Here are a few recent gems: Yay Kaepernick!, More than 100 fraternity members test positive for COVID-19, Stay away from me!
California man dies of COVID-19 after going to barbecue, Autopsies reveal covid-19 destroys bodies, Coronavirus Infection Parties, O/T Seattle train trip ..., Pandemic potential increasingly found in Chinese pigs, and on and on and on.

Let's just change the name of the site to "CNN Headline News"!

Way too many off topic posts!

Use the site as it is intended!

I applaud the sentiment...

Mormonism used to be a scary thing for many of us.

And now the covid is scary to quite a few of the weaklings and cowards like me. I don't really need to talk about it, but many seem to want to air their concerns and their views on it.

And others need to strut. Them I could do without.

I'm actually learning to not click on topics that look yucky to me, or are by people who have proven themselves capable of yuck. Yeah, I could be missing some good conversations, but I'll survive.

My main goal is to pad the file that the SCMC is hopefully keeping on me!

elderolddog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm actually learning to not click on topics that
> look yucky to me


That has always been my strategy. I tend to look through the topics and click on what looks interesting to me.

I miss a lot of drama that way sometimes, but maybe that's not such a bad thing.

^^^this...well stated.

I am afraid 'someone' wants those 'o/t' posts for a reason and 'allows' them. Even deletes comments of those who challenge the 'message' in those posts.

If this site looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, waddles like a duck ---- it is probably a duck to a large extent!

There are some good topics that can be discussed so just need more 'discernment' in which ones to discuss.

Stop posting spiritualist nonsense in support of absurd political beliefs and you may fare better. The admins are under no obligation to pretend tendentious falsehoods are credible.

spiritist Wrote:
----------------------------------------------------
>
> There are some good topics that can be discussed
> so just need more 'discernment' in which ones to
> discuss.

"Get on Gab." An actual free-speech platform that does not censor what you want to say. And up-to-date 21st century technology where you can actually post pictures and videos and music and stuff. And you can choose the topic categories you're interested in.

Quite a switch from this 1990s-era dinosaur platform which can't even stay focused on the one thing that it has any value for.

If Gab doesn't grab you there's an ex-Mormon subreddit, www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/, with 169k members. Not as free speech oriented as Gab but at least it's not usenet-era tech.

>>Quite a switch from this 1990s-era dinosaur platform which can't even stay focused on the one thing that it has any value for.

xxMo0, I'm going to ask you a question. Why are you here, since you seem to dislike us/the platform so much? You mentioned the r/exmo forum, why aren't you over there, since it supports images, and is pretty much always on topic?

There are a variety of reasons why this website and board have traditionally gone with a simpler format. If that doesn't work for you, that's fine. If you don't like the off-topic posts, that's fine, too. There's the door, right over there.

Opie if you want me to take you seriously register.

+1 on that. Switching to an unrecognizable username to lodge a complaint is the epitome of gutlessness. Except for your posts on the board, you're already anonymous. If that's not sufficient protection, start saving up for a spine.

You put it more kindly than I.

Alas, the coward's attack has been deleted with mine in tow.

But as you deduced, I think is still in this thread.

;-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/2020 05:29AM by Lot's Wife.

The way I see it, oft times, when people break from the church, they lose their social group and have no one to talk to -- about anything. If this forum can provide a place for them, cool. The off-topic stuff doesn't bother me. I just ignore the ones that don't interest me, or that will just cause arguments.

I don't think it's cool to direct criticism out of the blue against specific posters (in this case, id'd by thread title or subject). A general statement would get the point across.

But if Admin leaves it up that surely means it's OK.

Easy enough to skip topics we're not interested in.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2020 11:56PM by Nightingale.

I agree that it's uncool to be overly critical of other posters. If people want to disagree and debate, no problem, but the "tone" of the board changed a while back. Certain personalities attack and berate other posters based on previous posts, differences of opinion, and just suspicions of who anonymous posters might be. It gets tiresome.

That said... I've noticed a phenomenon on a couple other sites where I've posted through the years. It seems people are slowly migrating to various Facebook groups and subreddits. I don't know that certain people are posting more than they were before, but perhaps in the vacuum left by others departing their voices become disproportionately loud.

Anyway, on some forums it seems that without the handful of nonstop posters, there would be little traffic at all, so they tend to be tolerated. After all, a forum with no posts is basically dead. But at some point, if all you have are off topic posts, does the forum really live up to its premise for existing?

Know it alls and mormonism seem to go hand in hand. I find it fascinating to probe know it alls and mormonism to see what makes them/it tick. It's fascinating the relentless defense of self/religion, the constant attack on a different point of view, the need to be right in order to survive . . . . And then I like to take that information and apply it to myself and do my best to eradicate the same behavior/thinking wherever I see it in my life.

But the topics listed by OP? I don't see the know it alls there. People will talk about those topics everywhere for a long time to come. Me included.

