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Posted by: steve benson ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 08:13AM

--Background

A few years ago I had some bizarre encounters with a one-person-Mormon-apologist machine who claimed to be working with legions of fellow LDS believers to shut down RfM in a series of planned and synchronized attacks. We need not worry, however. This supposedly-committed Mormon attack dog for Elohim and his Kolobian cohorts has since fallen silent--LDS priesthood power.

Ooooooh. Scary.

I thought it would be interesting, timely and "revealing" (so to speak) to share some of the self-initiated, off-board and unsolicited information that this Garmented Grunt for the Mormon God offered up to me (and, by extension, to RfM, as well).

In laying it out here, certain names and details have been removed (mainly so as to not give Mormonism's holy warriors hints on carrying out "heavenly" harassment hit-'n-runs), but the essence of this insecure and sweaty Mormon apologist's demands have been preserved for the record.
_____


Demands Made for, and in Behalf, of the Mormon Deity

In a nutshell, this blowhard Stripling Warrior's conditions were as follows:

Agree to take down certain of my RfM postings and a Mormon-crafted "truce" will magnanimously be called.

Seriously (although this earnest would-be broker did not go so far as to offer to seal his vow by slitting his throat, secret-Mormon-temple-ritual style).

What follows is this inwardly-doubting Mormon apologist's crazy-combo of head-case claims, confessions, demands, dishonesties and lies. (Hey, as Mormons like to say, the Church is perfect; it's the people who aren't).

Welcome to the worried little world of the conflicted Mormon "believer."

It's proof positive that RfM is working.
_____


--Confessions of a Lurker

What a great door approach this guy gave me:

". . . Hello. I’m [name deleted], your not-always-so-welcome-rfm [t-word] . . . We prefer the term ‘anonymous contributor’ . . . for such a just and needed cause."
_____


--Concessions of Identity Theft

This desperate Mormon defender 'fessed up to me about posing on RfM under false I.D.s:

“Several days ago I tricked you into believing I was [name deleted], in the process extracting your personal email address enabling me to correspond with you directly.”

[*Note: I knew this deluded-detective wannabe bumblehead was faking it because he misspelled the name that he said he stole, On top of that, my personal emaily addy was already publicly available].
_____


--Admissions to Internal Doubts about the Mormon Church's Versions of Events

This person appeared to be less of a True-Believing Mormon and more of a Testimony-Battered Mumbler. This person acknowledged to me being a returned Mormon missionary who harbored serious questions about the truthfulness of Mormon Church history and who did not regard himself as a Mormon true believer:

"Some background: I’m an active member of the Church, a returned missionary, but a skeptic about early LDS history. In other words, Steve, I don’t claim that all of its history is true, or necessarily has to be true in order for the current Church to be true, therefore I‘m not a ‘TBM’ as you‘ve often assumed.”
_____


--Suppression of Nagging Private Disbelief by Insisting that the Mormon Church is "True" Because It Makes People Happy

Despite this person's confessed weakened faith in the truthfulness of Mormon Church history, he nonetheless told me that he still believed the Mormon Church exerts a positive impact on people’s lives:

“What I am most certain about is that the current Church currently offers its adherents a peaceful, joyful, and prosperous way of life.”
_____


--Lies about Marshalling Mormon Minions While Supposedly Utilizing High-Tech Mormon Mission Control Devices to Win the Battle Against Ex-Mo Evil

This person claimed to me to be working overtime with numerous other Mormons in a cleverly-clandestine and spectacularly-successful effort to counter RfM’s effective exposure of Mormon Church falsehoods:

"I began contributing to the RFM site [sometime] ago, challenging, debating, refuting, falsifying, ridiculing, often disparaging the claims leveled by you and others against the Church. Because of your RFM celebrity status, and your close ties to previous Church leaders, I’ve chosen to direct most of my activities to debunking your posts. But I’m not alone. I collaborate with other anonymous contributors who post . . . as well. . . .

"Want to know the secret of our success? Ok, we use sophisticated dynamic [techniques that allow us the capability of] essentially remaining under the . . . radar, undetected. . . . "
_____


--Admissions that RfM Poses a Serious Threat to the Future of Mainstreaming the Mormon Myth

This person acknowledged to me that RfM is a real and present danger to the faith of devout--but unprepared and vulnerable--Mormons:

"The RFM site is heavily visited by Mormons and non Mormons alike. Most active Mormons stumble upon it by accident, more often than not when researching info for talks and lessons. If it weren’t for defenders of the faith offering opposing and alternative views to your claims, this site would be very problematic.

