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Despite Wiki Wonka's reassurances that the FAIR Wiki is all about "objectivity," it seems that some of the more zealous members of the editing staff have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Check this out:

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.

Holy hell! They are quoting John Dehlin's personal Facebook page? Good grief! I guess I don't need to ask whether these people have a shred of decency. If they did, that quote either would not have been posted, or it would not have lasted a day. What kind of creepy stalker organization ("FAIR," I guess) goes through people's personal Facebook pages and uses that material to smear them on a wiki--riddled with elipses and all?

Completely shameless.

Well, in FAIR's defense, the Facebook thread *is* apparently public. At least, you can click the link and go straight to it. I have no idea how easy it would be to locate the comments merely by Goolging. Then again, a lot of stuff on the Internet is quote-unquote "public." I suppose FAIR is making a statement about what it considers "fair game." Once upon a time, I would have thought that this sort of thing was solely the province of SHIELDS, but I guess I was wrong.

Doctor Scratch wrote:Well, in FAIR's defense, the Facebook thread *is* apparently public. At least, you can click the link and go straight to it. I have no idea how easy it would be to locate the comments merely by Goolging. Then again, a lot of stuff on the Internet is quote-unquote "public." I suppose FAIR is making a statement about what it considers "fair game." Once upon a time, I would have thought that this sort of thing was solely the province of SHIELDS, but I guess I was wrong.

I'm sorry, this is a completely tasteless move on their part. Talk about a pack of goons. Maybe this was pulled from the file that was providing the raw material for the Dehlin smear that got pulled.

Evidently they will find anyone's Facebook page and track its contents for evidence of anti-apologetic rhetoric. I wonder whether this has been emailed to John Dehlin's stake president by the FAIR goons.

This is stunning.

Whoever did the digging, in his or her eagerness to cobble together the FAIR Wiki contribution, didn't even quote Dehlin's entire comment on one occasion. It was apparently too much effort to click the "more" link.

What a tacky, grabbing effort. Yuck.

KA

I'm glad I keep my Facebook activity hidden.

I wish I had known about John Dehlin when I was struggling with my faith. He approaches things honestly and openly. I don't understand why anyone would criticize him. Unless you're honestly offended by open dialogue about Mormon history.

KimberlyAnn wrote:Whoever did the digging, in his or her eagerness to cobble together the FAIR Wiki contribution, didn't even quote Dehlin's entire comment on one occasion. It was apparently too much effort to click the "more" link.

What a tacky, grabbing effort. Yuck.

KA

Yuck is right and, excepting a couple of decent fellows, yuck is my overall impression of FAIR.

Saw this earlier this week Scratch, RFM posters who are mentioned in the article responded here:

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,481386

Seems to me more of SHIELDS tactics.

Definitely a pack of goons. Apologists apparently have no capacity for self-reflection.