Wade is posting on the postmorg!

[_karl61]

I went over to look and saw this:


Wade Englund
wintersfootsteps
YesIAmAPyr8

Not logged in: 31
Logged in anonymous:

[_why me]

why me's post on the exmo conference was pathetic. It demonstrated a lack of experience with "conferences" in general (of which there are many forms, professionalist and not) as well as utter insensivity to both the obvious and the nuanced at the exmormon conference: for example the lack of homogeneity on many levels among exmormons which makes that conference (as well as RfM, by the way) such a hodge podge---which is a good thing. Furthermore he also misses the important interstices in the program, the places where the truly important things go down: like finding amazing wonderful human beings with which to embark on emotionally deep, immensely satisfying, life-altering friendships.

His only point, runtu, was to find ways to declare it a "failure:" he was bored by a talk, maybe others were bored by other talks (I was, but at what 'conference' however construed does that not happen?), "sparse" attendance, people talking about their experiences just being a mirror version of testimony meeting (which of course is OBVIOUS to all and thus conducted with much irony as well as sincerity---often at the same time), blah, blah, blah.

Please go to MAAD and read the thread again. You will see some attendees agreeing with me. Also, the individual who did the sound also agreed with my 'complaint'. I think that I was right on the money. It sounded like a Mormon sacrament meeting complete with exmo testimonies and talks. As one poster said on my thread: It was lackluster.

Go and listen to the talks on the exmormonfoundation website and let me know what you think.

[_why me]

He's doing fine so far but yes, I do feel he was sent on a mission for whyme's enjoyment. Same as Ray A.

I was glad to see Ray A over there. But like I said, they treated him with kidgloves. Ray does have a name on the boards. It was not in their interest to ban him. A lesser known person may have gotten the boot early.

Ray also now has a more positive impression of the postmorg. But his original observation on his blog was right on the money. I am sure that he got that impression from lurking before he posted.

I hope that Wade can bridge the divide. I don't think that postmos should behave like exmos. I just want the site to live up to their mission statement. If they do that Wade and the postmos will do fine.

[_Some Schmo]

I hope that Wade can bridge the divide. I don't think that postmos should behave like exmos. I just want the site to live up to their mission statement. If they do that Wade and the postmos will do fine.

Um... there's a difference between "postmo" and "exmo"? Do tell.

[_Gadianton]

I just want the site to live up to their mission statement. If they do that Wade and the postmos will do fine.

Well of course! It's all up to the postmos, what Wade lives up to doesn't matter at all.

[_MishMagnet]

Why are you in such a frenzy over the mission statement at postmo, why me?

I'll admit that I've been posting there for quite some time and haven't even read the mission statement.

I also thought the conference was great. I had a wonderful time and thought the speakers did a great job. You're certainly entitled your your differing opinion. I am not wowed when I go to church with my parents. I don't typically start threads on it, though, in an effort to stir the pot. And after doing so I certainly don't profess to be a bridge builder.

[_Blixa]

why me's post on the exmo conference was pathetic. It demonstrated a lack of experience with "conferences" in general (of which there are many forms, professionalist and not) as well as utter insensivity to both the obvious and the nuanced at the exmormon conference: for example the lack of homogeneity on many levels among exmormons which makes that conference (as well as RfM, by the way) such a hodge podge---which is a good thing. Furthermore he also misses the important interstices in the program, the places where the truly important things go down: like finding amazing wonderful human beings with which to embark on emotionally deep, immensely satisfying, life-altering friendships.

His only point, runtu, was to find ways to declare it a "failure:" he was bored by a talk, maybe others were bored by other talks (I was, but at what 'conference' however construed does that not happen?), "sparse" attendance, people talking about their experiences just being a mirror version of testimony meeting (which of course is OBVIOUS to all and thus conducted with much irony as well as sincerity---often at the same time), blah, blah, blah.

Please go to MAAD and read the thread again. You will see some attendees agreeing with me. Also, the individual who did the sound also agreed with my 'complaint'. I think that I was right on the money. It sounded like a Mormon sacrament meeting complete with exmo testimonies and talks. As one poster said on my thread: It was lackluster.

