SL Trib: Shake-up hits BYU?????s Mormon studies institute

[_LDSToronto]

What happened to Dan Peterson happens to people in the corporate world all the time. What I've seen work best is silence. Dan needs to shut his donut-hole and lay low for a few months, and issue similar advice to his cronies. The ousted never wins a war of words in the public.

Never.

H.

[_Doctor Scratch]

What happened to Dan Peterson happens to people in the corporate world all the time. What I've seen work best is silence. Dan needs to shut his donut-hole and lay low for a few months, and issue similar advice to his cronies. The ousted never wins a war of words in the public.

Never.

H.

I wonder if there will need to be a more formal kind of Church discipline before the dust finally settles on all of this.

[_lulu]

The dismissal could have been announced publicly without including the John Dehlin article

The dismissal was announced publicly by DCP cc'ing 18 people and he specifically referenced Dehlin.

Everything since has been a reaction to DCP's own response.

If he had just kept his mouth shout, said in the fall the he was returning to teaching Arabic for a break, we would have had next to nothing to post about for the last week.

Again, when 70's are released do they write nasty emails to the 1st Pres. and cc their friends?

When Elder Jenson was released as Church Historian and Recorder, what did his responsive emails say?

When England and Pace were rebuked, what did they write to their friends?

Some people have class, some people know how to play the inside game.

As someone said of Bobbie Knight, he's his own worst enemy.

[_DrW]

There are manifold reasons for my extreme dislike of DCP. Over the long haul (and IMHO), the damage that he and those of his ilk have done to the LDS Church and its members far outweighs any benefit that may have accrued from their activities.

The behavior of DCP and many of his associates and supporters over the last week or so, as reflected in their writings, has brought into stark contrast the differences between the way in which these folks view themselves and the way in which they are viewed by folks in the real world, especially by those professionals not involved in Mormonism - professionals with whom these folks (mistakenly) believe themselves to be peers.

The expressed belief of DCP and his gun slinging apologist associates that they are on a mission from God (just like the fictional Blues Brothers) is not backed by any objective evidence whatsoever, and upon cursory examination, this claim becomes laughable.

Either DCP is monumentally ignorant and simply hides behind a carefully constructed facade of (pseudo) intellectualism, or (and this is more likely) he knows exactly what the truth is regarding the monumental fraud perpetrated by Joseph Smith Jr. and is willing to cynically and dishonestly defend it in return for money and the adulation of his fans and supporters.

I believe that the latter description is closer to the truth. One can see the stress and frustration that the cogdis associated with this kind of approach to life engenders in such an individual when they come under pressure with regard to their professed beliefs. The lies become florid, the references to persecution become more numerous, and as we have seen with DCP, there emerge grandiose claims mixed with thinly veiled threats against the perceived enemy.

It is excruciating to watch his meltdown. I could almost feel sorry for the guy if the situation were not entirely of his own making over many years.

Perhaps this shock to the system will afford DCP an opportunity to quit the field for a time and reflect on why things have gone so terribly wrong for him. Perhaps he will have the courage to show a shred of intellectual honesty, and admit to himself that he has been engaged in defense of the indefensible and has, in the process, adopted the practice of lying to cover the lies of others.

Rather than vilify John Dehlin, perhaps DCP will have the courage to become more like him. Perhaps he will be able to admit to himself what the vast majority of people who have considered Joseph Smith’s claims already know; that they are simply (and obviously) not true.

Perhaps DCP can take a deep breath, reset his course, and eventually regain the prominence and public attention he craves so much within his limited world. Perhaps he can demonstrate a shred of intellectual honesty and work to save Mormon culture by helping those he presently perceives as enemies retain what is good about the LDS Church without the requirement to drag along all of the magical thinking and hardline fundamentalist baggage.

[_sock puppet]

How else could it be, in a country where prominent persons are deliberately not protected from press scrutiny?

You mean we don't all have executive privilege?

Too bad DCP is not the mayor of Salt Lake City and have the means to do the quintessentially Mormon thing when you do not like a newspaper article: order the constable to shut down the newspaper and to pie its type. DCP is, after all, a fan of JSJr.

[_mercyngrace]

The dismissal was announced publicly by DCP cc'ing 18 people and he specifically referenced Dehlin.

Everything since has been a reaction to DCP's own response.

If he had just kept his mouth shout, said in the fall the he was returning to teaching Arabic for a break, we would have had next to nothing to post about for the last week.

Again, when 70's are released do they write nasty emails to the 1st Pres. and cc their friends?

When Elder Jenson was released as Church Historian and Recorder, what did his responsive emails say?

When England and Pace were rebuked, what did they write to their friends?

Some people have class, some people know how to play the inside game.

As someone said of Bobbie Knight, he's his own worst enemy.

I hear what you're saying, Lulu, and I think there's a very significant principle that you bring up. Discretion, especially when we think someone may have erred, is the better part of valor. What should have been a relatively private, rather mundane, administrative action has become a nasty little affair with Gerald Bradford being labeled "mataperros".

