What do you like about this forum?

[Rain]

After posting with CA boy and going off an idea he had based on Bernard's thread I'm starting a new one.

This is for answering the questions only.  Not discussion. Like Bernard said, that would be for another thread.

1. What do you like about this board?

2. What do you want from the board?  (Place to learn, place to debate, place to be entertained etc.  NOT how you want others to behave).

Edited July 11, 2021 by Rain

[Rain]

1. I love how many people here have a good knowledge of so many things.  Church history, bible translations, knowledge of how different things are run and where to find things.

2. I first came here to learn.  That is one of the reasons I am still here.  I also want to figure out how to work with others well, form good communities and friendships and learn to understand those I am not like.

[bsjkki]

I came because I had questions I could not ask in Sunday School. I was also very angry. This board helped me learn, ask questions, change perspective on some things, dig in on others. Make virtual friends at a time in person friends are lacking. I am glad it is regulated so certain lines don’t get crossed.

[MiserereNobis]

That you LDS are so nice that when I tease you you feel compelled to upvote it because I’m not a member 😉

1) I like that I feel friendship with the regular posters here. After nearly a decade (wow!) I feel like I know you. Or at least I know your style and probably what you’re going to say on a topic, ha. I like the diversity of LDS, too, from a Brigham Young era loving guy to a post modern relativist and everything in between. I’ve definitely learned that LDS are not as homogenous as you first appeared to me from the outside many years ago prior to this board. 
 

I also appreciate the board culture that allows for strong discussions but keeps things from crossing the line. That’s HARD to do on the Internet. Way to go, @Nemesis and other mods. 
 

2) I want to learn things beyond the surface. I’ve googled a lot of stuff about your church because it’s come up in a discussion and I wouldn’t have even known where to start looking and learning if someone hadn’t mentioned it, sometimes just in passing. It’s also good to hear personal stories and understandings of your doctrine and history from such various points of view. And it is entertainment, in the sense that  I enjoy it and sometimes things are just downright funny, from Nehor’s ridiculousness to the grand Ahab saga. 
 

I also like clarifying the Catholic position, and I’m very grateful to the other Catholics who do this, too, especially @3DOP. It’s intriguing that your long term Catholic posters are traditionalists (and like the Grateful Dead!)

 Thanks for a great board!

[Fether]

40 minutes ago, Rain said:

1. What do you like about this board?

2. What do you want from the board?  (Place to learn, place to debate, place to be entertained etc.  NOT how you want others to behave).

1. The variety of views. I come here when I am looking for an unorthodox view on things. I have another forum I participate in that is far more orthodox and I use that forum for questions of the soul and questions dealing with how to grow spiritually. This is more of a source of intellectual entertainment

2. I enjoy the critical views and I hope not remains that way. My faith has grown a lot in hearing and discussing topics with people who are more critical of the church.

[SeekingUnderstanding]

48 minutes ago, Rain said:

After posting with CA boy and going off an idea he had based on Bernard's thread I'm starting a new one.

This is for answering the questions only.  Not discussion. Like Bernard said, that would be for another thread.

1. What do you like about this board?

2. What do you want from the board?  (Place to learn, place to debate, place to be entertained etc.  NOT how you want others to behave).

A place to discuss all things Mormonism where people won’t get offended (for the most part), and are very willing to tell you when you are wrong. 
 

A place to discuss Mormonism so I don’t have to annoy my faithful family members and neighbors so much!

Edited July 11, 2021 by SeekingUnderstanding

[JLHPROF]

I love how EVERYTHING is fully discussed.  Not just faith promoting Sunday School answers.  I have learned so much and heard things I've never heard elsewhere and we get to see almost every perspective on each topic.  And you can rely on people to point out your errors.

I love the mental stimulation of thinking about doctrinal and historical topics, cross referencing them and sourcing information.  I enjoy a spirited discussion and debate.  This is my safe space to discuss the wildest ends of the gospel that you'd be afraid to mention at Church.

[3DOP]

1 hour ago, Rain said:

After posting with CA boy and going off an idea he had based on Bernard's thread I'm starting a new one.

This is for answering the questions only.  Not discussion. Like Bernard said, that would be for another thread.

1. What do you like about this board?

2. What do you want from the board?  (Place to learn, place to debate, place to be entertained etc.  NOT how you want others to behave).

1) What do you like about this board?

