The Top Ten Happenings in Mopologetics, 2022

[Informant]

Does everything shock you?

[Moksha]

Meanwhile, in September, Interpreter Editor Jeff Lindsay published a piece that rehashed many of the usual Book of Abraham talking points, with a good measure of smear tactics flung in the direction of Dan Vogel and Brian Hauglid. You have to wonder at what point the Mopologists will exhaust their willingness to keep dealing with the "Zombie hell" that is Book of Abraham apologetics.

If apologists were really keeping up on current events, they would row the Interpreter trireme up alongside the Battleship DiscussMormonism and spew some of that Mormon Fire onto Paul Osborne and Kerry Shirts for their excellent scholarship. Of course, Osborne and Shirts would blow them out of the water with a scholarly torpedo, but that is a story for the Top Ten Mopologetic Happenings of 2023.

[Rivendale]

Don't forget that the Mormon church owns Patheos. DCP essential is performing priestcraft.

[IHAQ]

I like to savour my reading of Doctor Scratch's Top Ten Happenings. It's an early Christmas treat over which I like to take my time. I'll wait until the family has all gone to bed, which can be quite late into the evening. I'll retire to my private study, pour myself a large Pedro Ximénez, and settle in with my iPad. 'Tis the season after all...

[Dr. Shades]

Yet another masterful Top Ten list, Doctor Scratch. Not only were the rest of your fellow faculty members raving about it in the lounge, but all the freshmen in my Introduction to Linguistics class were abuzz with praise for it as well. Thank you, as always, for taking the time.

Well done!

[Gadianton]

Does everything shock you?

Not at all. For instance, one thing that doesn't shock me anymore is the existence of marginally active apologists with marginal belief in the church, who are marginalized by their ward and church culture in general, but for some reason they become apologists and even then, they find themselves marginalized by the 'in-crowd' apologists. Yet, they are supremely bothered by anybody online taking pot shots at Mormonism or criticizing it in any way.

[Informant]

Does everything shock you?

Not at all. For instance, one thing that doesn't shock me anymore is the existence of marginally active apologists with marginal belief in the church, who are marginalized by their ward and church culture in general, but for some reason they become apologists and even then, they find themselves marginalized by the 'in-crowd' apologists. Yet, they are supremely bothered by anybody online taking pot shots at Mormonism or criticizing it in any way.

Not to derail, but if you were subtly referring to me, you’re a bit off the mark.

I mock pot shots from anywhere. I do so by pot shooting back. I don’t think it’s intellectually rigorous to say cute little one-liners or quips meant to inflame. I certainly don’t like JAQing off like IHAQ constantly does. I think that is a sign of either a weak intellect or a conscious effort to remain ignorant.

And yes, I potshot, but I potshot for education—for science!

[Informant]

Back on topic:

I enjoyed UTBoH. The show, I mean. It was very well done, and gave me a bit of nostalgia for 1980s Utah County. I treated it, in my mind, like an episode of Sliders. A 1980s Utah in an alternate universe. The representation of Mormonism was foreign to me, but had just enough of a sprinkle of realism to make it seem plausible (in an alternate dimension).

[Wonhyo]

Doctor Scratch, these Top Ten lists have been an annual December highlight for me, for all of us, for a long, long time! Thanks very, very much for the attention, time, and effort you expend to prepare these lists.

[Marcus]

…I don’t think it’s intellectually rigorous to say cute little one-liners or quips meant to inflame. I certainly don’t like JAQing off…

Same poster.

Does everything shock you?