The purpose of message boards

[_Scottie]

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.)

So, did I misunderstand you? Are you saying that in your extensive travels and callings that you HAVE heard members say that all critical material is anti and should be avoided at all costs? Or that they should ALWAYS follow the prophet?

[_Daniel Peterson]

Are you saying that in your extensive travels and callings that you HAVE heard members say that all critical material is anti and should be avoided at all costs? Or that they should ALWAYS follow the prophet?

I've heard just about everything, at one point or another.

I think members should follow the prophet. Have I denied that somewhere?

As to all material that's critical of the Church being "anti-Mormon," I'm sure I've heard some members use the term that way. But it hasn't been the dominant tenor in any Church unit with which I've been involved, anywhere, nor has such an idea been taught by any significant Church leader in my experience. And I don't use the term that way.

[_Canucklehead]

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.

I agree that this message board could do without a lot of the childish insults and invective that attempt to pass for "discussion". It's been said that a few posters can quickly bring the level of discourse to the lowest common denominator, and I have to agree.

However, this is perhaps the only place where critics and believers are BOTH free to engage in debate without one side being advantaged over the other.

[_KimberlyAnn]

Dr. Peterson, like Skippy and Scottie, I like your new avatar, but it is a bit too small.

I took the liberty of enlarging it for you in my Paint program. I'm afraid the image distorts a bit when enlarged, still, it's better than the tiny image you're using now.



KA

[_William Schryver]

Dr. Peterson, like Skippy and Scottie, I like your new avatar, but it is a bit too small.

I took the liberty of enlarging it for you in my Paint program. I'm afraid the image distorts a bit when enlarged, still, it's better than the tiny image you're using now.



KA

Try this instead:


This one's sized appropriately for the board:

[_KimberlyAnn]

Perfect, Will!

I hope Dr. Peterson uses it.

KA

PS. I feel like a dork asking this, but as many times as I've seen that character, I cannot place him! What cartoon villain is he?

[_William Schryver]

Perfect, Will!

I hope Dr. Peterson uses it.

KA

PS. I feel like a dork asking this, but as many times as I've seen that character, I cannot place him! What cartoon villain is he?

Snidely Whiplash!

Classic.


"Curses -- foiled again!"

[_Daniel Peterson]

Years ago, when my wife and I were first living in Cairo, there was a fairly late-night knock on our door. It was an American lady whom we had never met before -- she turned out to be the wife of NBC's Cairo correspondent. She was, she said, in charge of the Thanksgiving festivities at the American embassy. As part of this, they were putting on a melodrama. They needed a villain, she explained. She'd seen me about the neighborhood, and I fit perfectly.

So I ended up wearing black cloak and top hat, twirling my mustache, stealing a baby, and tying an heiress to the railroad tracks, all before a mostly drunk audience that broke out in several brawls during the course of the evening. (My wife, who actually has a drama degree, also took part, but in a scene from a play by Eugene O'Neill.) Afterwards, the then Undersecretary of State, Warren Christopher, who was visiting Egypt at the time and who would later become Secretary of State during Bill Clinton's first term, personally complimented me on my convincing villainy. (He was apparently sober, by the way.)

I choose Snidely Whiplash as my avatar here (I won't be using it much, I'm afraid) as a tribute to Secretary Christopher and to my numerous on-line critics, who have discerned the real me.

[_KimberlyAnn]

Was Snidley in the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons?

I'm very young. I barely remember those. ;)

KA

[_Canucklehead]

Years ago, when my wife and I were first living in Cairo, there was a fairly late-night knock on our door. It was an American lady whom we had never met before -- she turned out to be the wife of NBC's Cairo correspondent. She was, she said, in charge of the Thanksgiving festivities at the American embassy. As part of this, they were putting on a melodrama. They needed a villain, she explained. She'd seen me about the neighborhood, and I fit perfectly.

So I ended up wearing black cloak and top hat, twirling my mustache, stealing a baby, and tying an heiress to the railroad tracks, all before a mostly drunk audience that broke out in several brawls during the course of the evening. (My wife, who actually has a drama degree, also took part, but in a scene from a play by Eugene O'Neill.) Afterwards, the then Undersecretary of State, Warren Christopher, who was visiting Egypt at the time and who would later become Secretary of State during Bill Clinton's first term, personally complimented me on my convincing villainy. (He was apparently sober, by the way.)

I choose Snidely Whiplash as my avatar here (I won't be using it much, I'm afraid) as a tribute to Secretary Christopher and to my numerous on-line critics, who have discerned the real me.

I don't mean to be rude or to presume to read your mind, but perhaps one of the reasons that you're growing so tired of message boards is that you choose to focus on the personal attacks rather than spend the time and energy engaging the more interesting issues. You certainly seem to enjoy dwelling on any instance where a critic has insulted you.

I see that you've recently spent a fair amount of time in the Telestial forum going back and forth with Scratch, while a perfectly good invitation from Tarski (at MAD, no less) to discuss one of your published papers went, for the most part, unreturned. Perhaps if you focussed less on the perceived malevolence of some posters and more on the flaws in critics' arguments, you'd find the boards more fruitful.