The purpose of message boards

[_Jersey Girl]

Isn't one of the purposes of a message board to learn new things? To be able to ask questions?

Bonds chastisement when he asked about the date of a film over on MAD comes to mind. Should Bond be able to post a question where someone probably has the answer immediately available, rather than spending hours trying to find the information himself? If nobody has the information, then no harm done, right?

Do I really need to learn as much as Beastie regarding Mesoamerica in order to discuss the historacy of the Book of Mormon, or should I be able to pick her brain when I have a question (which I've done many times)? Does that make me lazy?

How much independent research is required before we engage on these boards?

You know, I've been thinking about boards in geneneral over the last week or so. One of the purposes certainly, is to inquire and to learn. I've known posters who were more than generous with their time in responding to questions on topics related to their fields of work. One can learn simply by reading or participating the threads in threads where a topic is raised and posters begin scrounging up material in order to contribute. I have to wonder though, just how valuable that is. Is the discussion about linkage? If that's what it amounts to, I'm not always interested. I like to think with people when the chance presents itself but most boards are a collection of people with different purposes and sometimes posters who differ in purpose depending on the topic or their mood. I'm a mood dependent poster myself. If I get my head into something then I try to contribute to the forwarding of the discussion. If I'm in a silly mood that's what you get from me.

What never ceases to fascinate me are the dynamics on boards. One of the reasons I keep coming back to a board is to observe the interaction between posters. I find it amusing/strange/weird whenever I see posters refer to interaction that took place years ago in order to embarrass someone, seek apology, exact revenge or just keep a feud going. It's almost as if a board is a "living book" and the characters themselves are writing it.

Think about that! That weirds me out beyond all belief!

Back to the OP. I do think that posters in a given category, in this case MAD, probably get tired of answering the same questions over and over and over again and that's why they tell people to go do their own research. At other times, I think it's a simple tactic of diversion or a way to place one's opponent into a lower ranking in some perceived hierarchal status they have created in their mind. In other words, a way to blow people off.


I think the OP is too complex a question to ask. I'm not sure why I tried!

[_Scottie]

Thanks for clarifying, A.I..

I agree with you. I can't tell you how many times I have posted a VERY common LDS teaching on MAD only to have them come back and CFR.

One that comes to mind is the mindset that anything that shows the church in a negative light it assumed to be "anti". The general membership is terrified of this kind of material, regardless if it's sold in Deseret Book or not. And this mindset is perpetuated by the local leaders. Of course, DCP will list his impressive resume of callings and wards that he's attended and claim that he has NEVER heard anything close to that. Either he is woefully out of touch with the members, or he is lying.

Another was that almost all of the Mormons I know obey the prophet without question. I got a CFR on that once. How do I CFR that???

[_Alter Idem]

I think some posters found that it was a successful tactic to use and so they use it. They aren't asking for information because they are interested in learning the truth--they just want "control" over their opponent and they want to intimidate them into not presenting information that supports their side--because it will mean having to defend every single point they try to make--it's too time consuming and futile when the other person's motives are not pure.

This is one of several reasons I refuse to participate on MAD. I experienced this phenomenon repeatedly in conversations about mesoamerica/Book of Mormon, and it was maddening. Juliann was the absolute worst offender. Her constant demands that I prove even the most basic concepts about ancient Mesoamerica, for no apparent reason other than to tire me out, derailed almost every thread about Mesoamerica I participated on at MAD. The funniest example is when she demanded that I present my OWN theory for which Mesoamerican polities could be considered for Book of Mormon localities when I was demonstrating the serious flaws of Sorenson's proposals.

I finally had enough when I spent literally hours providing detailed information about specific polities, upon Juliann's "request", only to have her completely ignore the information and even have the nerve to suggest I had ignored her "request".

This is very different than posters simply seeking information from people who have studied certain topics. Yes, I think it is a deliberate tactic used to distract and derail. I noticed it being used more by believers, but it's possible some critics may be engaging in it as well and I just didn't notice.

You know EXACTLY what I'm talking about LOL! Yes, she's one who uses the CFR to her advantage--she also twists what you say and then makes a CFR on what SHE says you said--which only derails even more. It also amps up the "heat" level in an exchange which can push the other poster into breaking one of the rules and getting suspended. It can be maddening.

I'm not sure I've seen critics at MADB use the tactic--if they try to, they certainly would get slapped down by the mods. It's some church defenders who I've seen use this tactic. And those who emply it, use it against anyone who is arguing against their position, TBM or critic.

[_Daniel Peterson]

Either he is woefully out of touch with the members, or he is lying.

Since, as a life-long member of the Church who is extremely well-connected with members at all levels in many states and countries, I'm plainly not "woefully out of touch with members," it's plain that I must be lying.

Thanks for clearing that up!