While driving through a small town in Mexico, a man ran over and killed a dog that darted in front of him. From that day on, he was known in the village as mataperros. No consideration or thought was given to the origin of the name; he was simply the “dog killer.” For those who came along later, not knowing the circumstance, their minds conjured up a terrible image of what he had done.

Reputations built on rumor, reality, or established by nickname can be virtually impossible to overcome. The adage “Do not wash your dirty linen in public” is wise counsel. It is not necessary, appropriate, nor healthy to expose our private or family mistakes and sins for public scrutiny. The more widely a sin is known, the more difficult the repentance or change.

http://www.LDS.org/general-conference/2003/10/the-atonement-repentance-and-dirty-linen?lang=eng&query=mataperros

The natural consequence of airing private issues publicly is that (1) reputations are built that may have lasting impact and (2) when all the details are finally known, it may not be mataperros whose reputation is ruined but the reputations of those who attached the label and inadvertently contributed to misunderstanding and mischaracterization.

There's another bit of this discourse I have come to appreciate as wise counsel.

If the wave of temptation to reveal others’ sins comes over you, don’t tell your neighbor or even your best friend.... [here Elder Mickelson points out that matters should be taken to the proper authorities, church, civil, or criminal, and we can safely presume he would include professional]

But what if we are right and they are wrong? Shouldn’t we make our position public so others will not judge us to have made the mistake? The Lord has been clear in His instruction regarding this dilemma. It is not our prerogative to judge. The mote is not ours to measure, for the beam in our own eye obstructs our capacity to see. There is no pancake so thin it has only one side. Empathy is required here, the gift to feel what others feel and to understand what others are experiencing. Empathy is the natural outgrowth of charity. It stimulates and enhances our capacity to serve. Empathy is not sympathy but understanding and caring. It is the basis of true friendship. Empathy leads to respect and opens the door to teaching and learning. The Sioux Indians understand this great principle as they pray, “Great Spirit, help me to never judge another until I have walked for two weeks in his moccasins.”

Having not walked for two weeks in the shoes of anyone involved in the shake-up at MI, I'm loathe to comment except as I already have, lamenting that the situation culminated as divisively as it has.

[_Spektical]

Furthermore, much of the ammo spent in this article was provided by none other that Dr. Peterson himself, when he wrote a blistering email to Bradford and cc'ed it to 18 people. Had he not done so, this article may never have happened, and it certainly would not have had the force it did without his own words backing up its assertions.

This is exactly the reason I'm bewildered that people feel any sympathy for him for this thing going public and becoming a much larger ordeal than it should have been. If he hadn't wanted it to go public, he would have cc'd no one on his response e-mail. Sure, people would have found out about it later, and there would have been a lot of ensuing discussion and triumphant gloating, but at least we wouldn't have his own angry and hostile language all out in the open. If he had done everything in his power to keep this under wraps, then I think the tone of a lot of people here would be very different.

[_Cylon]

Furthermore, much of the ammo spent in this article was provided by none other that Dr. Peterson himself, when he wrote a blistering email to Bradford and cc'ed it to 18 people. Had he not done so, this article may never have happened, and it certainly would not have had the force it did without his own words backing up its assertions.

This is exactly the reason I'm bewildered that people feel any sympathy for him for this thing going public and becoming a much larger ordeal than it should have been. If he hadn't wanted it to go public, he would have cc'd no one on his response e-mail. Sure, people would have found out about it later, and there would have been a lot of ensuing discussion and triumphant gloating, but at least we wouldn't have his own angry and hostile language all out in the open. If he had done everything in his power to keep this under wraps, then I think the tone of a lot of people here would be very different.

I'm willing to bet that a large percentage of those expressing sympathy for Dr. Peterson have never read the emails in question. After all, for a whole week any discussion regarding the issue was promptly shut down over on MDD. I'm sure some let their curiosity get the better of them, but plenty of people over there would never stoop so low as to come over here and actually read the source material. And I think you're exactly right about the different reactions people would be having if they had never read the emails either.

[_Shulem]

I'm willing to bet that a large percentage of those expressing sympathy for Dr. Peterson have never read the emails in question. After all, for a whole week any discussion regarding the issue was promptly shut down over on MDD. I'm sure some let their curiosity get the better of them, but plenty of people over there would never stoop so low as to come over here and actually read the source material. And I think you're exactly right about the different reactions people would be having if they had never read the emails either.

You're so right. If those bastards over there at the other board want the real inside dirt they have to come HERE to read it. They won't get the truth on their pissy little board run by nazi moderators who are ever busy slicing throats to the glory of Daniel Peterson. That other board is a cultish run nazi slaughter house.

Come here, you bastards. This is the place.

Paul O

[_Shulem]

I wonder if there will need to be a more formal kind of Church discipline before the dust finally settles on all of this.

Let me make something perfectly clear. The corporate world would deal with DCP's resignation very seriously and within 24 hours his security clearance (card access etc) would be revoked and security officers would be on notice that he is not to be given access to the facility without upper management escort to a trip to the HR office.

If the LDS church handles this in a corporate manner you will see DCP strung up without a place to hang his hat. He's finished. And you helped bring this to pass, Dr. Scratch. Congratulations. Go buy a fine bottle of wine. You deserve it!

Paul O