More Travel and Dining Expenses for "Bowdlerizing Brigham"?

[Everybody Wang Chung]

[Dr Moore]

What we can see here are all the classic hallmarks of addiction. He’s addicted to fast food and sugar. How can you tell? He’s been directly confronted with the obvious (eating this stuff is unhealthy) and he simultaneously admits it and yet makes excuses about how it’s “okay” and continues to do it. He’s in denial.

What this shows is that even a high-ranking Mopologist is vulnerable to addiction. His belief in Mormonism hasn’t saved him from compulsively poisoning his own body.

Chocolate and junk food are one thing, but let's be generous. Maybe he prefers to eat salad at home? We've all taken a cheat day while on the road, have we not? Then again, the dietary diary entries at SeN do paint a mosaic of an unhealthy relationship with unhealthy food...

Speaking of addiction...

Apropos, he confessed 15 years ago (in 2011!) to an unhealthy addiction to online message boards. Interview segment below with Dan Wotherspoon in Mormon Stories episode 237.

https://youtu.be/BTx-n8Yx5eg?t=1031

Wotherspoon: "I want to go deeper on a couple of things. Uh, you do spend a lot time on the boards... uh, you're famous out there... you're caricatured, and lambasted... and yet there's certainly something in your style of engagement that might invite that sort of thing... why do you enjoy it... why bother? ... "

Peterson:
"To be honest, I think my time on the boards has largely been wasted. Um, and I'm trying to wean myself off of it."
...
"I keep thinking I've just got to get out of this. It is a waste of time. It isn't probably good for me spiritually either."
...
"What is the point? I don't need this. It's taking away from work I ought to be doing. I could be writing other things instead of spending hours on this."

"But I tell myself that, and then it's like a drunk passing by the swinging doors of the tavern you know, um, I think well I'm going to take a look and sure enough, there's another thread about something I've said or done and but that's not trUE, and I go and I'm hooked again."

(posted on Youtube on Aug. 13, 2011)

So the addiction was already sufficiently problematic in 2011 that he'd earned a reputation for being unable to quit wasting time on the boards. Dan Wotherspoon, the interviewer in this clip, was careful to bring it up gently enough, and yet you can easily see from Wotherspoon's body language during the preface that was a very important bullet in the interview question list. A distressing question, possibly even an attempt at intervention by a caring interlocutor. For how many years had this been a problem by 2011? 5 years? 10 years? More?

And now, here we are...


It's 2026. Afore is as addicted as ever to serving as fodder supplier for the same small group of anonymous commentators. It's like a gorilla at the zoo who expresses disdain for laughing guests by throwing poop at the glass. The guests keep laughing and the gorilla keeps tossing. Man, what a colossal waste of 20+ years. Here's a tip: most public figures learn to ignore the naysayers. Saying nothing elevates your position and, in fact, frees up your time to do actually productive work. Thank me later. No charge.

Or, if you prefer, carry on...

[drumdude]

You have to wonder if someone as intelligent and well read as DCP really thinks Jesus came to the pre-Columbian American Hebrews and their massive fictional civilization. It’s the adult equivalent of believing in Santa Claus.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Edited

[drumdude]

Is this Brother Deane asking to speak at the next mopologist conference? Lolol, this is the best one.

[Doctor Scratch]

What we can see here are all the classic hallmarks of addiction. He’s addicted to fast food and sugar. How can you tell? He’s been directly confronted with the obvious (eating this stuff is unhealthy) and he simultaneously admits it and yet makes excuses about how it’s “okay” and continues to do it. He’s in denial.

What this shows is that even a high-ranking Mopologist is vulnerable to addiction. His belief in Mormonism hasn’t saved him from compulsively poisoning his own body.

Chocolate and junk food are one thing, but let's be generous. Maybe he prefers to eat salad at home? We've all taken a cheat day while on the road, have we not? Then again, the dietary diary entries at SeN do paint a mosaic of an unhealthy relationship with unhealthy food...