More than half of the posts on the first page are on-topic. You might feel free to start an on-topic post, or help to develop the discussion on a current post.

Covid is the overwhelming story of our time, and is a question of human survival, so it is understandably taking up a lot of attention. In the beginning, a lot of us were trying simply to figure everything out. Remember when you had no idea what "flattening the curve" meant? I also remember further back when Topper started to sound the alarm about what was going on in Wuhan, and the rest of us were, "Eh, maybe. We'll keep an eye on it." Well, Topper was right about that.

Now we are dealing with people who are purposefully ignorant about Covid, and who don't seem to care about the rest of us. Many board members have been sitting at home behind their computers, anxious, frightened, and sometimes alone. Others have been out working among the public, who have sometimes behaved sensibly, and sometimes, distressingly, not.

I'm really looking forward to the day when Covid falls off the public radar again. But it will be a while.

Yup Summer. My two big thrills in the last three months have been getting the taxes done and getting some LYSOL! I was so happy you would have thought it was diamond rings or craft stuff. Hell, a craft STORE.

I trust you know not to drink the Lysol. ;-)

LOL knot :) I do know not to drink it but this is the GOOD stuff in a spray can! It is even my favorite scent, Crisp Linen. I will put one can downstairs in the laundry room, I am the only one that goes in there. The others will be hidden away upstairs so the guys don't use it by accident. Hell, I just might sleep with it under my pillow :) Now if I can just get some rubbing alcohol we might live through the next six months. It was SO nice today to be able to spray the groceries instead of washing everything in the sink! I am still giddy!

Oh, I get it. A peak moment for me was when I found gallon-sized jugs of both Mr. Clean and Fantastik at Home Depot. I felt like a hit the jackpot!

I have to go back and get another jug or two of Fantastik because there is no guarantee that my school system will be buying adequate cleaning supplies. I will likely have up to 4-5 students sitting at the same desk each day, so the desks will need to be cleaned after each use.

I thought I won the lotto when I found a bottle of blue Dawn dish soap at true value during the quarantine. WOOHOO!!! Mix it with white vinegar and it makes an excellent cleaner for the bath (this has nothing to do with the morg).


I just want to provide one other "know it all topic" to add to otowndrone's disliking, BUT it has a connection for me to the morg. The pres of brazil just got Covid after down playing it and refusing to social distance for so long. I served my mission Sao Paulo baby!!!! Shout out to all my not so real baptisms!

OMG...I was thinking the exact same thing this morning. This forum has become CNN. It's the constant virtue signaling.

Whining about virtue signaling is its own form of virtue signaling, just a different virtue signal used to impress a different group.

Just so you know.

Whining about me whining about VS is VS'ing..just so you know.

"I know you are but what am I."

Seriously?

It is virtue signaling all the way to Heaven.

Apparently it's turtles all the way down, even here.

There are few things sadder than living in a time and place in which the denial of factual reality becomes politically acceptable. One of those few worse things is to be such a denialist, to use the psychological term for what is a widely accepted form of mental illness.

The bottom line is if you elevate belief over fact, you are superstitious; and if you join others who do the same, you are a cultist.

Sometimes I need a urim and Thummim for facts mam.

See, this is the benefit of picking and choosing what you would like to read. I've no idea who we're talking about and I haven't noticed anything wrong on the forum at all.

I'm in my own little happy world, reading what I'd like to and responding when I have something to add.

I'm not forced to read anything that doesn't appeal to me.

Revolutionary approach, Greyfort. :)

Nightingale Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Revolutionary approach, Greyfort. :)

:D

Greyfort Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm not forced to read anything that doesn't
> appeal to me.

Why is this so hard for some?

The board is so vast that I doubt I see even 5% of the posts. I doubt I even see that much.

Human Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Greyfort Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I'm not forced to read anything that doesn't
> > appeal to me.
>
> Why is this so hard for some?


I don't know. I don't understand why people would read something that they're not interested in. They just get angry about it and I'm thinking, "Why did they click on it?"

They prefer a lot more external control rather than self control.

Greyfort Wrote:

> I'm in my own little happy world, reading what I'd
> like to and responding when I have something to
> add.
>
> I'm not forced to read anything that doesn't
> appeal to me.

Unfortunately some don't share your evil "free speech" views and feel it necessary to delete things rather than simply ignoring them. The prefer external control rather than self control.

It's called being on a moderated board. I trust that you've been on moderated board before? If you want complete control over a board, then you either start one of your own or get accepted as a mod on another site (in which case you will still need to work in agreement with your fellow mods.)

It's not a difficult concept.

summer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's called being on a moderated board.


Yep. Forum moderating is not for the person who can control
themselves and operate within the community's expectations).
It's for those who can't.


Moderators learn to recognize patterns of behavior that are
likely to cause problems, and patterns that aren't.

