My, my, my. I apostatize for a day, just to see how it feels, and then I spend the next day hung over and ashamed, and by the time I get back to Shadyville, I find I missed out on all sorts of fun!
Sethbag:
Will stop, you're freaking me out. You're wayyyyyyyyyyyy too good at this. ;-)
I’ve learned from the best here in Shadyville.
CKS:
Will's thread here is reading you your Miranda rights, though, all you potential foolees. Everything (apologetically useful) you write herein can and will be used against you, I'd guess.
His linguistic slipperiness is both intentional and premeditated.
You have the right to remain silent … but you just … can’t … help … yourself.
Coggins:
Just a spoonful of Kool-Aid helps the medicine go down. As a set of rationalizations for leaving the Church, this is rather standard potboiler stuff; shallow, self serving, and vain.
I think you mean “boilerplate”.
Beastie:
There is one part of Will's prank that I find very believable - that he's not that active in the church. After seeing several surprising confessions, over the years, by defenders of the faith regarding their minimal or nonexistent level of "real life" church activity, I have come to believe that a significant percentage of online defenders of the faith are either inactive or nominally active, or they have struggled with issues that would prevent them from obtaining temple recommends. Maybe something serious, like an affair, or WoW infractions, or something questionable like addiction to internet porn and/or masturbation. I wonder if they think by posting in defense of the church they're earning heavenly brownie points that compensate for their other problems. Or do they mentally count this as a form of "missionary work" so they can put a little check in that To Do column?
Well, well, well . . . now isn’t this interesting?Yes, dear, it’s true. My leaving the church has
nothing to do with historical issues, truth claims, etc., etc. I have lost my testimony because . . .
I am a sinner!And thus the formula for apostasy is laid bare for all to see.
Coggins:
If this was a prank, then just take my comments above and save them for the next confession or exit story that appears here, as it will probably, in typical potboiler fashion, be applicable to my analysis.
I think you mean “boilerplate”.
If this is a prank, then William has been a wry and diligent observer of the exmo world for some time, as his approach was a textbook example of most of the standard clichés and motifs of this mentality.
As beastie has confirmed in most eloquent fashion, all apostasy is, at its root, due to transgression.
CK:
I don't understand how anybody can think Will was serious in the OP. His post was so full of tired and overblown stereotypes that I think it would best be described as an attack on people who really have left the Church. So yes, William has been an apt observer of Mormon rhetoric against exmos and included a number of "standard clichés and motifs" of said rhetoric. But no, I don't think he really understands the "exmo world".
Of course not. Their thought processes are so completely alien to my experience that I cannot even approach an understanding of their world, their motivations, etc., etc. At least not as well as a nevermo like you. Maybe if I sin more . . . ?
The Dude:
Beastie, are you saying Will and other online apologists will apostatize because they are guilty of some secret sin? Are you saying guilt is a basic motivation for them?
Hello!
The Dude shows again why I like him so much.
But, of course, everyone knows that sin is the path to apostasy. It was for you, too. So why don’t you ‘fess up and give us all the sordid details?
Quaker:
It's like an internet messageboard Andy Kaufman experience. I love it. Thanks Will.
If you believe they put a man on the moon . . .
The Dude:
We've all seen it. Apologists who say, "Sethbag says he left because he learned about church doctrine and history, but that's not the real reason. He left because he had a problem with masturbation, or he committed adultry... those are the real reasons behind his actions. The more he protests that it was about the facts, the more sure we are that it was about secret sins." Man I hate that. I know you do to.
But how is it any different to say RayA or Will Schryver defend the church, not because of their stated reasons, but to compensate for [insert some collection of LDS sins here]?
This is wrong, guys. I suggest you disavow this thinking before Pahoran or Selek gets wind of it.
Looks like a PR debacle in the making, huh?
Beastie:
No, I actually don’t believe Will is going to apostatize at all. He already knows too much, and still retains faith, for me to think that knowledge is going to undermine his faith. He’s one I view as a True Believer.
And I have the bomb vest to prove it.
I do think he may have been truthful in stating he’s minimally active.
Now that I don’t have to attend stake presidency meetings twice a week, I’ve become as “minimally active” as possible. If they didn’t let me pick the hymns and play the organ each week, I wouldn’t go at all. Well, that and my wife expects me to show up for her gospel doctrine classes. Oh, and they need someone to play the piano in priesthood meeting. But other than that, I’m as disaffected and spiritually mediocre as the next guy.
I will admit that part of what prompted this musing on my part was that Will’s post reminded me of the rumor that went around ZLMB at one time regarding his possible inactivity as well.
They had rumors about
me on a message board I’ve never been on? Strange.
I am wondering if being a super TBM on an internet board makes them feel less guilty for their real life perceived inadequacies.
No. I feel worse. My life is a tawdry contradiction of sin and pretense. Oh, how I hate myself . . .
The Dude:
Or maybe their real life activities make them feel less guilty about being a super TBM on an internet board. Maybe they sin to let off steam.
No. We sin because . . . the
devil tempts us and we yield to his enticements.
And, in the immortal words of Bonnie Parker:
… death is the wages of sin.
http://www.cinetropic.com/janeloisemorr ... rpoem.html