Kerry Shirts and the "Impossible Sit-Up"

[_Bond James Bond]

http://www.mormonapologetics.org/index. ... opic=42985

In a spirit of commencement camaraderie I would like to congratuate Tribunal on his completion of course work at the U. of Backyard Studies. I'm sure that term paper in MOP 432: Bullseyes from Bulgarian and Burgundian Art Work will be a fun read when it's published.

[_Kishkumen]

Classic!

No doubt you're right on the mark, Kissassman. Kerry gets all dolled up in fancy Egyptian robes and headdress and then goes Nibley-wild on all the little girls in the neighborhood.

You people are so freakish ...

And you, sir, are an ill-informed bag of hot air. Ask Mr. Shirts about his dabbling in Tarot and Kabbalah, and then come back with your wise-ass "commentary." Bozo.

[_Kishkumen]

I read Hamblin's comment as nothing more than good-natured ribbing. But I haven't watched any BYP videos, so I don't know if there is anything that contradicts the FARMS view of things.

Sure. Good-natured ribbing that "gently" puts him in his place.

[_William Schryver]

Classic!

No doubt you're right on the mark, Kissassman. Kerry gets all dolled up in fancy Egyptian robes and headdress and then goes Nibley-wild on all the little girls in the neighborhood.

You people are so freakish ...

And you, sir, are an ill-informed bag of hot air. Ask Mr. Shirts about his dabbling in Tarot and Kabbalah, and then come back with your wise-ass "commentary." Bozo.

Sorry Kissassman, I've spoken with Kerry a lot, and I do understand his motivations in looking into such things, and it's certainly not what you think.

In fact, the Tarot and Kabbalah are quite fascinating in many respects. There are intimations of ancient influences, and that's precisely what fascinates Kerry. He's looking for "connections". He's not doing readings, or anything of the sort.

You are such a freakish cartoon character!

[_Kishkumen]

Sorry Kissassman, I've spoken with Kerry a lot, and I do understand his motivations in looking into such things, and it's certainly not what you think.

In fact, the Tarot and Kabbalah are quite fascinating in many respects. There are intimations of ancient influences, and that's precisely what fascinates Kerry. He's looking for "connections". He's not doing readings, or anything of the sort.

You are such a freakish cartoon character!

And you are a disingenuous, hair-splitting, and crappy apologist. You are also an ignoramus. You have no idea what I know or do not know about Mr. Shirts' motivations for dabbling in occult sciences or where I learned it. Clearly you intend to call into question the definition of occult, all the while being well aware that Tarot is commonly considered an occult instrument in LDS culture.

Now, I have no particular qualms about Shirts playing around with these things in his quest for hidden truths, but my original point, which you, as usual, failed to grasp, is that there are many other LDS folk who would (erroneously or not). Instead you simplistically interpreted (as you are wont to do) my comments as a slam of Shirts, which they most certainly were not. Kerry is a decent fellow, if something of a looney. He is your superior in almost every respect, and thank goodness for that.

[_William Schryver]

Sorry Kissassman, I've spoken with Kerry a lot, and I do understand his motivations in looking into such things, and it's certainly not what you think.

In fact, the Tarot and Kabbalah are quite fascinating in many respects. There are intimations of ancient influences, and that's precisely what fascinates Kerry. He's looking for "connections". He's not doing readings, or anything of the sort.

You are such a freakish cartoon character!

And you are a disingenuous, hair-splitting, and crappy apologist. You are also an ignoramus. You have no idea what I know or do not know about Mr. Shirts' motivations for dabbling in occult sciences or where I learned it. Clearly you intend to call into question the definition of occult, all the while being well aware that Tarot is commonly considered an occult instrument in LDS culture.

Now, I have no particular qualms about Shirts playing around with these things in his quest for hidden truths, but my original point, which you, as usual, failed to grasp, is that there are many other LDS folk who would (erroneously or not). Instead you simplistically interpreted (as you are wont to do) my comments as a slam of Shirts, which they most certainly were not. Kerry is a decent fellow, if something of a looney. He is your superior in almost every respect, and thank goodness for that.

