The Wade appreciation thread

[_Kishkumen]

I could see river fowl befriending Wade on his kayak journeys.

That is a classic avatar. I hope he never changes it. When you exchange posts with a guy who has such an avatar, you gotta feel like you are shooting the crap with him on a campout or something.

[_Simon Belmont]

Back in 2000/2001 I ran across Wade's apologetic website (no longer active). I enjoyed reading the critic's point/counter-point section, and I thought Wade brought up some very good points. It was from that site that I was linked to ZLMB, and my life was changed forever.

He's one of the good guys, to be sure.

[_MrStakhanovite]

Word.

[_1 Iron]

...

Say whatever you want about Wade, but he was someone who tried to get me to think for myself at a very formative period of my life, and for that I'll always be grateful.

MsJack,

I am only slightly familiar with Wade's posts on LDS forums so I am not really qualified to say I know him. Of all the things posted in this thread, yours is the one that really made me want to get to know him better and perhaps emulate an aspect of his character. Beautiful post.

[_truth dancer]

I've interacted with Wade for something like ten years or so... I think, underneath it all, he is a man who deeply cares about his religion, wants to be a decent person, and believes he is living in tune with his values.

~td~

[_schreech]

....wade....

I think its awesome that wade is savy enough to always lead posters, unwittingly, into becoming an example of whatever point he is trying to make...I am fascinated by the fact that he is capable of always drawing people into saying exactly what he wants them to say (retroactively) :)....that said...I have no animosity toward him, he is obviously very devout to whatever belief system he recognizes as LDS "teachings" and i certainly don't need to hinder his world view...

[_beefcalf]

When I was first lurking at MDB some two years ago, I quickly came to the conclusion that Wade was unique in at least one regard: He seemed to be completely oblivious to all the barbs and jabs and responded solely to the substance of a post. If someone made a veiled insult in Wade's direction, it was like water off a duck's back. He would simply ignore it. It looked to me like he didn't even notice it. As a critic, I was almost always in disagreement with his fundamental conclusions, but what a classy way to act.

These last few weeks, it's been strange to see the change in Wade. I'd never before seen him give back tit-for-tat, and it was kinda disconcerting.

I want the old Wade back.

[_malkie]

The word that most readily comes to my mind when I think of Wade is "stalwart". I regard the quality of stalwartness to be rather admirable.

In case anyone is wondering why I'm resurrecting a "page 2" thread, it's because I've been asking myself why something that Wade posted recently stung so much. My conclusion - because he is such a stalwart person, Wade is not as easily dismissed as some other posters. He really has given me pause. (And that's a good thing!)

[_sethpayne]

I can never stay angry at Wade. I think he's a good man with a good heart, and he has helped me when I've been struggling.

Agreed. Wade is a good guy.

[_Kishkumen]

I want to add this to the mix, because I think it is really important:

As soon as Wade saw Will's presentation, he got fired up and ran out to learn all he could about new subjects that related in some way to Will's theory. I found that very inspirational. It was the genuine, pure eagerness to learn and understand that was so infectious. This is typical of the best side of LDS apologetics. You have people like Wade who really catch fire with the desire to learn about new things in the belief that there is always something they can do to deepen the sense of meaning they draw from their faith.

Kudos to Wade for his passion for learning and his dogged pursuit of both understanding and meaning.