I am The Sinister Porpoise
One or two things have been bothering me lately. The first is relatively minor and I'm not entirely sure I understand my objection to it, but if you're going to link to me, my nickname here is The Sinister Porpoise
People referring to me as Sinister Porpoise in comments or on message boards doesn't bother me, but if you link to me on the Internet, I'd prefer it if you'd use the full alias or the name of the site. You can also refer to me as "that unimaginative, crazy jerk who picks on the one true church" but that link might make readers think of someone else including some Mormons like Robert Kirby of Jeff Lindsey. (They may also confuse me with the Myspace Sinister Porpoise or the band of the same name.)
The other thing, of equally great importance is the term 'disaffected Mormon undergound' or DAMU. I rather think that New Order Mormons should belong to this category rather than blogs written by apostates. After all, we've left the church and can no longer be part of any underground. The New Order Mormons go here, in my opinion. They are the ones who choose to stay in the church after all.
I wish I could say I don't understand the position of the New Order Mormons, but unfortunately, I think I can understand it very well. The church after all offers a tight-knit if rather dysfunctional extended famiily. Not that this is the only reason to stay, sometimes there are issues with a your real family and you stay in the church to keep the peace.
But some people have mistakenly put Outer Blogness and DAMU in the same category. The boys in Salt Lake will never listen to the bitter apostates who obviously left so they could sin or were offended by some crying, middle aged woman taking up too much of our testimony time on the first Sunday of the month. If they realize there's a growing movement of people who don't believe and aren't happy with church policies the tune of the Brethren will change, especially if tithing money drops.
To me, the term underground conveys a more active resistance movement, and since I got out, I have no need to be part of a resistance movement in the Mormon organization.
posted by The Sinister Porpoise @ 7:33 PM
7 Comments
7 Comments:
I enjoy the fact that my name, Gunner, is odd enough that most believe it is a made up internet name.
I see your point, tsp, but I have grouped all the DAMU and Outer Blogness blogs on my blog together under one category. It's not always easy to draw distinctions as I have seen other bloggers struggle with it. You are correct that exmos and NOMs often have different issues but I think we are united in our desire to come to grips with our realization that the church is not what we were always taught and the issues we confront with respect to our friends and family who remain fully devoted to Mormonism are identical.
The NOMs are capable of bringing about changes. The apostates are not.
While both objections may be somewhat anal, especially the 'the sinister porpoise' thing, I think the second distinction is more important.
Apostate blogs are likely to be read by those who've left or have doubts. NOMs may be read by people who are having doubts but want to remain in the church, and they'll probably do far less damage than groups like FAIR or FARMS. (Although I used Jeff Lindsay's site. It was one of the few places to get accurate historical information on the stuff that took place from 1830 onward, strangely enough.)
I think where we agree is that the church does need to change. I could stomach an organization that although still weird, got rid of its controlling behaviors and started being honest with its membership. Unfortunately, I also think they need to put an end to the gerontocracy first and get some younger people into leadership positions.
So, you're saying that if I address you or mention you on my blog I should write "The Sinister Porpoise" and not just "Sinister Porpoise"?
I can do that. It seems a little strange to use an article when addressing someone (as in "Hi, The Sinister Porpoise!!!") however, it's standard in French (as in "Bonjour, le marsouin sinistre !") so I suppose I can do it in English too if you like. ;-)
You're right that the exmormon blogs are hardly very underground about their disaffectedness so the term applies better to the NOM blogs. I've been a little sloppy about the terminology, but I generally try to identify people according to the way they choose to identify themselves.
No, people typically refer to me as Sinister Porpoise when I use the alias on message boards. It doesn't bother me and I'll know who was meant. The same rule applies to comments. It's when you're *linking* here from your blog or website that my objection applies. Fortunately, I don't think the Myspace Sinister Porpoise is aware of my existence, and if the band is, neither one of us cares.
It seems to me Spanish has a similar rule regarding articles and names, but it's used when you're referring to someone who is *not* present.
The other language I'm familiar with has no such rule as Latin has no articles.
The Sinister Porpoise,
If you are such a stickler for including the article in front of Sinister Porpoise, why did you not put it in the domain name? Just wondering.
Equality: another question: Why am I not getting notified of your comments by Blogger? That's a bit odd...
I actually didn't know about the band or the Myspace user until *after* I started the blog, and my IM IDs for Yahoo and my nickname on ICQ is in fact sinisterporpoise (all one word.)
Now if I ever get to the point where I register the domain rather than use the free blogspot subdomain, it probably will be thesinisterporpoise.com
Don't ask me what my ICQ number is, it's the one number that refuses to stick in memory.
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