"[Our] goal . . . is to cast enough doubt such that the threads become saturated from top to bottom with opposing views, 'hijacked' as you call it. By the time an observer reads the entire thread, he/she has already forgot what it was originally about. Pretty clever, huh? The 1st amendment enables us to post anonymous, to speak and opine as we so choose. So for this I’ll make no apology. . . .”
_____


--Proposals for a Ceasefire (on Manly Mormon Terms, Of Course)

This person then offered me a “truce” if I would agree to certain pre-conditions. These consisted of me ceasing my posting of particular criticisms of the Mormon Church, based on my personal inside knowledge of the LDS Church and its leaders:

"So, the question intrigues…, why am I here spilling the beans about our tactics?

"Well, Steve, in the spirit of cooperation and transparency, I’d like to propose a truce:

”A) You quit posting about the alleged content of the talks you had with General Authorities back in the 90’s. The facts of such content is largely disputed as evidenced by the fact that you contend one thing and they contend another. Neither side will ever agree on what or what not was ever said.

"B) You remember to commit to (A).

"In exchange for your cooperation, [we] will cease posting on the RFM site. This would give you free, unobstructed and uncontested reign to post how and what you wish inasmuch what you post does not conflict with (A).”

In a follow-up email to me, this person continued to press-- with a straight-face--for my acceptance of his Mormon-offered olive branch, boasting all the while of both its (and his) supposed inherent justness and intelligence:

“[What is the] status of [the] proposed truce?

"You don't seem to get it, Steve. Or maybe you do but are too self-serving to care. Either way, my proposition to end our feud was very fair and reasonable . . . .

"I'm going to give you a second chance to consider. . . . I am very calculated, rational, and just. “
_____


--Bidding Adieu with a Personal Attack

This Mormon apologist then launched a divinely-guided ad hominem my way, complaining that I was failing to realize how committed he remained to suppressing details of personal conversations I had had with LDS apostles Dallin H. Oaks and Neal A. Maxwell in the LDS CHurch Administration Building:

". . . [Y]ou edit and twist just about everything, particularly the content of the discussions you had with GA's. You should be ashamed of yourself. It's a good thing you know how to draw. As a journalist, you just wouldn't cut it.”

[*Note: He should have thanked me for editing out his name, for his own good].

******


Insecure closet-doubter Mormon defenders such as this frantic little fellow are:

1) clearly in the process of running scared;

2) obviously feeling personally vulnerable; and:

3) desperately beside themselves about the continued and expanding influence of RfM (at least this guy is--with his mighty, cyperspaced, Kolobic, invisible Mormon army to assist him in his galactic, anti-RfM, Star Wars battle for the souls of humanity).

Like I said, this person hasn't contacted me going on a few years now, which might be a good sign. Perhaps by now he's left the Mormon Church and is honestly posting on RfM as a genuine ex-Mo. Ya never know. After all, he privately confessed to me that he really didn't much believe it. Sounds like a lot of Mormon returned missionaries.

Carry on, RfM! May the force be with us, since the farce is with them. :)



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2015 10:13AM by steve benson.

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Posted by: torturednevermo ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 08:22AM

Great post Steve. Thanks.

Ooh, 'dynamic' techniques, scary stuff.

Dynamic like their doctrine?

Long live Rfm.

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Posted by: cwpenrose ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 08:27AM

Interesting that he/she/it has a 1st amendment right to free speech, but you don't. So typical mormon.

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Posted by: steve benson ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 08:35AM

A. You agree to stop your bad behavior.

B. You agree to stop your bad behavior based on terms that we dictate.

C. Once you stop your bad behavior, there will be peace.

D. There will be no peace unless you agree to comply with our terms.

E. With your bad behavior stopped, we will be magnanimous towards you.

F. Whether or not peace comes totally depends on you.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2015 08:58AM by steve benson.

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Posted by: Sandie (nil) ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 08:45AM

LOL. Your post reminds me of my excommunication proceedings.

You should submit this for inclusion within the CHI. It's worthy of submission in the "Church Discipline" section.

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Posted by: Nevin (not logged in) ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 12:10PM

cwpenrose Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting that he/she/it has a 1st amendment
> right to free speech, but you don't. So typical
> mormon.


Not only that, but also note that the claim to First Amendment rights on a privately owned/managed forum is false at it's core. That is a common misconception. No such legal rights exist for private forums. The managers/owners of this board have the legal right to censure any posts if and when they so desire.