Go and listen to the talks on the exmormonfoundation website and let me know what you think.

Not until you reread my post and realize that I am pointing out that your conception of what the conference "is" is problematically limited. You think the conference = talks. I'm not surprised; that's the way the notion of a conference is framed within Mormonism. My point is that it is much more/much different than that.

Even on the topic of the talks themselves we would differ, but that, to me is a more trivial issue. My point was that you literally attended a different conference than I did---because of the assumptions your notion of "conference" (and more to the point "exmos") is grounded in. In other words, I am arguing that you are ideologically incapable of recognizing the "other" conferences that were taking place at the same time and place. To put in Derridean terms (because I'm just perverse like that) the conference, like all texts, differs from itself--and that is what you are missing (in small part because you dismiss what you call "postmodernism," but that's another issue).

You would not have "seen" me at this year's conference, nor last years. At both conferences I had some of the most important experiences of my life. Last year I was able, through the divine power of the internet and the exmormon foundation, to miraculously meet the girl who babysat me (only once!) when I was a child. The odds of our ever running into each other were astronomical. Even more unlikely was that she would turn out to be such a rare and heroic person. It remains one of the highlights of my life.

This year, you would have "missed" me because I was in the lobby talking with Don Bradley for five hours, having one of the most stellar scholarly connections I've ever experienced. Being able to share intellectual passion is an unbelievably rare thing. To share it with such an exceptional person, even more rare.

My life has been marked with odd and random luck that has put me in contact with remarkable people, often just at the moment I most needed them in my life. My life is filled with more love than I even conceived was possible on this f-ed up planet we live our brief lives on. Its also filled with the energy and anger that comes from interacting with people of principle. Guess what, all that is part of "the conference," too.

(It goes without saying that many of these remarkable and remarkably kind people of principle are posters on this board that I also spent time with at the conference. You know who you are and I'm sure are not "offended" that I don't single you out by name. This is a rushed post because I'm going off to witness the burial of my beloved grandmother's body in a few minutes. Thanks again to everyone who has helped me through that.)

[_Some Schmo]

This is a rushed post because I'm going off to witness the burial of my beloved grandmother's body in a few minutes.

I'm sorry to hear of your loss, Blixa. Be well.

[_KimberlyAnn]

Those poor people on PostMormon! I suppose I need to get over there and clue them in on Wade's real modus operandi. They need to be aware that they're all cognitively impaired and that any issues they have with the Mormon church are all due to their inability to look inward and see their own faults, which Wade will so generously point out to them, out of the goodness of his heart, of course.

And Why Ne, (no, that's not a typo), the Exmo Conference was not sparsely attended, but like last year, the best parts of the conference were to be found in the hotel lobby or the bar, meeting other exmos and making new friends who make real differences in our lives. I met wonderful people there this year, as well as spent time with my lovely friend, MishMagnet. Personally, I really don't care to attend all the talks, but I do care to meet people and socialize with friends who've been through the same experiences with Mormonism as me.

This year, I had the privilege of sitting at the same dinner table as Sandra Tanner. She seems to be a remarkable lady and I was glad to meet her.

Too bad you started a thread on MAD about a conference you didn't attend and with which you have no familiarity.

KA

[Anonymous]

Here's the bridge that Wade will build with exmos:

Exmormonism:=========================================================All Exmos=Wade=:Mormonism

In addition exmos will have to:

--Pay homage and respect to the LDS Church and it's leaders
--Must agree to the idea that the LDS scriptures might be true (and agree that they hold moral truths irregardless)
--Agree not to make fun of any LDS doctrines, cultural issues, or anything possibly remoting tied to the LDS church
--Agree not to complain about any time or money that the exmos may have contributed to the LDS church that they now regret having contributed
--Agree not to complain about how the LDS church effects an exmos' family or social network
--Agree not to talk about the "warts" of church history or (past or current) church leaders or church doctrine

In order to bridge the gap with Wade.