If we follow Nephi's advice and liken the Scriptures to ourselves (meaning the Bloggernacle) then this thread is surely heralding the Apocalypse. When you have abish and Jared joining their inspired hands in unison to preach against the worldly corruption that is BCC, well then the end is nigh. That, or this is one of the ugliest examples of petty orthodox versus heterodox the Bloggernacle has seen in awhile. I am not sure which is worse, the BCC crew's snide belittling or abish's unparalleled self-righteousness. It probably comes down to which side of the debate you are on as to which you think is worse. What is that saying about not being able to win a pissing match with a skunk? What happens when there is nothing but skunks fighting?

Team T&S and Team MSplat are going to commit ritual suicide this coming weekend, since they fail to uphold the Word of Wisdom and thus will not be able to run and not be weary.

The persistent accusations that the bulk of the Bloggernacle is composed of unorthodox heteropraxicals will be put to the test after this weekend, as all of the participants who actually run will be dead or disabled, thus reducing the Liahona population significantly and tipping the balance back in favor of the true Iron Rodders. However, there is some question as to how honest the participants will be about participating in this "virtual" marathon.

Here is the Marathon the BCC crew will be laboring over:



And this is the Marathon we suspect Kaimi will be running this weekend:

People who regularly participate in the Bloggernacle naturally want the Bloggernacle to be perceived as a good and beneficial thing, if they didn't they obviously wouldn't participate. In some ways, the Bloggernacle can be a good thing. But, the Bloggernacle is seriously hampered by narcissism and self-absorption.

Yesterday saw a brilliant trifecta of posts exhibiting precisely why the Bloggernacle cannot at present rise above what it is:a petty playground dominated by the egotistical. First, unmitigated vanity, second, vanity mingled with the philosophies of men, and third, Scriptures mingled with the philosophies of men driven by vanity.

First, you have Julie wanting to tell everyone she is pregnant, but she is apparently not wanting to be as tactlessly blatant as Adam, so she writes up a self-flagellating laundry list illustrating how hard/hectic/crazy/rewarding/wonderful her stay-at-home-Mom life is, and despite it all, she is having another baby, as evidenced by the last two words of the post, discreetly tucked in there with capital letters. What you did was concoct some artificial reason to write a post insinuating you are pregnant so people would figure it out and then congratulate and praise you for being such a dedicated, hard-working Homeschooling Mom who would do all that (she teaches her kids Greek!!! Why? Because she can!) and decide to go ahead and have another child on top of it all. Kaimi then posts a link into the sidebar to the comment outing you, and your wish is fulfilled.

Second, you have Kaimi being so clever with self-deprecating riffs showing everyone he engages in philosophically challenging private conversations with other Bloggernacle Big Shots like BCC's meister-blogger (no behind-the-scenes cliques here). He then posts lengthy comments into the thread explaining what the rather opaque conversation was all about, while self-deferentially soaking up praise from fawning comment-makers.

Third, and finally, you have John dragging out the debate about the relative utility of attempting to prepare members of the LDS Church for withering, faith-destroying attacks by anti-mormons. This time the discussion starts with a semantical debate over the term "inoculation" as questioned by...his brother. Naturally, the ensuing discussion pits DAMU's against the "faithful" over the Truth, an ultimately pointless endeavor. The entire Inoculation debate is entirely wrong-headed, not because of semantical labels, but because it flatly ignores the gospel point of view and appeals to the worldly way of doing things. There's the rub, the bulk of the Bloggernacle elite want to debate to show how smart and educated they are, how many esoteric bits of historical trivia they have collected, and how they have more books in their collection than anyone else. But, from the gospel point of view, all of that is meaningless and largely counterproductive. The knowledge of God and strength in testimony comes not from collecting a set of Mormon History Trivia trading cards, but from experience. To know God, you have to experience Him by following the example of Jesus Christ by doing his works. Not just reading about them and studying them, but doing them. People will know the the LDS Church is true by living and doing what the Scriptures teach, not by learning more selective bits of history and trivia. While the Inoculation crowd's self-absorption isn't so blatant as the preceding two examples, it is egotism at it's core as it puts a premium on individual intellectual ascent rather than gospel-centered experiential learning. Responding to tough questions when asked is one thing, publicly preening is another.

If prominent people in the Bloggernacle can get over their fascination with themselves and how clever they are, the Bloggernacle might eventually blossom into something more than it is. If they cannot, then it will continue on being a relatively small, eminently forgettable collection of vain prose lost in the messy clutter of the Internet.

It is your choice people, get over yourselves or continue to suffocate in the lint of your own navel.

Guy Murray wants to see prominent Bloggernacle personalities pose for charity. Since Guy is such the prominent personality himself, and a natural born leader who isn't afraid to break new ground, it only seems appropriate for him to lead the pack. And, so, we present to you: Guy Murray Exposed!

Hot, or not?

When not getting pedicures and doing guest commercial spots, Miss Piggy reads T&S. Who knew? We do now, because she actually left a comment this time. Another feather in the hat of T&S, garnering the celebrity Muppet vote of readership. In case you are wondering what Moi was referring to, DMI...err...T&S Dave sums it up, effectively hamstringing Nate's legalese. It looks like the discussion has stalled, probably because of nausea, meaning ronito's snarky prediction will go unfulfilled. Is it sadder that T&S's behavior has become so predicable or that discussion is so lackluster?