Nevin

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Posted by: Eric K ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 08:35AM

Thanks Steve. We have had several coordinated denial of service attacks in the past couple of years. It cost us a bit to fix each time. It requires significant tech help to overcome and then contact the owners of the zombie servers or block them at routers upstream from our ISP. We could not isolate who paid for the disruptions as DoS is a paid for service by hackers outside the US. Most likely it is the self- appointed apologists who had money to spend in their attempt to dissuade us from continuing. Fortunately folks here helped us cover the expenses of restoring service each time.

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Posted by: steve benson ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 08:48AM

. . . request to you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2015 08:48AM by steve benson.

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Posted by: Sandie (nil) ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 08:40AM

They have a difficult time excepting well-documented facts.

I hope your contact has discovered that Mormonism is fraudulent by now.

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Posted by: Lethbridge Reprobate ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 08:47AM

Eric...thanks for keeping it rolling against formidable odds, and Steve, exactly what do these mopologist aholes think they can do to you? An attack on your person? You don't come off as someone who suffers fools.

Ron Burr



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2015 11:52AM by Lethbridge Reprobate.

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Posted by: anonfornow ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 08:48AM

While I doubt the veracity of all of the sweeping claims he made, I do see the "fishing" for teaching points.

The posts that have an open-ended question as the subject line, from an unknown OP who states nothing about his or her own personal struggles with the issue.

"What was the reason you [whatever], and why?"

"When did you first [whatever], and how did you deal with that?"

The honest and heartfelt responses are a bounty of insight on the how-to of deconstructing doubts about the church.

The OP offers nothing, and doesn't rejoin the thread in a participatory way, but sometime offers thanks or other non-committal responses.

To me, the OP "glows."

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Posted by: steve benson ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 08:51AM

Giving into his threats in order for him to suppress his growing faithlessness would have only hurt him in the long run.

He owes me big-time. :)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2015 08:52AM by steve benson.

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Posted by: acerbic ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 10:04AM

What stood out to me as I was reading this Steve was that you are a good writer, so you could have been successful as a print journalist.

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Posted by: thingsithink ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 10:24AM

I don't know about that. Do you think he could avoid referring to faithful LDS (in print) as Garment Grunts? lol.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2015 10:25AM by thingsithink.

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Posted by: donbagley ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 10:37AM

Thanks so much for the post, Steve. I do notice that some one-time posters try to gently cast doubt on controversial issues. I was recently baited by a one time poster and Admin deleted the post, saving me potential heartache.

So kudos to you, and kudos to admin. It seems crazy that truth has to be fought for, but truth does have enemies.

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Posted by: azsteve ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 11:08AM

After the church has damaged a person enough, there is nothing that they can or would offer a person for the person's silence. So it is war. The church has nothing that it can offer me that I want from them for my silence either. That even includes money if they were to offer lots of it in exchange for my silence. Perhaps after the church ceases to exist, then I'll quit revealing just how bad they are. The best they can do is start putting out lots of apologies for the bad things they've done and the lies they have taught. By the time they've done that, there will be no one left that wants to belong.

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Posted by: shodanrob ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 11:15AM

How Christian of him. Typical Mormon.

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Posted by: ificouldhietokolob ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 11:26AM

Oh, how dare you make their dear leaders look ignorant, stupid, hypocritical, conniving, and idiotic with the truth!
Yes, we know they actually are all those things...but to expose it publicly! How dare you!

:)

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Posted by: Void K. Packer ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 11:36AM

But .. but .. but .. he's so calculated [sic], rational and just! You simply *must* reconsider, Steve.

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Posted by: Itzpapalotl ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 02:01PM

TBMs like this have a special gift of coming across as a deluded, narcissistic megalomaniac.

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Posted by: saucie ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 11:38AM

Keep up the good work Steve. It's working.

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Posted by: Amyjo ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 11:43AM

I was struck by how he was trying to blackmail you, but there was nothing in it for you to capitulate. He couldn't intimidate you into silence. He had nothing to exchange for your concessions, at all.

That they'd leave RfM alone if you stopped posting, from hijacking and interfering with service here? That was capricious on his part, nothing more. It only reinforces how in a corner and uncomfortable they must feel with this board, and as you mention the volume of traffic it generates.

