Want to see an example of anti-Mormon obssession?

[Greg West]

Hey everyone. One of my my continuing claims is that anti-Mormons are suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder. You can see a classic example of this in the replies to my Examiner.com articles

A 'kitchen table discussion' about objective and subjective truth (...
A 'kitchen table discussion' about objective and subjective truth (...
In memoriam: the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith

One guy, who goes by the Internet moniker "Andrew S" posted a total of ELEVEN comments on those articles. He began by grousing that the comments interface only gives him a thousand characters per comment, so he just went on a roll, continuing them one after another. He just couldn't turn it off.

I mean, if you've got a lot to say, why not do what I did and start your own blog and attempt to attract an audience of like-minded folks who will appreciate what you have to say? No, in typical anti-Mormon fashion, the guy just has to spew his grievances. At least this guy is somewhat civil, albeit a little snarky. It always amazes me to see how these people just react with such a visceral, knee-jerk fashion. As Spock always said, "Fascinating!"

Anyhow, check out his comments and chime in if you feel inclined to do so.

[Greg West]

A little research shows that the aforementioned obsessed guy is a fellow named Andrew Spriggs, an accounting student at Texas A&M.. His website includes the following info:

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About Me March 16, 2009 — Andrew
I, Andrew S, am the sole writer of Irresistible (Dis)Grace (for now, I guess), so I guess I should say a little bit about myself (especially since quite a few people have tried to email me…)

I am an accounting major at Texas A&M, but I’ll try not to make accounting and business the focus of things here (but organizational development is rather pertinent to some topics.) I am a fencer (epee is the superior weapon), but I’m pretty sure I’m not going to post a lot about that either. I have this love-hate relationship with technology…technology that works right is amazing (I particularly like all the things they can get smartphones to do these days)…but technology that doesn’t work right is possibly the worst thing in the world. You will probably see a few posts with eye candy about cool gadgets.

…Man, I should probably stop giving junk information.

Really, the pertinent information for Irr (Dis)G is that I was raised Mormon, but I don’t believe in the church’s teachings. In other words, I am an ex-Mormon, former Mormon, post-Mormon, whatever you want to call me. However, I cannot deny that my culture is Mormonism…and that informs a lot of my viewpoints and thoughts. I hope that I don’t get to ranty and ravey here, since I’ve seen some of the ex-Mormon sites that are too whiny even for me and I want to avoid that. I am an atheist, so I’m not going to post “Don’t-be-Mormon-be-Protestant/Catholic/Hindu/Muslim/whatever.” In fact, really, I don’t care what you are, as long as you don’t act ridiculous.

Right, and if you want to email me (a lot of people want to do that, for some reason), then my email address is andrewspriggs((at))gmail((dot))com.

Dang. There goes by carefully concealed identity.

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As usual, an anti-Mormon can declare, "...so I’m not going to post “Don’t-be-Mormon-be-Protestant/Catholic/Hindu/Muslim/whatever.” In fact, really, I don’t care what you are, as long as you don’t act ridiculous." but that sentiment only lasts a short time. It's apparent that the anti-Mormon bug has bitten Andrew. Perhaps he might be better served by doing his accounting homework instead of posting anti-Mormon stuff.

Someday, a potential employer might Google his name and find out that the guy has a history of intolerance. In a tough job market, that could be a negative. Gee, I wonder where Google might find that information and index it? Maybe his blog?

[Rebekah]

*chuckles*

I seen many of these people on Yahoo Answers who spend a whole question ranting and raving about the church. Technically it's against the TOS to take a soap box position on it. But.... if they can manage to form an Anti-Mormon question, they can get away with it.

And yes they get obsessive-Complusive about it.

[Brian Sanderson]

Well, you can't accuse *me* of being OCD about the church...I've only got seven blog posts on here...

I know, I know...I'll get 'round to it, I promise...

[Rebekah]

Well apprently he has a blog so he can complain. But this is the ever famous Anti-Mormon."Look at me" postion. They want so much attention they are willing to overlap themselves so they can get attention.

These people love Twitter, You Tube, and Yahoo, and other places where you can post quickly and in rapid succession. This probably explains the really poor grammar and and at times a lack of verifiable information. (So one and can actually see where it come from. Normally it's from an Ex-Mo site, where you copy and paste the info into a search engine) It's enough to drop in attention getting statments to appease someones ego.

This guy sounds really stuck on himself. I did some more searching on him and apprently he writes on Helium and on his own blog he blows and strutts about being an atheist. I guess if you're not going to believe in God, you should go and pronounce it from the rooftops. Ironic, since that's the same message that Christ said about the gospel.

Oh well at least he owns up to his own form of criticisms. At least that's saying something from some of the anoymous Ex-Mos and Antis out there.

