Greg Smith's Defense of Boyd K. Packer
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 5:06 pm
I went back last night and read (for the third time now) Greg Smith's defense of Boyd K. Packer in his "Shattered Glass" article in last year's one (and only) copy of the newly christened Mormon Studies Review.
The reason I did this is because I still could not figure out what the first half of his paper was about. (The second half was easy to see as a supercillious slam on the website Mormons for Marriage, in which Smith uses the same tactics I expect he employed in his 100-page Dehlin "hit piece" which has yet to see the light of day.)
The first half of the paper deals with the one sentence that was said in Elder Packer's October 2010 GC address that was deleted from the written report. That sentence was a question, "Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone?" This was queried in connection with his apparent allegations that homosexuals were not born that way, and that they could overcome this orientation by some means.
Greg Smith argues that this is not what Elder Packer was saying, that the deleted interrogatory may have given an impression not intended by Elder Packer, and that the deletion of that question from the report of his talk makes it clear that is not what Elder Packer was trying to say. (Greg then goes into six prior conference addresses of Elder Packer to try to show at length that this is the case.) This constitutes the first half of his paper.
Going back over it, though, the thing I don't get is this--It is not only the question that gives the impression this is what Elder Packer is saying. It is every thing else that was said around the question, and which still remains in the Conference report.
I will reproduce here the paragraph as it was given in Conference, and then the paragraph as it was amended in the written report.
Elder Packer's Conference Talk:
"Some suppose that they were preset and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn tendencies toward the impure and unnatural. Not so! Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone? Remember, He is our Heavenly Father." [Packer-2010A, 9:00–9:20]
Now the Conference report:
"Some suppose that they were preset and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn temptations toward the impure and unnatural. Not so! Remember, God is our Heavenly Father." [Packer-2010B]
I can see no difference the omitted question makes in the meaning of this passage. It is clear in both that Elder Packer is saying homosexuals are not "preset" and their feelings are not "inborn." He also says in both that it is the "temptation toward the pure and unnatural" that can be overcome, meaning he believes a homosexual can choose (or be trained) to be heterosexual.
In short, I am at a loss as to why Greg Smith spent so much time and research trying to explain that Elder Packer did not mean what he obviously meant.
Greg Smith's full article can be found here.
http://maxwellinstitute.BYU.edu/publica ... m=1&id=820
All the Best!
--Consiglieri
The reason I did this is because I still could not figure out what the first half of his paper was about. (The second half was easy to see as a supercillious slam on the website Mormons for Marriage, in which Smith uses the same tactics I expect he employed in his 100-page Dehlin "hit piece" which has yet to see the light of day.)
The first half of the paper deals with the one sentence that was said in Elder Packer's October 2010 GC address that was deleted from the written report. That sentence was a question, "Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone?" This was queried in connection with his apparent allegations that homosexuals were not born that way, and that they could overcome this orientation by some means.
Greg Smith argues that this is not what Elder Packer was saying, that the deleted interrogatory may have given an impression not intended by Elder Packer, and that the deletion of that question from the report of his talk makes it clear that is not what Elder Packer was trying to say. (Greg then goes into six prior conference addresses of Elder Packer to try to show at length that this is the case.) This constitutes the first half of his paper.
Going back over it, though, the thing I don't get is this--It is not only the question that gives the impression this is what Elder Packer is saying. It is every thing else that was said around the question, and which still remains in the Conference report.
I will reproduce here the paragraph as it was given in Conference, and then the paragraph as it was amended in the written report.
Elder Packer's Conference Talk:
"Some suppose that they were preset and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn tendencies toward the impure and unnatural. Not so! Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone? Remember, He is our Heavenly Father." [Packer-2010A, 9:00–9:20]
Now the Conference report:
"Some suppose that they were preset and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn temptations toward the impure and unnatural. Not so! Remember, God is our Heavenly Father." [Packer-2010B]
I can see no difference the omitted question makes in the meaning of this passage. It is clear in both that Elder Packer is saying homosexuals are not "preset" and their feelings are not "inborn." He also says in both that it is the "temptation toward the pure and unnatural" that can be overcome, meaning he believes a homosexual can choose (or be trained) to be heterosexual.
In short, I am at a loss as to why Greg Smith spent so much time and research trying to explain that Elder Packer did not mean what he obviously meant.
Greg Smith's full article can be found here.
http://maxwellinstitute.BYU.edu/publica ... m=1&id=820
All the Best!
--Consiglieri