It's a victory for our side! I wish I'd known about this place sooner, but I've been so busy with home, family, and personal matters that I didn't even know about these ex-Mo forums until this past March. I wasn't really looking, but I'm ready for battle now. The Mormon church has f*cked with me and my family, so I'm waging war back on them by joining forces with others who oppose the cult and are outraged as I've been.

I do believe the force is here, and that's why the farcers aren't going away quietly. The truth will win out in the end.

It's impressive how uninspired your blackmailer was to give you all that damning information about his side. Nothing like shining a light on what your enemy's about.

Smart fella, that one (not.)

Yep, our generation/s were raised for "such a time as this." We are the "Saturday Warriors" the Mormon panhandlers didn't see coming.

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Posted by: madalice ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 12:36PM

Eric and Steve are true Power Rangers, They have the POWER!
After all they over came one of Gods priesthood holding warriors.

As a member of the exmo army, I say whenever $$$ is needed to keep RFM up and running, PLEASE just ask. As you've seen, we come through in a hurry!

Thanks to Steve for refusing to be silenced. Thanks to Eric for keeping up a place where Steve can say what needs to be said so mormons know exactly what kind of cult their in.

It sounds to me like RFM is big sharp rock in mormonisms shoe.

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Posted by: SusieQ#1 ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 12:39PM

Outrageous that someone thinks they convince others to do their bidding!
Clearly they are threatened by the power of other people speaking their truth on RFM.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2015 12:40PM by SusieQ#1.

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Posted by: Clementine ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 01:20PM

Very interesting story. This person had what to back up his threats? Mormons think we will bow to their threats, because....what?....we still buy into their supposed authority? How delusional. And how ethical. Mormons love to sing their own praises about how good, how trustworthy, how honest they are, but then regularly do things like this. Without any compunction. Without any personal responsibility. They show, through interactions like this, how dangerous religion can be. Who wants to belong to a religion that thinks it's ok to do evil things if you are doing those evil things for the Lord? Too bad more Mormons can't wake up to the stench that is their religion.

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Posted by: steve benson ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 01:26PM

. . . talking in circles.

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Posted by: donbagley ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 01:35PM


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Posted by: grebdo ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 01:48PM

Steve, are you running out of material?
didn't you post this same story a couple years ago?

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,901032,902008

Don't get me wrong. I always enjoy your insights but lets get some fresh stuff.

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Posted by: Amyjo ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 01:55PM

Even if he did, there are new people here, and I'm one of them. So despite your having been here two years ago, I wasn't.

It's fresh to me and other newcomers.

If you don't want to reread it, there's always lots of other threads for you to pick from.

Personally, I like knowing this because it alerts me as others that there's lurkers here who would like to do us harm.

It's cautionary, and therefore instructive.

So really, what is your gripe anyway?

I don't go through two year old threads. I really appreciated reading this here today, for the first time!

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Posted by: Void K. Packer ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 01:57PM


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Posted by: steve benson ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 02:07PM

What I posted is new to the newbies, if not to you.

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1575455,1575700#msg-1575700

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1575455,1575698#msg-1575698

Mormon Church lies, excuses and abuses are old and repetitive, but we repeat them here for the benefit of the newbies. (How many times have you read here about Joe's rock-in-the-hat trick? Yet, you don't complain about that).

Get over yourself. I'm not here to entertain you. Or to help you feel good about your pro-Mo reactivation efforts.



Edited 10 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2015 02:26PM by steve benson.

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Posted by: angela ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 02:14PM

What a spineless, limp and impotent man he is.

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Posted by: Amyjo ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 02:17PM

Well, "grebdo" is anonymous. This is his only post.

I'm left to imagine he is one of those lurkers Steve was mentioning in his OP, lol.

Oh, fun and games.

Steve, it's a good post!

Thanks for sharing, even if grebdo don't like it. :D

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Posted by: steve benson ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 02:22PM

No posts except the one here today. That includes for all dates:

http://exmormon.org/phorum/search.php?2,search=,author=grebdo,page=1,match_type=ALL,match_dates=365,match_forum=2,match_threads=0

Gutless "grebdo" is busy trying to earn Celestial Kingdom brownie points by taking the Gospel to RfM's evildoers under the cover of garments.

Coward.

"grebdo" is proof of one of the starring accomplishments of the Mormon Cult: It makes liars out of its members.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2015 02:24PM by steve benson.

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Posted by: Ex-Sister Sinful Shoulders ( )
Date: May 04, 2015 02:21PM

Online home-teacher?

If he's so intelligent, and the truth will prevail... why is he afraid to use his real name on RfM, like you do?

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