[Greg West]

Yeah, I know....200 blog posts defending the Church seems a little OCD, too! When I felt prompted to start this blog in the spring of 2007, I really had an argument with the Spirit about it. My first thought was, "This is going to get old really quick. How much can there be to write about?"

I got started and the first things I wrote were just about the anti-Mormons themselves. I had articles about Ed Decker, Walter Martin, John Ankerberg, and some others. I had written the book "A Mormon Answers," so I posted a few chapters from there. I figured, well that's about all I've got to say on it.

Then I got the nudge one day to go to alt.religion.mormon on Usenet and I put up a reply listing the site's address. That attracted a fellow named "Just James" to the site. He was an exMo-turned-atheist and his posts inspired the posts, "Why reason?" "What if God appeared to a scientist?" and "The Next Voice You Hear." The attacks just kept coming, so I kept defending. The articles are almost all written in response to some email or a forum discussion against the Church somewhere else on the Internet.

Then came the elections and the anti-Mormon stuff surrounding Mitt Romney. The immediately after that there was Proposition 8 and the statements of Tom Hanks and a bunch of other celebs. Then the Church gave the counsel to use the Internet to get involved and "join the discussion." Since the time I started this, it seems that there is some new anti-Mormon headline, blog, or whatever that falls into my lap a couple times a week. I have found it easy to find new material because it just "seeks me out." The sheer volume of anti stuff going on is amazing to me. There's never a lack of something to comment on or write about.

[Greg West]

Oh, by the way, Andrew is apparently a S.P.A.M. fan. It wasn't long before he addressed our discussions of him on his blog. One more sign of anti-Mormon obsession! After eleven replies to my article, he comes here and gets offended, and then has to post more "snarkiness." You can read it here.

http://irresistibledisgrace.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/my-life-with-a...

Just once, I'd like to hear one of these guys admit that, "Yes, I am anti-Mormon. I hate Mormons!" They always seem to be surprised that fighting against the Church is anti-Mormon! It's as if their gradual transition from unbelief and disobedience into animosity and self-justification moves along unhindered until, one day someone calls them "anti-Mormon." They always respond, "I'm not anti-Mormon!" It's as if they just can't see the changes that have moved them into that state.

Like the Book of Mormon says, they get lulled into a state of "carnal security" and then when the wake-up comes, it's kind of startling. It's like being caught in a rip tide. They're swimming along at the beach and suddenly, they realize they're 100 yards offshore and can't swim back. The sensible thing to do would be to ask for help, but the proud try to keep swimming or deny that they're in danger to begin with. A lot of people drown that way.

One of the things about my Examiner article "Empathy for Atheists," it seems to really bother the unbelievers that an atheist "converted" and found faith. (It's like they consider me an "apostate" FROM the religion of atheism. Imagine that!) My personal journey shows them that there is something beyond their experience that is real. The truth of the gospel is something that a person who critically evaluates and uses healthy skepticism can learn and discover for himself, if he sets aside his personal agenda and his ego. It's an act of submission that these folks are simply too proud to consider. Everything has a price. The price of truth is everything you are and everything you possess. If you're not willing to pay the asking price, we'll that says more about the person than it does about truth.

The really sad part about all this, is that this young college student probably is barely 20 years old. He has so little life experience beyond the dramas of high school ("Does my hair look OK?") In college, between keg parties and studying, he has determined that in an infinite universe, there isn't one tiny corner of it where God could possibly exist. To be that young and to rule out so many possibilities, it's just sad.

I have to wonder if there was some falling out at home. A bitter divorce, a serious illness, a death in the family that made him lose faith? Does he come from an affluent home where he enjoyed luxury and comfort, without having a proper sense of gratitude for all that God blessed him with? Was there some resentment toward parents who had hopes their son would worthily serve a mission, but he failed to qualify himself? Are there broken hearted parents who pray daily for the softening of his heart, while showing their love by footing the bill for college tuition?

I suspect that, in time, we'll learn more of Andrew's story. The "monologuing" trait runs so deep in anti-Mormons that I'm sure we'll eventually hear his side of things. It's just a shame.

[Rebekah]

Agreed. I can honestly state that at 20 years of age and entering the college scene I wasn't all that intrested in the church. I basically was a cultural Mormon at this time. I mostly followed the teachings of the church, I kept myself chase, I stayed away from alcohol. I occasionally went to church but my heart really wasn't into it and I was just basically going through the motions of the church.

I decided that I wanted to study abroad and my mom who was concerned about me going so far away from home wanted me to take out my endowments. I went to the Temple Prep classes along with her but eventually I stopped going to the prep classses. In reflection, I am glad I did because I seriously wasn't ready to go to the temple and my mom pushing for me to go would have been a bad thing. I picked up some bad habits during and after my time studying abroad. Nothing serious, and I can agree what was written by the Prophet Joseph Smith when he stated, that it was never in his dispostion to commit any major sins and I feel the same way in my own life.