There are certain topics that "good manners" has people avoid
talking about, because they get people fired up (or embarrassed,
hurt feelings, etc). Sometimes they're hard to avoid:

1) Religion--yeah, kinda hard to avoid here
2) Politics--sometimes close to home
3) Sex--again, sometimes close to home

The moderators do a pretty good job slaloming through all this.
Bound to hurt some feelings now and then, but that's the nature
of the beast.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/2020 11:37AM by summer.

Then there are those "Broad Brush" people posting generalizations like they are gospel truths. I wonder if painting "know it alls" as off topic posters applies to them?

I am guilty I sometimes run off at the mouth about things that do not help my recovery.
For the last few months I have tried, and will continue to try to stick to the recovery theme.
TO ANY I HAVE OFFENDED I SINCERELY APOLOGIZE

Dear otowndrone,

Your best bet is to start contributing thoughtful material. I'm willing to bet you've got some good stuff that would foster excellent discussions.

I look forward to reading it.

CZ

No one is obligated to post what I want to read.

I am not obligated to read what anyone else posts.

It's freedom, baby...

And it is different than my mormon experience, when I was told what I had to read and what I should not read.

Lowpriest Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And it is different than my mormon experience,
> when I was told what I had to read and what I
> should not read.

Excellently well drawn parallel, Lowpriest. Turning Off into On. This is what I mean about how absolutely everything can relate to Mormonism, at least in skilled hands. Start off with a board complaint - end up with a spot-on comparison to Mormonism. Love it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2020 07:27PM by Nightingale.

You are very kind.

Well know it all blowhards is nothing new. They’re everywhere including here. You all know that right? If you don’t . . .

I know the pain of being forced to read posts that you really would prefer NOT to have to read! Oh, the agony!

Damn that CZ and his diabolical ways!

Don't mess with posts about trains. Especially model trains. Or models. Especially Spitfires and Tiger tanks. Or Cindy Crawford. Either way.

Wait. What?

This board has been around for a long time. Different people are in different phases of exmormonism. Different people have different needs.

Throughout the decade I have been coming here occasionally a poster attacks a few on the board trying to get them to leave. Sometimes they do; sometimes they fail.

It seems the outspoken atheists are usually a target.

One thing that is strongly present are the alpha personalities who think they have the right to edit, preview and criticize posters on the board. This is a common trait of Mormonism. People may work on changing beliefs after finding truths, but the negative characteristics and traits remain. Some people I think are afraid to leave that behind because they will be weak.

I for one like the diversity of the posters even though I find some I cannot deal with. I skip their posts. All is good.

Some of these alpha criticizes try to start their own group or religion and try to manipulate recent exmos to follow them. Example Chad Daybell.

So posting an open attack on a few is just wrong in my humble opinion. If someone is abusing the off topic rule I am confident concrete zipper will take care of it.

Also when someone spews hate it sets off other’s ptsd and situations they have been subjected to.

Why not ask nicely? I did notice others who post o/t were not targeted.

Have a better life and maybe this can be a learning experience for all.

I have been trying to figure out how the COVID can affect my recovery.
Well let's look at it this way. It brings to light how a so called priesthood blessing for health has absolutely no effect whatsoever on whether or not someone gets or does not get the virus.
So if I realize this I can take whatever measures are available to avoid the disease.
Having realized this I can see how unimportant attendance can be at these organized by religion events.
So I can choose to do other things that will perhaps benefit me and maybe another human being as a replacement for attendance at these events.
If it gives me the opportunity to further stand apart from Mormonism without conflict with my Mormon friends, some of which I don't want to lose, then I have extracted a positive from a negative

If you are dead there will be no recovery.

There are volunteer ‘fact checkers’ on this site. They will not allow any post to stand without thorough rebuttal and/or correction to ensure the political leaning Of favor is adhered.
Statements that cannot be supported with only the highest credentialed sources are not tolerated, especially if they are not accepted as the ‘correct’ viewpoint.
Education by the self declared experts/arbiterS of the less informed who had the audacity to opine outside the accepted mainstream ethos appears to be their aspiration.
I sleep better at night knowing this.

So you think public discussion should be fact-free?

If that's what you got from csuprovgrad's post, you might be a know-it-all that's also a bit dimwitted. :)

> you might be a know-it-all that's also a bit
> dimwitted. :)

That you could mess up the grammar in that sentence indicates its irony. :)

Get a brain ! morans

It’s also gratifying to know that some are experts at translation. To have the capability of reading comments and then provide their interpretation, which usually distorts what a person has stated in a manner that is denigrating.

I didn't "translate" anything. I asked you a question.

Given that you are uncomfortable with "the highest credentialed sources," I ask what it is about expertise and facts that offends you.

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I didn't "translate" anything. I asked you a
> question.

If you didn’t ‘translate anything’, where does the subject of your question appear in my post that prompts you to ask?
>
> Given that you are uncomfortable with "the highest
> credentialed sources," I ask what it is about
> expertise and facts that offends you.

Please refer me to ‘discomfort’ and offense’. I don’t recall stating I was uncomfortable nor offended.

Or, was that an ‘interpretation’?