The Pressure Mounts: Can Brian Stubbs Deliver for "Interpreter" by Friday?

[_Doctor Scratch]

Well, friends, it would appear that the hype is starting to build. If you have been following along at "SeN" at all, you may have noticed a relatively new poster named "Charles." Charles is an affable chap, which means, of course, that the Mopologists absolutely hate him and have already threatened him with banning. But there has been a very interesting development: Charles has basically "forced" the Mopologists' hand. Check it out:

A few days ago, a reader of this blog wrote to ask if Brother Stubbs was ever intending to respond to that criticism. I replied that he should watch the pages of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship.

At that, a critic of the Church who calls himself “Charles” and who reads my blog posted a prediction that Brian Stubbs would never publish a response in Interpreter. I responded that he and others should watch the journal and see.

He answered that he had “personally confirmed” that no response from Brian Stubbs would appear in Interpreter. I got a kick out of that, because I have connections in the Interpreter Foundation. I know stuff.

Still, Charles remained and remains adamant. Five days ago, he proposed “a friendly wager”:

If this alleged forthcoming article is a response from Brian Stubbs I will personally donate $500 to the Interpreter Foundation. If this alleged forthcoming article is not a response from Brian Stubbs you . . . will donate $500 to [a toxic ex-Mormon message board on which I have been a major target for daily defamation and character assassination over the past decade and a half] for [its] maintenance, updating and server fees.

I accepted the wager. (I’m taking absolutely zero risk. As I say, I know stuff.)

Today, Wednesday, Charles has reiterated his claim:

[A]s of this morning (around 10:37 am) Brian Stubbs was completely unaware that he was supposed to be writing a response for the Interpreter.

And he has asked that I post a blog entry alerting everybody to our wager. So, say I, why not? I find the whole thing exceptionally weird, but I’m more than happy to inform people of Charles’s very strange bet. And, assuming that he’ll actually fulfill it, I’ll be more than happy to deposit his check.

Please stay tuned.

Well, there you have it: challenge accepted! The stakes are very high, it would seem: either a rebuttal from Stubbs will appear this Friday, posted to the "Interpreter" blog, or Dan Peterson is a liar and will owe $500 to MormonDiscussions. If the Mopologists pull through, however, then Charles will have to cough up the $500, or be dubbed a "liar" in his own right. Indeed, the excitement is growing: just check out this comment from "Tom Merrill":

If Charles wants survive swimming while being shot at he should choose a.larger barrel. Dan, you won't even have to aim. (For any squeamish types this of course has nothing to do with actually being shot at, or swimming for that matter.)

For my own part.I'm going to pop some.popcorn on Friday. It should be a good show. Then I'll read the latest offering of the Interpreter.. This interests me.greatly.

I'm wondering what imaginary infraction he'll claim. "Sorry, bets are not accepted under international law on days ending in "Y."

(emphasis added)

Another poster predicts that Charles will "squelch" on the bet if the Stubbs article *does* turn up on Friday. But there are other ways of "squelching." For example, Dr. Peterson could claim that he never "specified" that it would appear on Friday (June 5), and that, instead, he merely indicated that it would appear at *some* time down the road. If that's what he means, he had better explain himself in a hurry. Like Tom Merrill (and, I daresay, Charles) I am under the impression that we can expect to know the truth of the matter this Friday. "Stay tuned!" indeed!

This may turn out to be an important event in Mopologetics. I'm already having flashbacks to the 2nd Watson Letter, the Murphy Transcript, and to the time that Everybody Wang Chung told DCP that he was going on one of the cruises....and DCP believed him. Plus, you can't help but compare this with the "bet" that was placed by Dr. Moore--i.e., $10,000 of Midgley & Co. would just be civil. Interesting that Dr. Moore's wager was meant to make things better, but DCP is taking this bet for the sole purpose of scoring a point.

[_Temp. Admin.]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: What if "Charles" is Brian Stubbs?

[_Gadianton]

Doctor Scratch,

What an interesting development! Charles is a bright chap for sure, but could he be in over his head? What the apologists lack in wit, they make up in trickery and sleight-of-hand. Why, just look at how Mr. Midgley defended himself to Charles today over his remark to Dr. Colvin, saying that he felt "sorrow" (rather than 'sorry for') her husband in a generic kindred spirit way. And he's upvoted by his friends who know he's not telling the truth. Who do they think they're fooling?