Yes: of course. Vacations are the perfect time to indulge. But a few observations, if I may:

• Yes: the entries at SeN are all one has to go by. He could, of course, choose *NOT* to post about food. But he does. So readers are welcome to draw their own conclusions.
• Does he prefer to eat salad at home? I suppose it's possible. But what kind of "salad" are we talking about here? Jello salad? Potato salad? (Especially *German* potato salad, dressed in bacon and bacon fat?) Pasta salad, dressed in mayonnaise?
• I wholeheartedly agree with the idea that vacation is a great time to enjoy one's self at the table. But I have seen no sign--zero--that the Afore has anything that might be described as "discriminating tastes." He pretty much unfailingly chooses the trashiest junk-food items imaginable. So it's not like he's "indulging" in a steak frites; instead, he's ordering the humongous chicken-fried steak for lunch. And then topping that off with a chocolate milkshake for dinner. But here is the question: Was this a high-quality shake--something made with gourmet ice cream? Or was it just some fast-food thing that he got from Wendy's or whatever?

Speaking of addiction...

Apropos, he confessed 15 years ago (in 2011!) to an unhealthy addiction to online message boards. Interview segment below with Dan Wotherspoon in Mormon Stories episode 237.

https://youtu.be/BTx-n8Yx5eg?t=1031

Wotherspoon: "I want to go deeper on a couple of things. Uh, you do spend a lot time on the boards... uh, you're famous out there... you're caricatured, and lambasted... and yet there's certainly something in your style of engagement that might invite that sort of thing... why do you enjoy it... why bother? ... "

Peterson:
"To be honest, I think my time on the boards has largely been wasted. Um, and I'm trying to wean myself off of it."
...
"I keep thinking I've just got to get out of this. It is a waste of time. It isn't probably good for me spiritually either."
...
"What is the point? I don't need this. It's taking away from work I ought to be doing. I could be writing other things instead of spending hours on this."

"But I tell myself that, and then it's like a drunk passing by the swinging doors of the tavern you know, um, I think well I'm going to take a look and sure enough, there's another thread about something I've said or done and but that's not trUE, and I go and I'm hooked again."

(posted on Youtube on Aug. 13, 2011)

So the addiction was already sufficiently problematic in 2011 that he'd earned a reputation for being unable to quit wasting time on the boards. Dan Wotherspoon, the interviewer in this clip, was careful to bring it up gently enough, and yet you can easily see from Wotherspoon's body language during the preface that was a very important bullet in the interview question list. A distressing question, possibly even an attempt at intervention by a caring interlocutor. For how many years had this been a problem by 2011? 5 years? 10 years? More?

And now, here we are...


It's 2026. Afore is as addicted as ever to serving as fodder supplier for the same small group of anonymous commentators. It's like a gorilla at the zoo who expresses disdain for laughing guests by throwing poop at the glass. The guests keep laughing and the gorilla keeps tossing. Man, what a colossal waste of 20+ years. Here's a tip: most public figures learn to ignore the naysayers. Saying nothing elevates your position and, in fact, frees up your time to do actually productive work. Thank me later. No charge.

Or, if you prefer, carry on...

Yes: indeed. He admitted elsewhere that he doesn't have the ability to "back down," and it turns out that this is a massive character flaw, and something that is very easy to exploit.

[Doctor Scratch]

Can we get one where he's riding inside one of the Jaredite barges? And he cannot control his fast-food-induced flatulence?

[Everybody Wang Chung]

Gemini: "Create a picture in the style of Arnold Friberg depicting Mormon apologist Daniel C. Peterson inside a crowded Jaredite barge, suffering from a serious case of indigestion after eating too many fried foods and milkshakes. Also, hide Waldo somewhere in the picture."

[drumdude]

[Doctor Scratch]

Gemini: "Create a picture in the style of Arnold Friberg depicting Mormon apologist Daniel C. Peterson inside a crowded Jaredite barge, suffering from a serious case of indigestion after eating too many fried foods and milkshakes. Also, hide Waldo somewhere in the picture."

LOL!!! Oh, man, I’m dying….

Can you do one where God’s finger comes down and touches his pastrami sandwich and makes it glow?