Yet More Intel: A DCP "Hit Piece" on Dehlin?

[_Kevin Graham]

So am I to understand that Dan Peterson was writing up a hit piece on Dehlin, but that an Apostle got involved and stopped it?

Why would an Apostle get involved?

[_lulu]

I've concluded that DCP finds enjoyment in feeling persecuted. In fact, I think he thrives on it.

There's a word for that

[_Fence Sitter]

I've concluded that DCP finds enjoyment in feeling persecuted. In fact, I think he thrives on it.

Well it is doctrine (at least according to some definitions) that persecution is a sign of the church Joseph Smith created.

If there is one thing besides the spirit or protecting providence of the Lord that has attended and distinguished the Church organized by Joseph Smith the prophet,it is the spirit of persecution

From the August 1905 Improvement Era.

Maybe that is why some leave the Church, they just didn't feel enough of the spirit (of persecution).

[_Doctor Scratch]

So am I to understand that Dan Peterson was writing up a hit piece on Dehlin, but that an Apostle got involved and stopped it?

Why would an Apostle get involved?

This is just speculation, but I would assume (provided that this is all true) that it would happen because of Dehlin's semi-celebrity status. This is a guy who is getting quoted in national publications. If DCP decided to pick a fight with him in print, it could get very ugly in a very public way. It could wind up reflecting badly on not just the MI, but on BYU and the Church as a whole. Most of us are well aware of the fact that the FARMS Review has long been primarily a venue for taking cheap shots and conducting smear campaigns. The wider world doesn't know this, though, but it could and might if the fight with Dehlin got wider circulation. Just think: What would happen if, say, the NY Times ran a piece on how BYU employs professors who publish what are, in effect, smear pieces on people who write or speak on Mormon topics? All of that stuff is right there: from the legal snafu with Signature Books, to "Metcalfe is Butthead," to DCP's extensive quoting of that anti-semitic author. If the mainstream press got ahold of this stuff, it could become a major-league scandal. We are talking about Randy Bott-level stuff here.

And as to the question of why an Apostle would get involved---well, I think it's rather obvious. Dan Peterson is not going to listen to anybody. The only way that this "hit piece" would have been censored is if the very highest, upper-echelons of Church leadership brought the axe down. There is no way that Dan would have listened to anybody else. The folks at the MI either would have encouraged him (e.g., Midgley, Hamblin, Gee), or they knew their concerns would be falling on deaf ears.

[_Kishkumen]

I'd like to point out that DCP hasn't publicly denied this, and he's usually quite quick to pipe up in response to things like this.

But Scratch, he is traveling in the Near East.

[_Doctor Scratch]

I'd like to point out that DCP hasn't publicly denied this, and he's usually quite quick to pipe up in response to things like this.

But Scratch, he is traveling in the Near East.

Oh, right--of course! How silly of me! He must have been traveling a week ago, too, when I first began this thread. My bad! Plus, he hates flying. I mean he *really* hates it. He hates it so much that I'm halfway compelled to withdraw my comment about him trotting the globe on the tithe-payers' nickel and dime. I mean, if he really hates it, then that means that he's not really milking the Widow's Mite, right?

[_Kishkumen]

He hates it so much that I'm halfway compelled to withdraw my comment about him trotting the globe on the tithe-payers' nickel and dime. I mean, if he really hates it, then that means that he's not really milking the Widow's Mite, right?

You know, I have lost my patience with Peterson and his tactics, but for Pete's sake, Scratch, everyone who works at BYU is supported by tithes. They travel too. I really don't get this particular line of argument. If there is anything that is offensive, it is that the widow's mite was ever used to abuse members of the LDS Church in good standing in the pages of the FARMS Review, not that Dr. Peterson traveled on the Lord's dime.

Thank goodness they have not attacked John Dehlin.

[_Doctor Scratch]

Reverend:

I had to use the Genovese hanky given to me by Dean Robbers to dab the tears of laughter from my eyes.

[_Doctor Scratch]

Kevin:

I remembered something else. If I recall correctly, Dehlin's brother or one of his male relatives is/was CIO for one of the Church's bit corporate arms--either the Corp. of the Pres., or Intellectual Reserve. So, if that's the case--i.e., that his family is that well-connected--then that is yet another reason why an Apostle would have stepped in.

And I just have to pause and note how richly satisfying all of this is. DCP has been telling us for years that the Brethren never tell the apologists to cut out all the antics, and yet here his article is getting censored! 100 pages right down the tubes!

[_Kishkumen]

100 pages right down the tubes!

I relish the thought of all of that wasted bile and venom. Hehehe.