If Charles says at 10:37 AM, Brian was unaware that he was to write a response to Interpreter, then I think we have to believe him. From here, there are two possibilities:

1) DCP frantically makes phone calls, calls in favors, and applies pressure with his status of commander in chief of Mopologetics, and orders Brian to hurry and throw a response together in two days. Does it really matter what the quality level is? If Brian spends two days or two years, the apologists will herald it as "earth-shaking" and a tremendous feat. It won't make one iota of difference to any fan of Interpreter.

2) Brian does have a paper in the works for another outlet, and either a plan had already been laid to intercept the paper, or is now in place to do so after the bet has been made.

but DCP is taking this bet for the sole purpose of scoring a point

Oh? Perhaps you missed this part:

And, assuming that he’ll actually fulfill it, I’ll be more than happy to deposit his check.

This one goes right to his own personal account. His words; not mine.

[_Doctor Scratch]

If this goes bad for the Mopologists, who will take the blame? DCP? Allen Wyatt? Stubbs?

[_Lemmie]

I think it’s worth noting that Peterson has changed the bet.

Charles’ words:

.... Five days ago, [Charles] proposed “a friendly wager”:

“If this alleged forthcoming article is a response from Brian Stubbs I will personally donate $500 to the Interpreter Foundation. If this alleged forthcoming article is not a response from Brian Stubbs you . . . will donate $500 to [a toxic ex-Mormon message board on which I have been a major target for daily defamation and character assassination over the past decade and a half] for [its] maintenance, updating and server fees.“

I accepted the wager. (I’m taking absolutely zero risk. As I say, I know stuff.)

Today, Wednesday, Charles has reiterated his claim:

“[A]s of this morning (around 10:37 am) Brian Stubbs was completely unaware that he was supposed to be writing a response for the Interpreter.”

but here is Peterson’s statement of the bet:

DCP:

... a critic of the Church who calls himself “Charles” and who reads my blog posted a prediction that Brian Stubbs would never publish a response in Interpreter.

Personally, I think Peterson’s confidence he will never pay $500 is based on the fact that in his mind (and his alone), the bet literally is: “Stubbs would never publish a response in Interpreter.”

When is never over?

Re: Gad’s option #2:

2) Brian does have a paper in the works for another outlet, and either a plan had already been laid to intercept the paper, or is now in place to do so after the bet has been made.

Stubbs actually did write a response last year to Chris Rogers’ review of his work, that was only published on his own site. Peterson isn’t past viewing it as a technicality that since Hansen’s review discussed at length Rogers’ review, then Stubbs’ response to Rogers also qualifies as a response to Hansen. (It doesn’t.)

I’m guessing the Interpreter will try to re-publish this by Stubbs on Friday:

”A review of Chris Rogers' "A Review of the Afro-Asiatic: Uto-Aztecan Proposal" in the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 28 (2019), 258-267”
http://bmslr.org/reviews/A%20Review%20o ... posal'.pdf

[_I have a question]

Peterson, in the comments

Just for the record, by the way, neither Charles nor I specified this Friday as D-Day. Nor, for that matter, any other day.

That was tactically unwise on his part, since Interpreter has the virtually infinite expanse of the future in which to come up with a response by Brian Stubbs (which means, practically speaking, that I would never actually be obliged to fork over the $500).

On the other hand, as soon as Interpreter publishes a response by Brian Stubbs, Charles will owe the Interpreter Foundation a cool five hundred dollars. (And, Charles, that's how the check should be made out, to the "Interpreter Foundation." Thanks!)

In the meantime, folks, stay tuned.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... qus_thread

[Guest]

Peterson, in the comments

Just for the record, by the way, neither Charles nor I specified this Friday as D-Day. Nor, for that matter, any other day.

That was tactically unwise on his part, since Interpreter has the virtually infinite expanse of the future in which to come up with a response by Brian Stubbs (which means, practically speaking, that I would never actually be obliged to fork over the $500).

On the other hand, as soon as Interpreter publishes a response by Brian Stubbs, Charles will owe the Interpreter Foundation a cool five hundred dollars. (And, Charles, that's how the check should be made out, to the "Interpreter Foundation." Thanks!)

In the meantime, folks, stay tuned.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... qus_thread

What a putz Peterson is.

