For that reason (and several others) I am beginning to wonder if this week's annual FAIR Conference will wind up being a pivotal moment in Mopologetics. Typically, there is some kind of major drama at these conferences--think of Grant Hardy telling the audience that belief in a literal Book of Mormon is unnecessary for getting into the Celestial Kingdom. Think of the confrontation between Blair Hodges and DCP: "You go to hell!" And think of DCP's various gaffes--including one year where he apparently threw together his presentation at the last moment. (Actually, there have been more than one of those.) What are we going to get this year? A full-on smear of the Joseph Smith Papers Project, perhaps? Doubtful, given the title of his talk: "The Book of Mormon Witnesses: Sincerity and Reality." So is this just going to be a boring rehash of his "Witnesses" material?
If so, that is likely going to pose a problem. The film Witnesses continues to "endure" in theaters, though one imagines that, any day now, its run will end, and it seems practically inevitable at this point that it will wind up an official "Box Office Flop." What if its run ends on the very day that DCP is delivering this "Witnesses" talk? Or, instead, is this a pathetic attempt to try to get the FAIR audience to go see the film in theaters for a fourth and fifth time, just so critics won't be able to give him a hard time?
Meanwhile, I've noticed that his work at "SeN" has been sharply curtailed. Is this due to a busy travel schedule? His retirement? Some other reason? In a recent post, he even admits that "I've fallen a bit behind on my blogging," and there have been other ominous signs. For example, Dr. Peterson described falling on two separate occasions, eliciting this note of concern from BLarsen:
DCP bristled at the idea that anything might be amiss:BLarsen wrote:Your first description of this event: "I suddenly lunged toward the ground yet again", doesn't sound like this. My RN wife read this and suggested you may have been experiencing subtle/slight transient ischemic attacks caused by micro blood clots. You could have your doctor check this using the D-dimer test, w/perhaps blood thinners or aspirin prescribed. CT scans or MRI's won't detect these.
One isolated fall, not too worrisome. Two in fairly close time-proximity should cause a bit more concern.
Just a suggestion.
Yikes. I certainly hope that the falls were no big deal! Still, as far as Mopologetics is concerned, I think there is a lot that's up in the air right now. Kyler Rasmussen's "serial adventure" hasn't managed to drum up the attention that I'm sure the Mopologists hoped is would: Dr. Moore's bet essentially squashed any hopes of that happening. (Let's see a friendly but non-Mopologetic LDS scholar give Rasmussen's work the stamp of approval.) Meanwhile, with retirement, DCP has even admitted that he's struggling to figure out how to turn on his new computer, which certainly doesn't bode well for the movement. And maybe there's nothing to be concerned about, but now he just doesn't have it in him to "lead the troops" anymore?In the first case, I tripped over a concrete barrier that I hadn't seen because (a) it was under the only shade in the parking lot and (b) I was looking elsewhere.
In the second case, I was looking at some native American artifacts, the path turned, and I stepped into a small trough that I hadn't seen because I wasn't watching.
I appreciate the suggestion, but I don't think that transient ischemic attacks caused by micro blood clots are required to explain what happened. Inattention is a perfectly adequate explanation.
I'm sure you see where I'm going with this. I'm sensing that Dr. Peterson is starting to "fade out" as the leader of traditional Mopologetics. The attack-mindedness; the vicious attempts to stop all slam-dunks. The need to flush out apostates, etc. In other words, the very *backbone* of Mopologetics. Who will carry on that legacy if he starts going soft? There have been signs for many years that he was going soft--retreating back into blogging rather than directing attacks on people. And now he seems more interested in bearing his testimony and peddling his movie.
All of which is to say that the upcoming FAIR Conference may very well turn out to be a pivotal moment--i.e., the moment where Dr. Peterson effectively "comes to an end" as the main leader of Mopologetics. Unless he can deliver a rousing speech to the crowd, it may be that the classic-FARMS "reign of terror" is on its way out. We shall see.