A recent post on FPR offers useful insight into the past, present, and possible future of FPR. The past month (8/2007-9/2007) is a hodgepodge of topics, themes, and approaches. They address ancient and modern scripture trivia, tangents in Mormon history, occasionally debate with evangelical commentators, pay tribute to an ageing Mormon historian, book reviews, a review of Terryl Givens, and a couple of off-topic posts. This month's content on FPR is, indeed, a many-sided thing.

Glancing across the landscape of Mormon blogs, it is easy to see where many of these contributions might have been posted. In fact, almost all of them would have readily found a place within T&S or BCC or MM or the Mormon Wasp. There are three categories of writing that wouldn’t migrate as easily to other venues, and it is these that make FPR different: (1) the permablogger's (and guest's) rambling, idiosyncratic, indulgent reflections on whatever topical matters he (and we do mean "he" since Mogget isn't posting anymore, much to FPR's detriment) feels like writing about; (2) collections of Scripture trivia (which are largely just distillations of odd stuff they learn in class); and (3) tete-a-tetes with average, unschooled Mormons regarding scriptural interpretation.

Let’s consider for a moment each of these three categories, taken in reverse order, and think through what they might suggest about the future of FPR in its institutional, scholarly, and blogging roles.

In the area of blogging, FPR seems to be rapidly losing ground to Waters of Mormon, in terms of coverage, impact, and limelight. The Bloggernacle has been all atwitter over the new WofM blog. WofM has a pretty blogsite, hosts big conversations, and has attracted big names.

On the second category: Scripture debates have long been a specialty of FPR posts, but here too the field is changing. Note that FPR has been doing little but trivia and speculation revolving around sexual themes. Gone are the substantive posts where Scriptural texts are treated exegetically. In this area too, then, the relevance of FPR seems to be dwindling.

The first category, finally, is FPR's turn towards it being a personal Rameumpton for proclaiming the Truth as they see it, spitting on their critics, and sorting out the Good, the Bad, and the Pathetic. The ignorant TBMs are at the gates and the FPR troops are now shouldering the burden to beat them into the ground. Perhaps FPR is tired of giving in to their long-time critics, so they have silently acknowledged that the caustic tone and steady barrage of personal insults will wear out their readers and, who knows, perhaps lead them to victory. Many are by now familiar with their reactions to criticism. Let’s call it The FPR Three-Step. First, seek to overwhelm your critics with your unparalleled education and extraordinary grasp of rhetoric. Second, deny that you are appealing to credentialism or using sophistry. Third, wait for some old friend to come out of the woodwork in support of FPR. (To which we might add a fourth step: Carry on, carry on.)

Many of FPR's online posts have taken a more caustic tone lately. They seems fully aware that FPR is losing some ground, some relevance—partly, I should emphasize, as a result of its own former success. The organization of the Bloggernacle as a broad umbrella of Mormon bloggers has decentralized power structures and is fickle in whom they follow. Put differently, it may slowly fade away, diffused into other blogs and fora.

Ten months from now, will FPR still exist?

...Tis strong and bright and true...Except when it isn't.

But, regardless, R. Gary, faithful upholder of all things CES/JFS/BRM on the Bloggernacle, adamantly takes Julie M. Smith to task for trying to reconcile Scriptural texts with empirical data when it comes to Noah's Flood.

Gary, Gary, Gary, when are you going to see the difference between correlated CES material and the Scriptures themselves? How many mistakes in interpretation do GA's have to make before we realize they are just fallible humans, not to be venerated? How many quotes from Joseph Smith do we have to read about how he rejects being overly dogmatic when it comes to points of doctrine? Taking people to task in the Bloggernacle is part of what it is all about. Being a dogmatist isn't. Woof.

Blake Ostler, patron saint of speculators, has ignored requests to link guest posts at NCT to his web page. Kiss someone's butt and then get slapped in the face for it? Ouch. Something tells me Blake will not be guest posting at NCT anymore. Hmmm, now why wouldn't Blake want to be associated with NCT? Anyone?

UPDATE: Since rejecting NCT requests to link his own posts there at NCT, Blake has again posted at NCT. Make sense? Only if you are running a blog with so little clout that you will gladly sell your own soul and eat humble pie day and night in exchange for the tiniest bit of credibility that might transfer through osmosis. NCT permabores anonymously LOLing at Blake's posting are only nervously trying to hide the facts. LOL all you like, you are still rejects. Shame on me, Snarkimus Prime, for assuming Geoff would have enough spine to stand up to Blake's obvious affront. Never again will that mistake be made, oh Jelly Fish of the MoArchipelago.

Here we were hoping we were on a first name basis with our little buddy Mr. Greenwood, Esq. Mr. Greenwood, from this point on, we expect you return the favor and refer to us (the royal we) as Mr. Prime, thank you very much.

Kage is running out of novel material, so she is taking a page from the FMH manual of Standard Operating Procedures and posting on her bathroom habits. Way to keep it classy, girl. How long before she totally sells out FMH style and starts talking about her sex life and how often she jills off?

P.S., Kage, honey, you can sit there and pretend you don't read SnarkerNacle, but there is no way you can convince us you can possibly keep yourself from reading about yourself. Call it a hunch.