A Bombshell Post Alleges that Louis Midgley Was Physically Violent Towards Women

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Doctor Scratch
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A Bombshell Post Alleges that Louis Midgley Was Physically Violent Towards Women

Post by Doctor Scratch »

This was posted in a separate thread here, but it really deserves its own topic. This is one of the most disturbing posts that I've ever read concerning any of the Mopologists:
Dr. Moore wrote:A very close friend of mine grew up in Louis Midgley's ward -- the same ward where he still lives now with a chapel on 4300 N in Provo. My friend's memories date to approximately 25-30 years ago.

I learned this fact just today, entirely by chance, as we were talking about a newly discovered shared common interest -- Mopologetics.

The first thing she (my good friend) said at the mention of the name Louis Midgley was "I know him!" and then that he was "terrifying" to her as a young woman, because he was known throughout the ward for regularly squeezing the young women's hands too tight and slapping women in the ward across the backs of their shoulders. As in, it caused actual physical pain. She has only one image memory about Louis, that being a mean person who appeared to enjoy inflicting pain. She recalled numerous occasions where she and other young women would have to shake his hand, knowing he would not let go until they yelled "ouch." And that, her own mother was one of the recipients of these back-smacks, and that as they happened regularly, men nearby would guffaw and shake their heads, while women would titter uncomfortably as if happy not to be the target that time.

Now maybe this was just a quirk of personality. My home ward had "that guy" too - the one who really got off on those painful squeezing handshakes, showing their superior righteousness through strength of the handshake. "That guy" in my ward said it was part of his strategy to give us young men strong handshakes so we could be good missionaries.

But then she also recalled that Louis appeared to really hate it when women would debate him in church and that it felt to her, as a young woman, that he was always shouting in church. She recalled one specific time when her mother was debating Louis about church history, and Louis was jsut rolling his eyes and shouting back at her. Rather a scarring moment for her as a young woman. She said that he had a "violent superiority" about him. Whether or not he intended such a response, that's how he made my friend feel and she believes it was a common response to his presence.

Louis may object to these recollections and even protest, but the point isn't to make any specific allegation but to show yet another example of a person whose lived experience was to feel threatened and unsafe around Louis. She wanted to be clear that Louis never did anything to her knowledge by way of overt violence or anything of a #MeToo nature. She simply recalls a terrifying "jackass" around whom she and her mother and the other women and young women she knew did not feel physically safe. It was a thing for them, she remembers. She added that Louis was not the only one in her ward with this type of reputation, that Louis' good friend "Gordon O." once raised his hand as if to backslap a woman in the ward who was debating an issue, and Louis was there and that she and others saw it.

Of course, this would have been the 1990s, and things were different then. :roll: Weren't they? At any rate, that's a perspective that came up totally unprompted, which gives this nasty Gina Colvin saga a sort of twisted darkness. Is Louis seeking out ways to belittle an outspoken woman because that's how he self soothed as a younger person? Too bad, if true. Professional help might be in order (but I'd suggest a male therapist). Louis may be old and physically frail at this point, and his days of hand squeezing and back smacking may be over, but the decades-long pattern of making an unsafe environment for women is evidently a known fact in certain Provo circles. Those women may have endured those years in silence, humoring him as something between a jackass and a quirky zealot, but that doesn't make it right and their silence doesn't make him right. If he's convinced of his good intentions, then he may consider that intentions don't matter if you make others feel unsafe.
We already know about Midgley's stalking of Gina Colvin, along with him screaming obscenities (allegedly) at the Lynn Whitesides vigil, and him going off at the Tanner's bookstore. Plus, he himself boasted about punching a classmate in the stomach while in junior high school. His habit of bullying and physically assaulting other people has already been established--by his own admission.

But this is an absolutely stunning and devastating allegation for the simple reason that Midgley is a pillar of Mopologetics. He is a central figure at "Sic et Non" and at Interpreter, just as he was at the old FARMS Review and the old-school Maxwell Institute. His behavior is applauded, defended, and/or ignored by all of the other Mopologists, and indeed, they recently gifted him a festschrift barely a few months ago. And yet look at this latest allegation, and what it says about how monstrous his behavior has been. Why would they defend this? This is so utterly vile and contemptible that it wouldn't surprise me if this winds up being the thing that burns the entire enterprise to the ground. Just recently, DCP was warned by several posters that he ought to see a doctor over his ailing health. It may very well be that he ought to devote equal attention to the toxic waste dump in his "Comments" section named Louis Midgley. The man is a huge liability, and keeping him on board may be as much--if not more--of a risk to the organization's survival that Will Schryver ever was. Schryver was horrible in terms of the things he *said* about women, but I don't recall ever hearing about him sadistically trying to physically hurt women. I think there are many reasons to believe that these allegations about Midgley are true, and if they are, then it speaks volumes about those like DCP, Allen Wyatt, and Kiwi, who count him as a friend, and who defend his despicable behaviors.