[_Dr LOD]

Peterson, in the comments

Just for the record, by the way, neither Charles nor I specified this Friday as D-Day. Nor, for that matter, any other day.

That was tactically unwise on his part, since Interpreter has the virtually infinite expanse of the future in which to come up with a response by Brian Stubbs (which means, practically speaking, that I would never actually be obliged to fork over the $500).

On the other hand, as soon as Interpreter publishes a response by Brian Stubbs, Charles will owe the Interpreter Foundation a cool five hundred dollars. (And, Charles, that's how the check should be made out, to the "Interpreter Foundation." Thanks!)

In the meantime, folks, stay tuned.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... qus_thread

That is how they roll. Interesting that he is bragging about his possibility of using deceptive tactics.

[_Lemmie]

Peterson’s sense of integrity is impaired.

brotheroflogan • 6 days ago

Dan, thanks for posting this, but I'm confused. I was under the impression that Stubb's work had faced a significant challenge by a Nahuatl scholar here: http://nahuatlstudies.blogs.... I have been waiting for months to see if Stubbs would address it but maybe he doesn't think it's a valid criticism. I wish he would address it because this is one of my favorite evidences for the Book of Mormon but I've concluded that it is not as strong as I used to think.

http://disq.us/p/29kjcab

——
DanielPeterson Mod brotheroflogan • 6 days ago

Watch the pages of Interpreter, brotheroflogan!


——
brotheroflogan DanielPeterson • 6 days ago

Yay!


——
Charles DanielPeterson • 6 days ago

Daniel: "Watch the pages of Interpreter, brotheroflogan!"

Back in March, I personally spoke to Brian Stubbs about issuing a written response to Mr. Hansen's critique. Brian told me he wasn't interested in responding for a couple of reasons.

Has Brian recently changed his mind? Is Brian actually going to publish a response in the Interpreter or will it be someone else? Do you have a rough approximation of when we can expect to see the response?

Thanks!

http://disq.us/p/29kn3da


——
DanielPeterson Mod Charles • 6 days ago • edited

Charles: "Back in March, I personally spoke to Brian Stubbs about issuing a written response to Mr. Hansen's critique. Brian told me he wasn't interested in responding for a couple of reasons."

That's very curious.

Charles: "Has Brian recently changed his mind?"

No. He has not recently changed his mind.

Charles: "Is Brian actually going to publish a response in the Interpreter or will it be someone else?"

A response will appear in Interpreter.

Charles: "Do you have a rough approximation of when we can expect to see the response?

Yes.


——
Charles DanielPeterson • 6 days ago

Thanks Dan.

I was just able to personally confirm that the response (if any) will not be from Brian Stubbs. That's unfortunate. Regardless, I look forward to reading the Interpreter's response whenever and if it appears.



——
DanielPeterson Mod Charles • 6 days ago

Charles: "I was just able to personally confirm that the response (if any) will not be from Brian Stubbs."

You were?

Charles: "That's unfortunate."

That's one adjective that springs to mind.

Charles: "Regardless, I look forward to reading the Interpreter's response whenever and if it appears."

I'll bet you do!


——
Charles DanielPeterson • 6 days ago

Daniel: "I'll bet you do!"

I actually do, even though it won't be from Brian Stubbs. I'm not sure why you think I wouldn't be interested in reading the Interpreter article, if and when it come out.


——
DanielPeterson Mod Charles • 6 days ago • edited

Charles: "it won't be from Brian Stubbs"

I trust that readers will remember this confident prediction.

——
Charles DanielPeterson • 6 days ago

Daniel: "I hope that readers will remember this confident prediction."

Indeed! Please save and revisit this comment. I know I will.


——
Charles Louis Midgley • 6 days ago
And
Louis: "I will!"

Me too!

Shall we have a friendly wager? If this alleged forthcoming article is a response from Brian Stubbs I will personally donate $500 to the Interpreter Foundation. If this alleged forthcoming article is not a response from Brian Stubbs you and Dan will donate $500 to Dr. Shade's for his board's maintenance, updating and server fees.

Deal?

http://disq.us/p/29kr3c5

[_Gadianton]

I was just able to personally confirm that the response (if any) will not be from Brian Stubbs.

The old name switcheroo eh?

Another distinct possibility.