I have been here since 2004. It would seem fair to assume that I like this board. I am not on any other boards except this one. I am unashamed of it, and used to trumpet here that I had been kicked off of Catholic Answers Forum. I look in every day to see if someone is commenting about my religion. If comments that relate to Catholicism ever went away from this board, I suspect I would also. But I don't think I can really explain my lasting presence here. It is a habit that I enjoy, that seems innocuous at worst.

2) What do you want from the board?

Wasn't it President Kennedy who suggested that we ask not what my board can do for me, but what I can do for my board?    

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by 3DOP

[Stargazer]

3 hours ago, Rain said:

1. What do you like about this board?

1. That the place is not some wild west town where bullies can control other users with bullying tactics. In short, I love the moderating staff. 
2. I love the personalities who take the time to post here. Even the ones I strongly disagree with are generally stellar folks.

3 hours ago, Rain said:

2. What do you want from the board?  (Place to learn, place to debate, place to be entertained etc.  NOT how you want others to behave).

1. I want to learn from others
2. I want to learn by debating others
3. I want good fellowship.

[MustardSeed]

I like it because it keeps me informed of any changes or trends in the church.  I also like the range of beliefs in the church as demonstrated by participants. 
 

I get the needs met.  I don’t come too often  because of reasons but I don’t need that to change.  I’m not here often enough to insist on change.

Edited July 11, 2021 by MustardSeed

[Scott Lloyd]

6 hours ago, 3DOP said:

1) What do you like about this board?

I have been here since 2004. It would seem fair to assume that I like this board. I am not on any other boards except this one. I am unashamed of it, and used to trumpet here that I had been kicked off of Catholic Answers Forum. I look in every day to see if someone is commenting about my religion. If comments that relate to Catholicism ever went away from this board, I suspect I would also. But I don't think I can really explain my lasting presence here. It is a habit that I enjoy, that seems innocuous at worst.

2) What do you want from the board?

Wasn't it President Kennedy who suggested that we ask not what my board can do for me, but what I can do for my board?    

 

Do you ever encounter on this board false or misleading characterizations or renditions of your beliefs?  I ask, because I see it quite often about the faith of the Latter-day Saints. I find it quite contemptible. 

[Rain]

36 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

Do you ever encounter on this board false or misleading characterizations or renditions of your beliefs?  I ask, because I see it quite often about the faith of the Latter-day Saints. I find it quite contemptible. 

Please discuss this elsewhere.

[3DOP]

6 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said:

Do you ever encounter on this board false or misleading characterizations or renditions of your beliefs?  I ask, because I see it quite often about the faith of the Latter-day Saints. I find it quite contemptible. 

 

5 hours ago, Rain said:

Please discuss this elsewhere.

Without discussion as requested by Rain, and without dismissing the question asked by Scott, I can answer without disrupting the spirit of the thread: Seldom.

[rodheadlee]

Delete 

Edited July 11, 2021 by rodheadlee

[Rain]

3 minutes ago, rodheadlee said:

It used to be a place for learning. Now it's about cheering for your team.

Please do what I ask in the OP or delete this.

[let’s roll]

What I like:

1. Demonstrations of compassion, heartfelt invitations.

2. Sharing of knowledge, information and insight.

3.  Wit, humor and good natured needling.

What I want:

1.  The chance to better understand and love my brothers and sisters by becoming better in giving and receiving the things listed above.

2.  The number of participants to continue to grow, so we all can benefit from each other.

Edited July 11, 2021 by let’s roll

[bluebell]

1. What do you like about this board?

I joined in 2006 (or somewhere around there-it was still FAIR at the time), as a stay at home mom who needed more intellectual stimulation in my day.  I loved being able to talk about the gospel with members and nonmembers alike.  I also really like a good friendly debate, and being pushed to decide how I feel about gospel things, or what they mean to me, because I have to be able to articulate those feelings and beliefs to others.  My understanding of the gospel has grown so much.  I also love all the super smart people on here who share their knowledge because the gospel has opened up to me in ways that I don't believe would have been possible otherwise.

2. What do you want from the board? 

I want to be able to talk to other people, or even argue with other people, about the gospel without demeaning each other while doing it.  I want to hear different perspectives and ideas without posters acting like anyone who disagrees needs to repent or is just dumb.  I want to continue to learn more about the gospel by hearing about how it works in other people's lives.  And I want the positives about the gospel to be discussed as much as the negatives of the church are discussed, so that this place does not become a place that takes more energy to recover from than it provides back.

