Request for bullet list summary of the MI situation

[_zeezrom]

Hello good people of the board,

I am a lazy person who remains clueless on the Maxwell Institute thingy.

Might someone be so kind as to please list the major events in a list of bullets? I know it takes time and effort (recourses) to do this. Maybe I can help fix your fence in exchange?

Yours with admiration,

Zee.

[_Aristotle Smith]

MsJack already did one:

http://www.clobberblog.com/

[_Kevin Graham]

MsJack already did one:

http://www.clobberblog.com/

LOL!

That's awesome.

[_zeezrom]

MsJack already did one:

http://www.clobberblog.com/

Awesome.

I owe you a fence repair, Jack.

[_MsJack]

Just in case people are too lazy to click on my blog:

You've probably heard by now that something just changed within the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship (hereon MI). This post is intended to provide readers who may be unfamiliar with this topic with something of a timeline of events, for people who may not trust what they are hearing from other sources. Its purpose is to inform, not analyze.

Here are the events, provided with links and minimal commentary.

Thursday, June 14, 2012, 12:57 AM CST - A member of MormonDiscussions.com (hereon MDB) known as "Doctor Scratch" mentions that he was just "alerted to a potential 'changing of the guard' at the MI in the coming months."

Thursday, June 14, 2012, 10:43 AM (MST?) - M. Gerald  Bradford, Executive Director of the MI, e-mails Daniel C. Peterson and notifies him that he will be appointing a new editor to oversee the Mormon Studies Review (formerly the FARMS Review of Books, hereon MSR), in order to take the publication in "a different direction."

Thursday, June 14, 2012, 3:18 PM (MST?) - Peterson responds to Bradford, mentioning that the MI "leaks like a sieve" and that he has already read "on an apostate message board" about his impending termination. This was probably a reference to Doctor Scratch's 6/14 post at MDB. His response added 18 other unknown recipients.

Friday, June 15, 2012, 11:42 PM CST - Former Mormon and former Mormon apologist Kevin Graham starts a thread at MDB wherein he says, "I have it on good authority that there is an influential movement of scholars who are unhappy with the current direction of polemics led by Peterson and his editorial team. Expect major changes in the near future."

Friday, June 15, 2012, Time Uncertain - Dan Peterson says in a post at his blog, "[ I]n order for us to grow, says the Bible, we had to leave the Garden of Eden and work and learn in a fallen, resistant, and often mournfully unpleasant world. There’s no reason for us to like diseases, financial setbacks, wars, betrayals by friends, interpersonal hostilities, misunderstandings, physical injuries, injustice, unmerited humiliations, and the like.  It must needs be that offenses come, but woe unto him by whom those offenses come." Many speculate that this is a veiled reference to what had just happened to him with the MI.

Saturday, June 16, 2012, 3:52 PM CST - Doctor Scratch creates a thread at MDB wherein he posts Bradford's 6/14 e-mail to Peterson.

Saturday, June 16, 2012, 7:30 PM CST - Doctor Scratch creates another thread wherein he posts Peterson's 6/14 response to Bradford.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 9:24 PM (MST?) - William J. Hamblin confirms via a post on his blog (cross-posted at the Mormon Dialogue and Discussion Forum, hereon MDDB) that the leaked e-mails are authentic and Peterson will be replaced as editor of the MSR.

Thursday, June 21, 2012, 5:06 AM (MST?) - Peterson comments directly on the affair for the first time, in a post at MDDB, offering further confirmation of what has happened.

Friday, June 22, 2012, Time Uncertain - The MI posts an announcement about changing the editorial staff of the MSR, making Peterson's release official.

Friday, June 22, 2012, Time Uncertain - Peterson responds to the MI's formal announcement on his blog.

Friday, June 22, 2012, 4:15 PM MST - Peggy Fletcher Stack publishes about the "shake-up" in the Salt Lake Tribute.

I hope this is helpful to those who are unfamiliar with the message boards and blogs in question, yet trying to make sense of what has gone down.

Originally posted at ClobberBlog.

If anyone here at MDB can give me approximations on those "Time Uncertain" entries, please do.

[_Kishkumen]

Thanks, Jack. You have performed a real service here. Someday I hope we get the full scoop on what brought this all about. It is easy to get caught up in the drama, but I am increasingly wondering whether Kevin is right, and that the end of FARMS was long in the cards, but the principle insiders in FARMS itself failed to see the signs because they were too busy living from issue to issue, post to post.

I mean, when the Board was dissolved, what did they think would happen next?

[_bcspace]

They really need to get together quickly and form a group that publishes the types of things they want published, starting perhaps with the alleged hit piece. I am told it contains no ad hominem attacks. If true, publish it and announce the new group. Perhaps even publish under a nom de guerre (like the old D&C) for a while to short circuit problems with BYU employment.

[_Polygamy-Porter]

Perhaps even publish under a nom de guerre (like the old D&C) for a while to short circuit problems with BYU employment.

You are advocating being deceitful???

[_bcspace]

You are advocating being deceitful???

Not at all. I'm simply assuming BYU hasn't put the kibosh on an independent publication but might try to coerce those it knows are involved. Not knowing who is involved could allow classical FARMers to go on.

[_3sheets2thewind]

They really need to get together quickly and form a group that publishes the types of things they want published, starting perhaps with the alleged hit piece. I am told it contains no ad hominem attacks. If true, publish it and announce the new group. Perhaps even publish under a nom de guerre (like the old D&C) for a while to short circuit problems with BYU employment.

Yes, william schyver has made the claim. Yet, just yesterday, William Schyver proved he is a liar. How did william lie? About a month ago William admits MI and FAIR contain ad hominem and antagonistic.
Yesterday, William claimed MI and FAIR do not have any at all, and the belief in such is a myth created by antis.