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Once again, my PM box has practically been exploding with fascinating tidbits. This latest comes from one of my most reliable sources. Many here are no doubt familiar with the convoluted money trail which is used to finance LDS apologetics. Despite the reluctance of certain apologists to cop to the facts, a great deal of light has been shed on this fascinating subject. In the course of my discussions of this subject with DCP, it was revealed that apologetics is financed in part by a "fundraiser" who works in concert with The Good Professor in order to solicit funds from wealthy LDS. I was curious about this, and tried to dig a bit more deeply into the matter. Somewhat later, DCP (perhaps in a moment of weakness) admitted that the key "fundraiser" is a gentleman named Ed Snow.

It turns out that Ed Snow is apparently a crucial figure in terms of keeping LDS apologetics financially afloat. If you click on the "Subscribe" link on the FARMS main page, you will be taken to a form that tells you that you can contact Bro. Snow in order to donate sums in excess of $1,000---the peak membership sum for the "Liahona"-level of contribution. Donors, in fact, are instructed to telephone Mr. Snow in order to "discuss" their options vis-a-vis donations. One can only speculate as to what these conversations are like.

But, there is another layer to Snow's dealings with financing and LDS finagling. Perhaps not surprisingly, he once came dangerously close to implicating linking the LDS Church with political lobbying. During Mitt Romney's run for the presidency, Snow circulated what appears to be a bit of character assassination via BYU's email server:

Ed Snow wrote:Ed Snow, director of development for BYU's Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, sent an email to various people, including others at BYU, last week with an attached picture of 64-year-old potential candidate Fred Thompson and his wife who is 25 years his younger. The subject line was, "Fred Thompson’s trophy wife."

"From the attachment, you can see that Fred Thompson and his wife Jeri (25 years his junior) may not wear well on many conservatives," Snow said in the e-mail.

"When making their final decision before entering the voting booth, I think many conservatives will in their minds compare this attached picture with a mental picture of Mitt Romney with his lovely wife of 38 years, their five handsome sons, five beautiful [daughters]-in-law, and darling grandchildren. I hope so."

http://blogs.sltrib.com/utahpolitics/20 ... e-mail.htm

Apparently, Snow had to be scolded by a "supervisor" for this behavior.

But, the real question, as far as I am concerned, is this: If this is what Snow is willing to do in the realm of politics, then to what extent does he go in the realm of apologetics??? As we all know, presidential politics is pretty small potatoes compared to the kind of angst, bitterness, and outright hatred that runs through LDS apologetics. If this is the guy steering the financial ship.... Well, I'd probably do best to not speculate any further.

How much do you have to contribute to get the title of "Iron-rodder" ? Because everyone knows that the Liahonas are the weak links in the church.

http://www.zionsbest.com/people.html

You've got to be kidding? This is a disgrace to everything Neal A. Maxwell stood for. What is it with these guys and attacks via electronic media anyway? A supervisor at BYU had to come down on a grown man for abusing the school internet? Has he no corporate experience of any kind?

These guys are trying a little too hard I think to re-live their youth by prankstering and bullying. To me, the disconnect between Skinny-L middle-school behavior and the pretense of world-class scholarship complete with donation solicitations on the order of millions if not tens of millions is incomprehensible. And it would seem the apologists are laughing all the way to the bank.

"Another 'sucker' just went Liahona!"

It's a big game with big money and no boundaries for the fairy-tales one can put in print. The only thing real about the entire apologetic enterprise, is the careers and reputations of the critics they ruin.

Mister Scratch wrote:Once again, my PM box has practically been exploding with fascinating tidbits. This latest comes from one of my most reliable sources.

Scratch's creepy network of "anonymous informants" continues to provide material for his creepy "dossiers."

Mister Scratch wrote:Somewhat later, DCP (perhaps in a moment of weakness) admitted that the key "fundraiser" is a gentleman named Ed Snow.

Ed Snow is identified, with a photograph, on the Maxwell Institute website, for heaven's sake!

Mister Scratch wrote:One can only speculate as to what these conversations are like.

And, no doubt, one will.

Daniel Peterson wrote:

Mister Scratch wrote:Once again, my PM box has practically been exploding with fascinating tidbits. This latest comes from one of my most reliable sources.

Scratch's creepy network of "anonymous informants" continues to provide material for his creepy "dossiers."

Oh, don't worry. It's not anywhere near as "creepy" as L-skinny. By the way, Dr. Peterson---who/what is the "MMM" that often gets referred to at the end of Skinny List messages?

Mister Scratch wrote:Oh, don't worry. It's not anywhere near as "creepy" as L-skinny.

Of which you have no direct personal knowledge whatever.

Though I have no doubt at all that you would be able to find "creepiness" in jokes about the weather in Missouri, praise of Oregon blueberries, tips on backpacking near Mount Rainier, comments about Dr. Pepper, my account of my debate with Robert Spencer in Las Vegas, Bill Hamblin's reports on the environs of Oxford, and allusions to the political philosopher Leo Strauss.

Mister Scratch wrote:By the way, Dr. Peterson---who/what is the "MMM" that often gets referred to at the end of Skinny List messages?

That's me. The Meanest Man in Mormonism.

Daniel Peterson wrote:

Mister Scratch wrote:Oh, don't worry. It's not anywhere near as "creepy" as L-skinny.

Of which you have no direct personal knowledge whatever.

Though I have no doubt at all that you would be able to find "creepiness" in jokes about the weather in Missouri, praise of Oregon blueberries, tips on backpacking near Mount Rainier, comments about Dr. Pepper, my account of my debate with Robert Spencer in Las Vegas, Bill Hamblin's reports on the environs of Oxford, and allusions to the political philosopher Leo Strauss.

No, I probably would not find those specific things "creepy." Your guys' bashing of critics, on the other hand, or your suggestion that certain atheist critics are alcoholics... Well, *that* kind of stuff might strike me as petty, mean, and/or "creepy."

Mister Scratch wrote:By the way, Dr. Peterson---who/what is the "MMM" that often gets referred to at the end of Skinny List messages?

That's me. The Meanest Man in Mormonism.

For real? Also: why is it called the "skinny list"?

Maybe it's an allusion to the "real skinny", which means "the real dope", or in other words, the background scoop (coughgossipcough) on individuals or events.

Was Schryver the one chased off the skinny list?

beastie wrote:Maybe it's an allusion to the "real skinny", which means "the real dope", or in other words, the background scoop (coughgossipcough) on individuals or events.

Was Schryver the one chased off the skinny list?

I wondered the same thing. And about Schryver: I'm not sure. I do know, however, that rcrocket was booted off one of the apologetic lists. This may have been the one.

I wondered the same thing. And about Schryver: I'm not sure. I do know, however, that rcrocket was booted off one of the apologetic lists. This may have been the one.

I vaguely remember one of the apologists on ZLMB bringing this up in a huff, that he'd been chased off the list mainly by the women who accused him of inappropriate behavior. But this may be a different email group, the skinny group appears to small for that. I think there is another "behind the scenes" email group that many of the more vocal internet Mormons belong to.