Ringing in the New Year, DCP is "Disowned" By Relative over Political Views

[Moksha]

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... 89965.html

I have in mind, rather, a small handful of (I’m guessing) once stalwart and (hyper?)orthodox Latter-day Saints that I’ve seen and heard — to choose just one example — compare the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve to the Gadianton Robbers.

It gets worse: An even larger number are touting Trump as the messiah. Unfortunately, Dr. Peterson has sworn an oath to not talk about this in order to help bind the Interpreter Foundation to donation monies. Right-wing threats to the Church which include Trump delusions must be addressed by someone, but who? Need to find someone who can speak without being beholden to Trump-loving donors (who have already left the building and who held greater loyalty to the deceptiveness of Trump than the Interpreter).

The shame about that non-political oath is that Dr. Peterson would be an ideal person to talk distraught Church members off that Trump-messiah ledge.

Finally, a thought about anti-pandemic mask-wearing that somebody shared with me quite a while back:

I see people wearing winter coats and hats. What a bunch of sheep! LOL! I did my own research and found out that only 1500 people die from hypothermia in the US per year. That’s only 0.0005% of the population. They live in fear of something that 99.9995% of people won’t die from. And it gets better: A lot of the people who died from hypothermia were wearing coats and hats, and they still died! Coats don’t work!

Good thing Dr. Peterson does not have owners of the Burlington Coat Factory on his donor's list! There is a wonderful irony in that story, although anti-maskers might not get it.


Of course, if the Church had never allowed itself to be yoked to right-wing politics, this would not be a problem.

[drumdude]

I once had deep and serious political opinions, identifying myself as a strongly free-market-oriented federalist conservative. However, being publicly unenthusiastic about one particular politician, I discovered, caused several fairly significant potential donors to declare that they would never contribute to the entirely apolitical Interpreter Foundation so long as I’m president of it. So I’ve decided, since I’m more committed to the flourishing of Interpreter than I am to bellowing my political views fruitlessly into the wind, to voluntarily surrender the right of political expression that other citizens of the United States are afforded by the Constitution. I have not, however, given up my views on COVID-19 and vaccinations, which I do not believe ought to have become partisan political matters.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... hurch.html

[Philo Sofee]

Perrrrfect Mormon. Loves the money more than truth. Oh how he must make the church leaders proud!

[Moksha]

I wish his fellow Saints could see that Dr. Peterson was right about the treachery of Donald Trump. I wonder if the misguided relatives and space-candidate donors will be able to see this with the passage of time. DCP was right about the 2020 elections never being over in the minds of Trump followers.

[Rollo Redux]

I wish his fellow Saints could see that Dr. Peterson was right about the treachery of Donald Trump. I wonder if the misguided relatives and space-candidate donors will be able to see this with the passage of time. DCP was right about the 2020 elections never being over in the minds of Trump followers.

I have to admit that I’m on DCP’s side here. Trump is a clear and present danger to our republic.

[Philo Sofee]

Yes he was right about Trump, but to cave to big donors in saying be quiet is pure cowardice on his part. He should say go spend your filthy lucre elsewhere then, I have no need of it, I go for truth.

[drumdude]

B L:. "Unfortunately, using your blog that has a world-wide audience for a personal diary, where you go on and on about all the wonderful things you do and experience, and the famous or highly educated people you hob knob with, or the incessant travelogues of the far-flung places you repeatedly visit, etc., etc., rather undercuts what I would think is the main purpose of your blog, one devoted to LDS apologetics and other topics of LDS interest.

"Families and close friends love to hear the former from their family or friends. It raises their self-esteem. But probably for most of the rest of your audience, this is not the case. It comes across too much like 'tooting your own horn' . . .. too much like self-aggrandizement. Tedious and embarrassing . . . coming from a well-known LDS/Mormon apologist."

You've certainly made it clear that you view my blog in those terms.

B L: "The same thing could be said of how you treat those with different opinions on what may be controversial topics, consisting of thinly veiled contempt, dismissal, etc. This also really undercuts what I assume to be the main purpose of your blog. "

I've offended you by inviting you, because this isn't a political blog, to take your political views elsewhere. I once thought that it would be a partially political blog but I've long since realized that I have to muzzle my offensive non-MAGA political views.

B L: "Something you've already experienced in terms of lost donations to the Interpreter Foundation."

So far as I'm aware, nobody has declined to donate to the Interpreter Foundation because of my ill-mannered, contemptuous, and dismissive character. The specific reason that was named to a third party by two potential Interpreter donors was, simply, my publicly-expressed disapproval of Mr. Donald J. Trump. It was the substance of my political position, not my infamously toxic personality, that led to their rejection of Interpreter -- which, by the way, is utterly and absolutely apolitical.

B L: "your private contempt of controversial ideas, groups and people."

Good grief.

I'm not a Trumpist and I don't want pro-Trump posts here on this non-political blog. Mea culpa.

B L: "Just some constructive criticism, for what it's worth. I even put off making this comments until the thread started fading into obscurity."

The blog entry on which you're ostensibly commenting is my lament for my dead brother. An interesting choice on your part.

B L: "Why do I think I have the right to voice this? It's the juxtaposition of your role as an LDS apologist with the rather irksome things you do on this blog. For me, as LDS, it's embarrassing to witness. I was once one of your close followers and advocates."

You've been telling me about your loss of respect for me for quite a while now. It's hard, actually, for me to remember a time prior to your disillusionment.

His story has gone from "current significant donors forced me to stop talking about Trump" to "two potential donors forced me to stop talking about Trump."

I wonder if those 2 donors ended up funding the bulk of "Witnesses?" If so, the film should definitely include a "MAGA funded production" credit at the end.