Meet the Mopologists

[_Mister Scratch]

(Thanks, consiglieri, for the kind words!)

Mister Scratch, do you have a link to video #3?

I have gone ahead and edited the post so that it now includes a link to the film. Pop yourself some popcorn and enjoy! This is undoubtedly Shirts's best.

[_LifeOnaPlate]

3:11, Shirts introduces us to LifeOnaPlate and his wife. Shirts says of her, "She's the better half." LoaP glumly replies, "She's the shorter half," forcing a smile and stalking off cantankerously, pretending to look at the book display. "That's the only thing impressive about her?" says Shirts, chuckling, to LoaP's back. But LoaP makes no reply.

I wasn't pretending at all. Believe it or not, I was actually there in the FAIR bookstore, looking at books.

[_Dr. Shades]

Hey Mister Scratch,

Remember in video #1 when Kerry greeted and put his arm around Juliann? Do you think he'd have been so enthusiastic if he'd remembered how she threw him under the bus trying to convince Jersey Girl that he, not her, was the one responsible for the Mr. Itchy debacle?

[_Mister Scratch]

Hey Mister Scratch,

Remember in video #1 when Kerry greeted and put his arm around Juliann? Do you think he'd have been so enthusiastic if he'd remembered how she threw him under the bus trying to convince Jersey Girl that he, not her, was the one responsible for the Mr. Itchy debacle?

Heh. I don't know about that. in my opinion, the bulk of the people on the video seemed, above, all to have a rather desperate need for validation. A good percentage of Kerry's commentary seemed aimed at reassuring both himself and his audience (which, let's remember, is purported to be mainly Bill Hamblin) about how thorough, serious, scholarly, and legitimate the whole Mopologetic enterprise is. It's as if a mere glance at the tables of books is enough to establish the truthfulness of all of Mormonism.

[_The Nehor]

Heh. I don't know about that. in my opinion, the bulk of the people on the video seemed, above, all to have a rather desperate need for validation. A good percentage of Kerry's commentary seemed aimed at reassuring both himself and his audience (which, let's remember, is purported to be mainly Bill Hamblin) about how thorough, serious, scholarly, and legitimate the whole Mopologetic enterprise is. It's as if a mere glance at the tables of books is enough to establish the truthfulness of all of Mormonism.

That's odd. I think the same thing when I look at how many dossiers you've written.

[_LifeOnaPlate]

It's as if a mere glance at the tables of books is enough to establish the truthfulness of all of Mormonism.

Or it's as if a mere glance at a room full of people is enough to establish the falseness of all of Mormonism.

[_Daniel Peterson]

This, I believe, is the same Jan who became notorious during the whole "Murphy transcript" episode. . . . an uncomfortable laugh . . . He tries to diffuse the situation . . . Roper, as many here will recall, was implicated by DCP as being responsible for the bogus "Florida Horse" citation on the FARMS FAQ. . . . Louis Midgley's verbal harangue of Sandra Tanner. . . . LoaP glumly replies . . . stalking off cantankerously, pretending to look at the book display. . . . The Backyard Professor bashes the work of Dan Vogel . . . in my opinion, the bulk of the people on the video seemed, above, all to have a rather desperate need for validation.

A relatively restrained example of Master Scartch's typical relentless rhetorical spin and his never-ending hostile pop-psychological focus on persons rather than on substantive issues.

He seems to have backed off, though, at least for the moment, from sneering about his targets' physical appearance and hypothetical blood pressures, which represents perhaps some progress.

[_Mister Scratch]

A relatively restrained example of Master Scartch's typical relentless rhetorical spin and his never-ending hostile pop-psychological focus on persons rather than on substantive issues.

I hope one day to achieve the level of penetrating psychological insight contained in the pages of FARMS Review, and within the links of SHIELDS. I still have a long way to go, however.

That said, I can't help but notice how... upset so many of the TBMs on this thread seem to be. I mean, whew! You would think that they'd never heard of movie reviews, or of reviews in general! But, then again, we know that these folks are well aware of SHIELDS, l-skinny, the MADboard, and FARMS Review. So, I kind of have to wonder what all the fuss is about.

[_Dr. Shades]

It's as if a mere glance at the tables of books is enough to establish the truthfulness of all of Mormonism.

That reminds me: Another thing I find incredibly odd about all three videos is how Kerry repeatedly says, over and over, "Look at all these books! And they say Mormons never read!" or some variation thereof.

Who has ever accused Mormons of not reading or not owning books?? In my experience, no critic has ever made such a claim.

[_Mister Scratch]

It's as if a mere glance at the tables of books is enough to establish the truthfulness of all of Mormonism.

That reminds me: Another thing I find incredibly odd about all three videos is how Kerry repeatedly says, over and over, "Look at all these books! And they say Mormons never read!" or some variation thereof.

Who has ever accused Mormons of not reading or not owning books?? In my experience, no critic has ever made such a claim.

Yes, you're quite right, Dr. Shades. Come to think of it, I cannot recall having ever been around another group of people who apparently feel the need to repeatedly make mention of all the books they read, or how many books they own, etc. It is almost as if there is a kind of fetishization of books going on---both in the films, and within Mopologetics more generally. And, of course, the actual content of the books seems far less important to Shirts and his ilk that the mere fact that they exist: "Well, hey, there's a book on Book of Mormon geography! Look at that! And it costs eighty-five bucks! The Church is true!"