Does it strike you that MAD has an extremely wide range of posters of varying degrees of philosophical sophistication? I don't mean this as a snipe; I'm trying to describe a feature of MAD that has always intrigued me---that it seems to combine both the intellectual as well as the unschooled and simple believer. I don't think I know offhand of another BBS (devoted to any topic) that isn't separated along, for lack of a better word, "professional" and "amateur" lines. I'm not saying that this is bad (or good), I'm just asking if it also strikes you that way. I find it unusual.
But this seems to be the ideal situation, and a part of the democratization of information, and access to it, provided by the Internet. MAD combines people with extensive formal academic background, with people with extensive self taught background, with people of little prior knowledge of many of these issues. That seems to me to be an ideal situation. The FAIR emal list group is the same way.
Does it strike you that MAD has an extremely wide range of posters of varying degrees of philosophical sophistication? I don't mean this as a snipe; I'm trying to describe a feature of MAD that has always intrigued me---that it seems to combine both the intellectual as well as the unschooled and simple believer. I don't think I know offhand of another BBS (devoted to any topic) that isn't separated along, for lack of a better word, "professional" and "amateur" lines. I'm not saying that this is bad (or good), I'm just asking if it also strikes you that way. I find it unusual.
But this seems to be the ideal situation, and a part of the democratization of information, and access to it, provided by the Internet. MAD combines people with extensive formal academic background, with people with extensive self taught background, with people of little prior knowledge of many of these issues. That seems to me to be an ideal situation. The FAIR emal list group is the same way.
No, I don't consider it a bad thing, at all, actually. And as you say, a discursive space where both the academic and nonacademic would engage in critical exchange is highly desireable for many reasons. The extent to which there is actual critical communication between these two "groups" at MAD, however, is something I remain puzzled by.
Without many examples and an explication of each, though, these are just subjective observations. I don't have the time to lay out a thoughtful argument on this---I'm just throwing out some impressions because I was curious how others, and yourself, saw this.
Plus, I don't even think I've adequately described the facet of MAD I'm trying getting at, so no biggie.
From the Ernest L. Wilkinson Diaries: "ELW dreams he's spattered w/ grease. Hundreds steal his greasy pants."
So apparently "morg" and "morgbot" are religious slurs similar to "Kike"....better give a memo to the MADmods, who allow a person to post as "morgbot".
Thanks for another Hall of Fame thread Scratch. (Seems you've been busy the last few days).
"Whatever appears to be against the Book of Mormon is going to be overturned at some time in the future. So we can be pretty open minded."-charity 3/7/07
So apparently "morg" and "morgbot" are religious slurs similar to "Kike"....better give a memo to the MADmods, who allow a person to post as "morgbot".
Thanks for another Hall of Fame thread Scratch. (Seems you've been busy the last few days).
Its a religious slur but also a direct snipe at people's intelligence and judgment. In that sense, calling someone a "morgbot" is the equivalent of, in politics, calling someone one of the "sheeple", as in someone who blindly and unthinkingly follows what they hear on the evening news and does little original thinking or study on their own. As Dudey Doright famously said "If its in the paper Nell, it must be true." When one is a morgbot, one is a mindless, mind numbed follower who accepts what he or she is told without critical thought or self reflection, as over against the liberated, free thinking, intellectual depth of critic, of course.
Non-Recovery Using this board as a place to "recover" from Mormonism is like holding an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in a bar during Happy Hour when the drinks are on the house. Recovery from Mormonism will occur only when you let it go. If you don't believe in or like the Church, leave it and let it go. Move on. There are lots of wonderful things to do in life, but ranting about Mormonism is not one of them. People who hang around this board obsessing about everything the Church does will never "recover" from Mormonism.
By inclusion, how does one defend a position in which you acknowledge that one must recover from Mormonism? If I were still an apologist I would have steered away from this construct.
Its as if the abuser were to have stood up and made sarcastic comments regarding ones recovery from abuse.
And crawling on the planet's face Some insects called the human race Lost in time And lost in space...and meaning
Bond...James Bond wrote:So apparently "morg" and "morgbot" are religious slurs similar to "Kike"....better give a memo to the MADmods, who allow a person to post as "morgbot".
Thanks for another Hall of Fame thread Scratch. (Seems you've been busy the last few days).
To me, what's so noteworthy about Prof. Hamblin's tirade is how long and detailed it is. It's as if he just sat there, absolutely fuming, pounding away at the keys and spewing forth every negative Jewish stereotype he could think of. (And apparently, he is familiar with a lot of them.) I think this is just yet another instance of LDS who are envious of religious groups who really and truly have been forced to endure religious persecution. Have LDS endured persecution in the past? Yes, but next to the Jews it is pretty small potatoes, hence Prof. Hamblin's white-hot anger.
Mister Scratch wrote:Have LDS endured persecution in the past? Yes, but next to the Jews it is pretty small potatoes, hence Prof. Hamblin's white-hot anger.
I don't think the LDS persecution should ever be compared to Jewish persecution, in any way shape or form. It's like comparing Devo to the Beatles....their names shouldn't even be in the same paragraph when the issue comes up.
It's foolish (and dare I say stupid and ignorant) for anyone who's ever taken even a decent look at the history of the Jews in Europe and the Near East (which I'm assuming Hamblin has since he probably had to take History 101 and 102 back in the day) to compare the "persecution" of the LDS to what the Jews have endured/survived.
"Whatever appears to be against the Book of Mormon is going to be overturned at some time in the future. So we can be pretty open minded."-charity 3/7/07
But more seriously, I take umbrage at your analogy that casts Mormonism as Devo.
Or as the Beatles.
Would you prefer Mormonism=Paris Hilton (musically) vs Jews=The Beatles (musically)?
"Whatever appears to be against the Book of Mormon is going to be overturned at some time in the future. So we can be pretty open minded."-charity 3/7/07