Truly, this is one of the most vile things I've ever come across in all my years of studying Mopologetics. Go ahead and attend a screening of "Witnesses": you'll be forking money over to one of the best friends of a man who (allegedly) slapped women aggressively on the back in the hopes of physically hurting them and seeing them in pain.
"If, while hoping that everybody else will be honest and so forth, I can personally prosper through unethical and immoral acts without being detected and without risk, why should I not?." --Daniel Peterson, 6/4/14
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Re: A Bombshell Post Alleges that Louis Midgley Was Physically Violent Towards Women

Post by Dr Moore »

It’s an unfortunate pattern of behavior. I wouldn’t call it a bombshell or an allegation, however. Simply another data point confirming what has already been firmly established about Midgley’s demonstrated disregard and disrespect for the feelings and differences of others.
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Re: A Bombshell Post Alleges that Louis Midgley Was Physically Violent Towards Women

Post by Sir Sam Steele »

Doctor Scratch wrote:
Fri Jul 23, 2021 4:27 am
This is one of the most disturbing posts that I've ever read concerning any of the Mopologists:
...
Dr. Scratch, thank you for raising the alarm on this. I'm deeply troubled by this story but I should not be surprised. Didn't Dr. Midgley verbally harass a women in her own home? To the point where her husband had to physically intervene? I have always believed the contempt expressed by Dr. Midgley was merely the result of the animosity between EV anti-Mormons and the Mopologists. But perhaps it is better explained by Dr. Midgley's obvious contempt for women. Sandra Tanner. Gina Colvin. And now this.

A troubling pattern has emerged.

By the way, for those of us not fully versed in the theory and praxis of Mopologetics and their Mopologists, could you explain how Dr. Midgley received the affectionate nickname of "Woody?"
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Re: A Bombshell Post Alleges that Louis Midgley Was Physically Violent Towards Women

Post by Moksha »

Sir Sam Steele wrote:
Fri Jul 23, 2021 6:02 am
By the way, for those of us not fully versed in the theory and praxis of Mopologetics and their Mopologists, could you explain how Dr. Midgley received the affectionate nickname of "Woody?"
Let's hope that does not harken back to the days when the BYU Swimming Pool did not believe in bathing trunks for its segregated men's swimming.
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Re: A Bombshell Post Alleges that Louis Midgley Was Physically Violent Towards Women

Post by Lem »

Dr Moore wrote:
Fri Jul 23, 2021 4:48 am
It’s an unfortunate pattern of behavior. I wouldn’t call it a bombshell or an allegation, however. Simply another data point confirming what has already been firmly established about Midgley’s demonstrated disregard and disrespect for the feelings and differences of others.
Exactly.
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Re: A Bombshell Post Alleges that Louis Midgley Was Physically Violent Towards Women

Post by Everybody Wang Chung »

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Re: A Bombshell Post Alleges that Louis Midgley Was Physically Violent Towards Women

Post by Philo Sofee »

Everybody Wang Chung wrote:
Sun Jul 25, 2021 9:46 pm
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OUCH!!!
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Re: A Bombshell Post Alleges that Louis Midgley Was Physically Violent Towards Women

Post by Moksha »

Are you guys trying to goad the Interpreter into publishing a hit piece on Yoda?
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Re: A Bombshell Post Alleges that Louis Midgley Was Physically Violent Towards Women

Post by Dr. Shades »

I am utterly disgusted, but I am in no way surprised. This sort of behavior is so in character for him.

I wonder if he displayed the same sort of contempt for his female students and co-workers?
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Re: A Bombshell Post Alleges that Louis Midgley Was Physically Violent Towards Women

Post by Kishkumen »

Before I launch into what I am about to say, I need to be clear about something:

I am not a fan of Dr. Midgley.

At the same time, I think it is important to diagnose properly what the problem is. Why is it that Dr. Midgley behaves in the way he does? I think there are two factors at play here, and I will venture to comment on them despite my lack of expertise in human biology and psychology. My intention is to seek understanding about Midgley without aggravating the attacks on him. I don't know how successful I will be, but I will try.

Dr. Midgley is probably not a neurotypical person. I have no idea exactly what his quirks are, but I think it is fair to say that he has them. Sometimes quirks such as these come off as rudeness or socially inappropriate behavior. An example of this might be oddly carrying on a conversation or ending it abruptly without any awareness of the social cues for continuing or ending a conversation. People on the spectrum sometimes have such a problem.

Another issue I have some experience with is odd or off-putting physical contact with others. I am not talking about sexual groping or the like, but these weirdly strong handshakes and the backslaps. Someone very dear to me does the latter, when I have long stated my preference for a gentle pat on the back. I find the abrupt backslap to be an unpleasant and highly irritating experience, but the person in question really does not get it and probably never will. This person's natural impulse is a kind of jarring slap on the back, whereas my strong preference is for a gentle touch.

In my case, my friend clearly has sensory processing issues. I know this for a fact.

So, we have to factor these considerations into our judgments of Dr. Midgley, if we want to be fair. Midgley has a lot of off-putting quirks, and I would say that there is a neuroatypical issue behind his quirks that either causes or aggravates the unpleasant side of his personality.

That said, Dr. Midley's quirks have been indulged far too much by his associates, and this means that he has not really been encouraged to moderate his behavior. Just because a person is neuroatypical does not mean that they have a free license to be a jerk. Dr. Midgley's treatment of Gina Colvin and her spouse, his treatment of people like gemli, and other unpleasant interactions where he gets overly worked up and appears to be lashing out angrily or insultingly--all of these things could be moderated had the people who care for him ever encouraged him to do so and he were at all receptive.

I could be mistaken, but I have not seen much in the way of any attempts to help him moderate his behavior for his own benefit and for the benefit of those who would prefer to interact civilly with others and find Dr. Midgley's unpleasantness a social burden.
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