knowing that they have once again successfully ran yet another thought provoker away. Well done MD&D.

Umm, . . . would you believe me if I told you that I could've, uh, told you EXACTLY how your experiment would end before you even started it?

Well, it's my nature to be an eternal optimist but my optimism ran into the reality of MD&D's brick wall, I don't think a word I ever posted move the ball a single inch. I wanted to test my conclusions, but it was all for naught. They might say that that reality speaks to the weakness of my arguments, I might suggest that it speaks to their unwillingness to have an open mind and an inability to question their cherished beliefs. If Mormonism is true, I certainly want to know but the sad reality is that nothing they ever presented, persuaded me, it only pushed me further from belief and reinforced my conclusions.

[Craig Paxton]

Craig:

I've been reading your posts for a while at MD&D and sometimes would join in on your side, only to get banned. It's tough to realize that certain people will never be convinced that their "truth" is nonsense and if you are like I was, part of the need to post comes from the desire to justify your decisions when everyone else around you is blindly following. It's tough, but you're on the side of truth.

Dr Shades said some harsh things above, but they are true. Calm and the defenders over there believe they are still in the made up war in heaven and you are the enemy. Whatever it takes to beat the devil, whether blatant lies, mischaracterization, ad hominem attacks, etc., they will do.

You have to understand that it is a losing battle against them and that "saving" them from error is impossible, otherwise it'll continue to drive you nuts.



They believe the height of line on the left is most similar to the one their leaders say is most similar, when it comes to the religion. Full stop. How can one reason with such people in terms of religion? Sure, outside of it, they are smart, normal people, maybe a little peculiar, but nice people. My immediate family and friends from my youth come to mind.

However, there is the religious sore spot that will make them entrench more and more, the more you try to reason with them.

You have to be fine with the ridicule, because that is what happens when you try and fight false logic and false narratives. They will never concede and so let them hold onto the nonsense. Outside of Mormondom, they are the silly ones.

Well stated and yes I agree that this sums up my experience exactly

[Craig Paxton]

I have to agree with Dr. Shades on this one. What kind of treatment do you really expect from an apologetics board?

On the other hand, I could register and post there indefinitely, be critical, and never get banned. If you guys want to post there and avoid getting banned, I could provide some tips. Believe it or not, they are pretty tolerant compared to many if not most religious apologetics forums. There are places you wouldn't last a single post. There are places I wouldn't last more than a few posts.

ETA: I found the post in question and reviewed it. It looks like I don't need to explain how to survive at MD&D; just follow Teancum's lead. Teancum agreed fervently with Craig's opening post and shot down just about every desperate Mopologist retort. I'm glad I won't be registering there again to prove the point, my Lord, I'd forgotten just how nerve-grating TBM defenses of the fraud get. I might get baited into levying serious insults. As for Smac, I'll reiterate what I've said in the past, if I'm ever guilty of a serious crime, I hope to God Smac97 is the prosecuting attorney.

How does Teancum survive if the mods are so impossible? He registered in 2003 and has 9000+ posts.

You are of course correct. There is a "WAY" to remain in the good graces on the board but it involves ignoring all of the micro aggression spewed forth by their posting community. I gave it my best shot and in the end came up short. Calm's insinuation that the quotes I shared should be discounted because of where that collection had been cut and pasted from pushed me over the edge and I thought "F*** it" I don't want to play their game any longer, they can kiss my arse. It's pretty much where I ended up with all my previous attempts at posting there all ending in me being banned.

[Valo]

Aww. That sounds exhausting.

[High Spy]

Aww. That sounds exhausting.

Visiting just now, there was a Narrow Neck of Land thread that could be enlightened that the Book of Mormon lands were revealed to be across the ocean. Originally stated as being in England, but later clarified. But yeah, if demonstration earthquakes didn’t get the point across, then expending energy on stiff necked people will likely only lead to excruciating exhaustion.

(You can lead a horse to water, but he may refuse hydrating.)