Censorship on Exmormon.org

[_The Dude]

I get the argument that RfM is a special place because it has a special mission for people in a special time in their life. But to me this comes off as special pleading.

RfM only succeeds with new exmormons because they don't know what other options there are. The tactic of censoring any mention of other options, even critical options, is designed to support the ignorance of new exmormons and prolong their time on RfM.

New exmormons don't need to go through RfM to overcome the challenges of leaving the church. These days there are many, many other ways to find support through other message boards, podcasts, and social networking. So the days of RfM are numbered. Just like the Mormon cult, the Recovery from Mormonism cult seeks to prolong its existence by controlling information.

[Guest]

So the days of RfM are numbered.

I doubt that. The posts there deal more with coping with people whose minds are fried with mo-ism. I think some of them are too involved in the day-to-day struggle of living in Mo-dom to get into some of the intellectual stuff that we find here.

Of course, there are people like Baura and Richard Packham, and even Steve Benson, but maybe they post here too and we don't even know who they are.

I have real questions about the censorship, each board has its own purposes.

Maybe they are afraid people will come over here and not know about the ignore feature. I use it liberally.

[_Abaddon]

Yeah, they do censor. I mentioned this board too and my post was deleted.

It's for newbies coming out of Mormonism. On the DCP thread some posters didn't even know who he was.

I said that that board gives you the milk of what's wrong with Mormonism, but Mormon Discussions goes into the meat of it. Haha.

Although I did acknowledge that their 2nd annointing story there is pretty "meaty"

Yeah, that post was removed of mine. It hurts...haha.

[_DarkHelmet]

I lost interest in RfM when it became the Steve Benson worship board. They went from worshipping Mormon prophets to worshipping their own prophet. If you don't hate Mormonism the way Steve Benson wants you to, you aren't welcome in their club.

[_Bond James Bond]

I think they fear losing posters to this board where we allow photos, chat, and have moved beyond late 90s board set ups. In a "less = more" plus here at MDB we don't have Steve Benson and his "seven constantly repeated tales about grandpa".

[_Uther]

To me the rfm board is a stereotype of what an anti board would look like in the mind of a TBM.

It hurt my eyes to read there, both the layout of the board and the average level of anger multiplied with lack of depth.
Ofc there are some interesting posts there sometimes, but overall its a downer in my eyes.

If rfm was all there were I would probably be scared back into the church..

[Guest]

Back when Al Gore was inventing the internet, when MD wasn't up, and RfM and MAD were the only board shows in town, RfM and MAD used to get into some nasty board wars, the no links or references rule came in because the mod didn't want go have to deal with it.

DCP has been throughly covered at RfM.

RfM has treated you just fine over the years SS, it would seem like you would have better things to do than whine censorship like DCP when you didn't get your exact way exactly when and how you wanted it. How much money did you contribute to the board up grade, SS?

While it must pain DCP terribly that someone on RfM doesn't know who he is, not everbody is as in to the personalities of Mormon apologetics as the residents of the one and only true Trailer Park. So let's not sneer.

I've benefited greatly from RfM over the last 15 years and like it alot here at MD too. Keep up the good work Eric and Susan I/S.

Before RfM did it's upgrade, there were a # of threads on what posters wanted. None of them wanted avatars or titles for posters.

Different strokes for different board owners, what an un-Mormon idea.

Can't we all just get along. Rest in peace Rodney.

[_Wilma Fingerdoo]

To me the rfm board is a stereotype of what an anti board would look like in the mind of a TBM.

It hurt my eyes to read there, both the layout of the board and the average level of anger multiplied with lack of depth.
Ofc there are some interesting posts there sometimes, but overall its a downer in my eyes.

If rfm was all there were I would probably be scared back into the church..

I agree. This was the first site I discovered on my way out of the church. At first I enjoyed everything written by Benson. Soon the anger and juvenile posts became too much.

I too think that they censor their site to trap lurkers and posters in their web of pain and misery. The more of their members discover Shady Acres the more they might want to call this trailer park home.

If enough join we might have to build a pool in the middle of the park. Then Paul can hang out at our pool (don't expect as many hot men as your gayborhood pool has)

[_angsty]

I have yet to find a single member of this fine discussion board who has returned to the cult due to the discussions they engaged in here.

You are completely missing my point. There isn't a concern over there about people returning to activity. That's not what the restrictions are for. The restrictions are to prevent board wars and posts that detract from the stated purpose of the board. As lulu pointed out, there's a history there that some posters here might not appreciate.

Further, if I started a recovery group that met weekly at a local community center, and the purpose of that group was to support people who are dealing with being raised in a dysfunctional family, it would probably not be productive to invite all the dysfunctional family members and their friends to pop into the weekly meetings to have their say whenever they feel like it. It might be entertaining once in a while, but hardly productive given the type of person that would probably show up.

RfM is not hurting for traffic. They are not a board that competes with this one. They are not hurting for members. They are not hurting for intellectual members. They serve a specific purpose that is distinct from what this board offers, and they do it their way. I've gotten a lot from that board over the years. It isn't for everyone, but I like the crowd there, and the moderators, and have gotten a lot of help there from people there who seem to understand. I also like the crowd here, but this wouldn't be the place for me to explore boundary issues my TBM in-laws don't seem to understand.

[_MCB]

Thank you for the perceptions.

I did once confront Steve on his insuffereable ego, asking him what is at the other end of Mormon pedestaling people based on geneaology. He wanted more background on me. I briefly mentioned here, and he picked it up before it was censored, and he did his research. So they do offer a brief window for important information.