(I simply can't figure out why more believing Mormons don't flock to this wonderful board, where they'll be characterized as liars, mocked as insane, maligned, mind-read, and, if they're particularly fortunate, obscenely derided, and where they might even be able to read hopeful fantasies about their eventual gruesome deaths.)

[_Canucklehead]

Either he is woefully out of touch with the members, or he is lying.

Since, as a life-long member of the Church who is extremely well-connected with members at all levels in many states and countries, I'm plainly not "woefully out of touch with members," it's plain that I must be lying.

Thanks for clearing that up!

(I simply can't figure out why more believing Mormons don't flock to this wonderful board, where they'll be characterized as liars, mocked as insane, maligned, mind-read, and, if they're particularly fortunate, obscenely derided, and where they might even be able to read hopeful fantasies about their eventual gruesome deaths.)

Oh boo hoo. Apostates and atheists are often characterised as liars, covenant-breakers, untrustworthy etc. on this board and MAD. That's the nature of discussion-boards ... lots of insults get thrown around. It doesn't make for sound arguments, but if you choose to engage in discussion-board conversations, you pretty much have to accept that you'll be insulted at some point.

[_Alter Idem]

Thanks for clarifying, A.I..

I agree with you. I can't tell you how many times I have posted a VERY common LDS teaching on MAD only to have them come back and CFR.

Yes, I've seen that too. I do think that is an example of when it's used as a derailing tactic.

One that comes to mind is the mindset that anything that shows the church in a negative light it assumed to be "anti". The general membership is terrified of this kind of material, regardless if it's sold in Deseret Book or not. And this mindset is perpetuated by the local leaders. Of course, DCP will list his impressive resume of callings and wards that he's attended and claim that he has NEVER heard anything close to that. Either he is woefully out of touch with the members, or he is lying.

I think sometimes the problem is not lying, but selective memory. Some "teachings" have fallen out of favor so much to the point that only the really old timers would ever remember it being taught. I suspect DCP knows that some things were taught, but since they aren't taught now, LDS can disavow them and many will state emphatically they were never taught, if they did not personally hear them.

Also, there is a lot of grey in being able to say that seminary or sunday school teachers or one particular apostle "taught" something but it was not church approved--as in not "church doctrine". I think many use that as an excuse to ignore that some things were a part of the belief.

But most of the time, I see posters who just won't ever admit they are wrong. They will never concede or allow a critic to earn any "points" against them.

Another was that almost all of the Mormons I know obey the prophet without question. I got a CFR on that once. How do I CFR that???

That was a dumb CFR..and I've seen many of them. They are meant to hamper the discussion and derail, I think.

My oberservation; I wouldn't have given you a "CFR" for that--I would have commented that while that may be true, you can't generalize your own experiences with "all the Mormons" you know to the LDS population in general--I would have given an example from my own observation of LDS here in Salt Lake, that many ignore the prophet's counsel in many aspects of their daily lives, shopping on Sundays, attending R rated movies, getting into debt, not paying tithing--I'd probably also use myself as an example of an LDS person who doesn't "obey the prophet without question" since I don't do everything I know I'm supposed to--so the LDS you know are probably not the norm. I think, my comment would have allowed the conversation to continue, but it would have gotten my point across, that your observations of LDS cannot be generalized to the rest of LDS people.

[_Daniel Peterson]

if you choose to engage in discussion-board conversations, you pretty much have to accept that you'll be insulted at some point.

Gosh. Ya think?

[_the road to hana]

(I simply can't figure out why more believing Mormons don't flock to this wonderful board, where they'll be characterized as liars, mocked as insane, maligned, mind-read, and, if they're particularly fortunate, obscenely derided, and where they might even be able to read hopeful fantasies about their eventual gruesome deaths.)

Plagiarizing the MADB board mission statement again?

[_Canucklehead]

if you choose to engage in discussion-board conversations, you pretty much have to accept that you'll be insulted at some point.

Gosh. Ya think?

I'm just saying that the insults go both ways. The "innocent believers" who simply must avoid this horrible place aren't so innocent themselves... either here or on MAD.

[_Daniel Peterson]

Well, just for the record, I don't believe that all apostates are liars or adulterers, and have never said anything to that effect. Nor have I ever called them obscene names, let alone daydreamed (publicly or even privately) about horrible and humiliating deaths for them.

Nor do I think that discourse at the board formerly known as FAIR reaches the depths that are pretty frequently achieved here. If the owners of this board entertain any hopes that they're going to attract a representative sprinkling of believers to this place, I think they're deceiving themselves. Pending a dramatic change in tone, it simply isn't going to happen. (My bet is that they no longer do.)

That said, I agree that there's plenty of bad message board behavior from all sides.

I'm losing interest in message boards, for that and several other reasons. Now I simply need to overcome the addiction.