[pogi]

I like having a place where I can explore ideas freely.  I love that there is a diverse community to shine a light on a subject from so many different angles that I wouldn't have considered on my own.  I love seeing the poem "The Blind Men and the Elephant" play out before my very eyes, where some feel the elephant as a rope, and others a spear, and others a fan, etc.  It is endlessly amusing, and often enlightening and yet equally frustrating to see the elephant described in so many different ways.  My perspective has evolved (and I feel improved) a LOT from participating on this forum and I have you all to thank for that.  I think the elephant is more diverse than I ever previously imagined.  I don't think I will ever get a good view of the elephant in its full scope of beauty, majesty, and diversity in this life-time.  But I enjoy subtle glimpses from other perspectives as I realize that each is likely "partly in the right, and all were in the wrong".  

[2BizE]

Joseph Smith once said, “I never thought it was right to call up a man and try him because he erred in doctrine, it looks too much like Methodism and not like Latter day Saintism. Methodists have creeds which a man must believe or be kicked out of their church. I want the liberty of believing as I please, it feels so good not to be tramelled.” Joseph Smith in The Words of Joseph Smith, pp. 183-184.

I also believe that I do not need to believe every doctrine and creed of Mormonism.  I want the liberty to believe as I please.  What is is shared on this forum is mostly for likeminded folks.  I do not have an orthodox view of Mormonism. I believe to truly learn, one must understand and appreciate points of view different from their own.  I help provide those different points of view on this forum.

Edited July 12, 2021 by 2BizE
Grammar

[Peacefully]

I found this forum when I googled General Conference rumors a couple of years ago. I stay here because I like to hear different points of view and people discussing various topics in a civil manner (shout out to the mods). I find this to be a safe place to discuss hard things, e.g., ordination of women, church treatment of lgbt+, polygamy, fallibility of prophets, how Joseph Smith translated the BOM, priesthood ban, and on and on. I’ve found that my testimony of Jesus Christ has been strengthened through these sometimes tough discussions. There are many brilliant and opinionated people on this board and I am so happy I stumbled across it:)

[katherine the great]

On 7/10/2021 at 6:05 PM, Rain said:

1. What do you like about this board?

I like arguing with the Patriarchy. 
 

 

On 7/10/2021 at 6:05 PM, Rain said:

2. What do you want from the board? 

I want all the jerks of yore to come back so I can argue with them again. “Most” everyone now is pretty nice. 

[Tacenda]

I have a love/hate relationship with my experience of being on the board. But grateful that I can get out my feelings, concerns and doubts here vs. with my faithful family, friends, neighbors. I have to see most of them very often, so it's a great safety measure.

I'm thankful to have not been banned from posting for good and only having to wait for a few days before I was able to discuss again on the board. Almost feels like the atonement, to be forgiven and given the chance to return.

I feel like this board trained me to be able to type much better by way of speed and grammar. It makes me look up things and use better grammar. It also makes me search and find more factual things before getting mud on my face when finding out what I didn't know, but I'm still learning and am a very slow learner at that!

Thanks mods and Rain for reminding me of the great board this can be. 

 

[JAHS]

I like the discussions where I find out how true the old saying is that "a little information can be a dangerous thing", both on my part and those not so friendly to the church. 
It also helps me to understand better where some people are coming from with their different life experiences that affects their feeling towards the church. 

[Peacefully]

1 hour ago, Tacenda said:

I have a love/hate relationship with my experience of being on the board. But grateful that I can get out my feelings, concerns and doubts here vs. with my faithful family, friends, neighbors. I have to see most of them very often, so it's a great safety measure.

I'm thankful to have not been banned from posting for good and only having to wait for a few days before I was able to discuss again on the board. Almost feels like the atonement, to be forgiven and given the chance to return.

I feel like this board trained me to be able to type much better by way of speed and grammar. It makes me look up things and use better grammar. It also makes me search and find more factual things before getting mud on my face when finding out what I didn't know, but I'm still learning and am a very slow learner at that!

Thanks mods and Rain for reminding me of the great board this can be. 

 

Agree! Consider this your upvote:)

[Ipod Touch]

The posts of @Scott Lloyd make visiting this forum worthwhile.

Also, the philosophy of @mfbukowski