http://en.fairmormon.org/Criticism_of_M ... ormonThink
I had to laugh at some of the commentary, like this, which could very well be a cut-and-paste of Elder Wonka's own description of the FAIR Wiki itself:
The website mormonthink.com is designed to lead Church members into questioning their beliefs in a non-threatening manner by claiming to be "objective" and "balanced." The site claims to be run by active members of the Church. In reality, however, they are "active" only in the sense that they still attend Church—they do not accept the Church's truth claims, and they have no interest in strengthening belief.
Wow... Have I just entered the Bizarro World, or what? Are they talking about FAIR/FARMS, or something else?
Anyhow, the entry goes on to cite several rather candid passages from RfM--apparently the editorial team is more interested in providing an exposé than an "objective" summary of the MormonThink Web site, but what struck me was their commentary on John Dehlin. Now, if you are like me, you may be wondering: What is discussion of John Dehlin doing in a FAIR Wiki article that is ostensibly about MormonThink? I'll let you decide:
FAIR Wiki, Strangely Quoting John Dehlin wrote:Can you show me a more honest representation of the church and its history online -- anywhere? I can't think of a more honest one...warts and all. Can you? Certainly not FAIR or FARMS. Certainly not LDS.org....My challenge remains: find me a web site that is more honest/objective/accurate/comprehensive on factual Mormon history than Mormon Think. I'm all eyes/ears.... Both (all) sites are biased -- I think that the FAIR site is 50x more biased than Mormon Think. Just my opinion....My experience is that the FAIR/FARMS spin ultimately causes much more harm than good. It's just rarely credible to thoughtful, objective people who are trying to uncover the "truth." Consequently, it can be really disco....Part of what I'm trying to say is that while perfect objectivity is impossible, there are shades of objectivity...and then there is the decision to not be objective at all. I'd argue that you/FAIR/FARMS fall closer to the "not even trying to be objective" scale....and something like MormonThink is at least trying to some degree...even though there is a bias.
You'll notice that this excerpt is riddled with ellipses--clearly it was cobbled together out of something else. Well, luckily for us, the editors at the FAIR Wiki have given us the following attribution:
John Dehlin, post on Dehlin’s Facebook wall, 3-4 January 2012, off-site
So, what? They are cyber-stalking Dehlin on Facebook? The FAIR Wiki provides a link, and indeed you can see an ongoing, casual conversation that does indeed contain all of the above quotes. But why is this appropriate material for a FAIR Wiki entry, given what Wiki Wonka has told us about the site's purpose? I noticed that the main person complaining about Dehlin's views on Facebook is one "Trevor Holyoak." Is this person a FAIR volunteer, and/or does he participate on the MDD board?
In any case, it seems clear that Dehlin, despite his having reached out to DCP, is squarely in the apologists' reticle.