Thus saith Kissassman as he spews frothy sputum all about the room. Careful buddy, or they'll put you in the same room with Kevin Graham.
.
.
.
Did I mention that you are a freakish cartoon character?

[_Kishkumen]

Thus saith Kissassman as he spews frothy sputum all about the room. Careful buddy, or they'll put you in the same room with Kevin Graham.

What can I say? It gets wearing to deal with a self-promoting liar. I sympathize with Kevin in having dealt with you so long on Book of Abraham issues. It would take superhuman patience not to become frustrated with your ceaseless river of braggadocio, crapola, and empty promises. At least you have enough self-respect to shift from bogus criticisms to mindless insults when you have been caught out for the ignorant lightweight you are.

[_Doctor Scratch]

Ouch. To think: Prof. Shirts spent all that time plugging Hamblin's trip to Oxford....and this is the paltry thanks he gets?

I read Hamblin's comment as nothing more than good-natured ribbing.

Well, I think you have to bear in mind the way that the Mopologetic hierarchy is set up. There is a rather colossal and monolithic insistence on status---with the Ph.D.-possessing BYU professors clearly at the top. And Kerry tries so hard to impress, and to get on the good side of the DCPs and the WJHs. Thus, when they treat him this way, it is disgusting, imho. DCP's eye-rolling, condescending, just-barely toleration of the Shirts interview at the FAIR conference only underscored all of this in my eyes.

[_William Schryver]

Thus saith Kissassman as he spews frothy sputum all about the room. Careful buddy, or they'll put you in the same room with Kevin Graham.

What can I say? It gets wearing to deal with a self-promoting liar. I sympathize with Kevin in having dealt with you so long on Book of Abraham issues. It would take superhuman patience not to become frustrated with your ceaseless river of braggadocio, crapola, and empty promises. At least you have enough self-respect to shift from bogus criticisms to mindless insults when you have been caught out for the ignorant lightweight you are.

I certainly don't deny that, in the view of the denizens of The Great and Spacious Trailer Park™ I am a fountain of "braggadocio, crapola, empty promises" and "mindless insults". And most certainly an "ignorant lightweight." Indeed, I glory in your denigration.

That said, you might find it ironic that our little chats serve as diverting entertainment for some people who you probably wouldn't even think inclined to follow the goings on here. And yet they do. In fact, in conversation this past weekend with a certain prominent individual in this group, he asked me how I managed to remain so patient and self-deprecating in the face of such abject ignorance and vicious attacks. I told him that it's quite easy: "I know that most of the arguments I've made [the ones related to Book of Abraham questions] are about to be vindicated in ways and in places where they will not be subject to facile contradiction. I know what's going on. They don't. And the more they commit themselves to the posture that I am the blithering idiot in this picture, the more painful it's going to be for them when it becomes undeniably apparent to reasonable people that I'm not."

So, Kissassman, you and your bum-buddies Nurse Scrotchet and Cracker Graham can rant all you want for the present. Wax eloquent in your seemingly endless denunciations of Schryver the Imbecile. I'm cool with it. Really. Fill your cup to overflowing. One day you'll have to drain it and wring the dregs.

[_Ray A]

http://www.mormonapologetics.org/index.php?showtopic=42985

Thanks for the link, Zack. It's a very short thread. I'm wondering if Bill realised that Kerry was back from his sabbatical? It seems not. And usually there's further bantering if it's intended merely as a joke, but none occurred, and it seems clear that Kerry didn't quite "take the joke".

In any case, Kerry is an apologist I like, because he injects so much humour into his "trade", and he's a deadset believer in evolution, having read Darwin's Origin of Species at least twice and totally convinced that evolution is a fact. He's clearly outside the TBM mould and not afraid to venture into areas that could, potentially, threaten faith. He also copped a hammering for his thread on plastic waste clogging up the oceans, a thread which was so out of the TBM mindset, yet refreshing to see on a board with posters hung up on whether Adam had a navel, or whether decaffeinated coffee is against the WoW.