So I finally finished school and then ran upon hard times, bad economy etc. And it was enough to humble me and bring back to the church and to God. Now, I am just trying to get my life in order and in harmony so I can go to the Temple.

But I agree, all my experiences are life experiences that I had before, during and after being in college. I can't judge this guy, but a lack of life experience makes all the diffrence in how you view yourself, the church, and your postion with God.

[Rebekah]

*chuckles* And it appears I am famous now too. Makes me feel so loved as I read his blog.

I am wondering if we will actually get to hear his story, if not here then maybe on his own blog.

It always amazes me some of these stories. Which makes me scratch my head, and then blow out one slow breath of exasperation. I saw some of his blog posts, which are critical and standard Anti ramblings. Not a surprize.

***
I also have to add, the whole rip tide story was part of our sacrement talks yesterday. So the idea of a rip tide dragging someone under is very freshly painted in my mind as well

[Greg West]

I can only imagine what it must be like for someone who is 80 or 90 years old, like many of the General Authorities. They have seen and experienced so much. There is so much wisdom there, literally hundreds of years of cumulative experience in various walks of life.

We all start out life full of ourselves and life tends to beat us up a little bit and we get more realistic. We tend to look at a college education as being so important (and I'm not discounting it by saying this), but there is a university of life that teaches you things. As I look back on my life, at things I thought I understood about the gospel when I was a missionary, I see now that I understand them so much more profoundly. If you (in general, not you personally) allow it to happen, the Spirit of God will tutor you and instruct you as you make your way through life.

I realized this one day with one of my guitar students. I have about 10 students and some of them are little kids, some are teenagers, and some are adults. Some of the teens ask me, especially when I'm showing them how to improvise, "Where did you come up with that run or that riff?" If I analyze it, and break it down for them, I might show that I played a Lydian mode across a series of chords instead of using a blues scale or a pentatonic scale. That option might never have occurred to them. I can show them how to do it, but pulling that trick out of my hat and executing it properly has more to do with what I hear "inside my head" than with the application of a particular piece of music theory. It comes from playing the modes and scales literally hundreds of thousands of times, listening to the work of others, emulating it, internalizing it, and then having that particular musical vocabulary available for instantaneous recall. When they ask me how I do it, the answer is just "35 years of practice."

That answer can be discouraging, but it needn't be. It should inform a student that the body of musical knowledge to be learned is nearly infinite. One can still keep expanding and developing as a musician after a lifetime of exploring it. It never gets old. The mastery isn't in the fingers (although that's a part of it). The mastery is inside my head. It's my life expressed in a musical statement.

I think the gospel is that way. I can tell someone how to learn what I know to be true, but for them to know it as I do, they have to walk the walk for the same amount of time. The one thing that living the gospel for 30 years has taught me is that, if I remain faithful, I'll know a whole lot more about it in another 30 years. Considering what I know now compared to 30 years ago, it helps me to humbly realize that those who are 30 years ahead of me know way more than I do now. The value of counsel from worthy parents, priesthood leaders, and particularly those who hold the keys of the kingdom is something we should hold in the highest esteem. It is of inestimable value to those who avail themselves of it.

[Greg West]

Source: http://www.thefoyer.org/viewtopic.php?p=149430&sid=253f91a84f04...

Andrew S is continuing his commentary on yet another anti site. He claims that he's "famous" here. I went back to the beginning of the thread and there are comments that make fun of S.P.A.M. and various articles. In particular, the members of this particular forum had trouble with the use of "antiquated" language like "calumny" and "rapprochement" in a couple of posts. It just goes to show that, if nothing else, we're expanding the vocabulary of this bunch. Profanity, which is their vernacular, is the product of a weak mind trying to express itself forcefully.

One of them went off about the signup form, which includes in the list of REAL Christian denominations "Negro Christian," which is an actual denomination. These politically correct, liberal buffoons are so "offended" by the use of the term Negro, they don't actually have a clue that it is still in use by a Christian sect. They're the product of an education that tells them WHAT to think, not HOW to think.

It's truly funny to watch the reactions of these antis. I get the feeling that S.P.A.M. gets under their skin more than the typical "apologetics" sites. Good!

[Rebekah]

Gee I'd have to say Google is your friend. LOL Afterall if it takes about 0.02 secounds to look up Ultim or Carm or PostMormon, then it shouldn't take them too long to search "Negro Christian"

tada.....

http://www.negroschristianchurch.org/index.htm

Oooh its an .org site, which reeks of crediblity.

*chuckles*

[Seanette Blaylock]

You think antis will actually bother to spend two seconds fact-checking those "devastating" "attacks" on the Church? I love you, but your nickname must be Pollyanna. (very affectionate smile)