Is there a way to search for a member by email?

Yes.

If yo are having trouble finding his, let me know what it is in a PM. I will do some digging for you.

Thanks, guys. Found him, it is our friend Taletotell who last visited in March essentially after being told this isn’t a place for debate. In reading through some of his posts there are things different from what he told me. One example is separation of church and the gospel – he indicates here he thinks they are not separate but was pretty emphatic yesterday that they are and the gospel is true while the church isn’t (or at least may not be). Perhaps his thinking has evolved over this time or perhaps he’s just looking for someone who will engage him in person where we live because he’s away from his old friends in Utah. He is actually from this area and I remember him as a youth, but he did live in Utah Valley for some time and recently returned here because of work. His father and step mother are active and well known members of the stake who recently returned from a mission. He mentioned a website yesterday and a bunch of names I don’t know, but I don’t recall the site – it was definitely not mainstream nor are the ideas he expressed to me.

So…I will see if he seeks me out again (I think it’s likely, I think he was pointed in my direction by someone else), I will avoid debate and continue to redirect to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

You worried heknows your identity and will spread that to others you know at church?

I like that we are apologists. I’ve tried for so long to find a short word to define us, now I’ve got it. I guess and apologist is someone who plays their cards close to their chest. Thanks DJ for the enlightenment.

I once had a debate with a ward member because he called Terryl Givens an apologist. Since I associate the word with the those who are more “FAIR-minded” I took offense. However, he made a good point: the definition of apologist is defender, and in the case of religion a defender of the faith. Checking the dictionary proved him right, so from a certain point of view Givens and most of us here are apologists. I still don’t prefer the label.

Sadly once something becomes a word of derision or its original meaning gets skewed (Don’t worry Mormons never do that 😈 ) it can no longer be used correctly in conversation. It becomes a moniker of judgement. Just look at the word modesty. It now means shoulders and clavicles of girls. Modesty no longer applies to “a modest income, or “modest means”. Just womens body parts.

I guess that makes me a modest apologist.

I like knowing who I am.

Ya…we fit the definition, but we also don’t in ways if the defender is “defender at all costs”. The connotations can differ.

I think we try to defend the faith and encourage people to stay while also acknowledging that some things and some teachings don’t make sense. The cafeteria approach means we will not try to make everything fit into a nice puzzle with an explanation for everything.

Some things just don’t have a good explanation.

But we try to defend the faith, regardless of individual topics or subjects, some that can be defended, some that are rejected.

Broad brush strokes of “apologist” can be not so clearly our mission here.

Good point, and I think the FAIR apologists do try to explain everything and make it all work. I’m fine with understanding that some things don’t make sense and some things are probably wrong because men are involved. I won’t speak for Givens, but I do think he (and Fiona) believe this as well. So, I guess I’m open to the idea of there being different kinds or levels of apologists – but I still don’t want to be called one (modest or not).