DiscussMormonism.com

It pleases me to report the Interpreter Foundation's expenses for the third quarter of 2020. Major expenses: $18,500 for web design, digital publication, and set-up; $11,850 for Book of Mormon Critical Text Project Volume III; $3,675.21 for subscription printing; and $2,838.15 for technical editing. Grand total: $41,709.32.

The Interpreter Foundation has now spent at least $312,939.65 on Critical Text Project Volume III. To put this figure into more concrete terms, I am reliably informed that $312,000 would cover the annual operating expenses of the new BYU Whittling and Whistling Brigade, which will operate separately from the BYU Police Department and the BYU Ministry of Love, and will be responsible for enforcing orthodoxy at the Maxwell Institute and protecting the campus community from professors who aren't Keeping Faith at BYU. Brigade members, who will carry large macuahuitls and long sticks, will safely escort apostates to the edge of campus. The new brigade will not be subject to GRAMA or the Clean Air Act, nor will it be subject to any other federal, state, city, campus, or ecclesiastical laws. Once in place, the Whittling and Whistling Brigade will report directly to Dr. Midgley, who will in turn report to the Brethren.

Foundation volunteers reportedly donated 2,099.5 hours of editing, reviewing, and writing services (worth a conservative estimate of $92,150) during the third quarter. The Executive Board alone worked an astounding 1,501 hours, which is 400 hours higher than the previous record for a quarter.

I regret to report that I cannot provide an update regarding BYU's re-review of Dr. Gee's book, Saving Faith. Nevertheless, Saving Faith continues to be sold on Amazon and at the FairMormon online bookstore. I leave you now with a bit of wisdom from Dr. Gee's book: "The prevalence of pornography has had a devastating impact on faith that is often unacknowledged. This is somewhat surprising considering that pornography led to King David's downfall (2 Samuel 11:2-4)" (p. 97).

Leonard Cohen wrote:Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof

Roof bathing was the live web cam of its time, I guess.

It's not so clear that this led to David's downfall, either. Nathan rebuked David, David repented, God forgave him. His first child with Bathsheba died, but the next was Solomon. David kept his throne and died at an advanced age, giving a wonderful last speech to Solomon right out of The Godfather, about all the guys that David had had to promise not to kill, and how as soon as David was gone Solomon should make sure to get them all.

Physics Guy wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 05, 2020 10:25 pm

Leonard Cohen wrote:Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof

Roof bathing was the live web cam of its time, I guess.

It's not so clear that this led to David's downfall, either. Nathan rebuked David, David repented, God forgave him. His first child with Bathsheba died, but the next was Solomon. David kept his throne and died at an advanced age, giving a wonderful last speech to Solomon right out of The Godfather, about all the guys that David had had to promise not to kill, and how as soon as David was gone Solomon should make sure to get them all.

Hmm. Dr. Gee doesn't mention those pesky details. Instead, he argues that "David's involvement in pornography marks a turning point in his life" and that "the Bible depicts him as spending the rest of his life dealing with the consequences of his actions."

Dr. Gee then lists these consequences:

1. David's viewing of pornography led to adultery with Bathsheba.
2. After Bathsheba became pregnant and Uriah refused to be complicit in a cover-up, David arranged Uriah's death and then married Bathsheba.
3. Following after his father's example, Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar. David was angry, but he did nothing.
4. Tamar's brother, Absalom, killed Amnon, resulting in Absalom's estrangement from David's family.
5. Absalom later revolted against David and during the revolt publicly raped David's concubines.

Dr. Gee concludes: "While David's case is extreme, it provides a useful historical example of the consequences of viewing pornography. It illustrates the words of Jesus: 'whosoever looked on a women to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart' (Matthew 5:28)" (p. 98).

I guess maybe David had some emotional discomfort over all that, but the real suffering due to his interest in Bathsheba was all other people’s. It’s good to be the king.

The fact that for Gee the story is nonetheless all about David is a little disturbing. Sure, the Biblical text spotlights David and everyone else is just an extra, but for a modern reader to cite the mass public rape of David’s concubines as a bad thing that happened to David is hard for me to respect.

Brigade members, who will carry large macuahuitls and long sticks...

Will these be long sticks or Papyri of Unusual Lengths?

What is lost on Gee is that the wild brutality and sex romps of the Old Testament is par for the course of how things were done back then.

Poor Thomas Sutpen.

Tom wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 05, 2020 11:20 pm

Hmm. Dr. Gee doesn't mention those pesky details. Instead, he argues that "David's involvement in pornography marks a turning point in his life" and that "the Bible depicts him as spending the rest of his life dealing with the consequences of his actions."

Dr. Gee then lists these consequences:

1. David's viewing of pornography led to adultery with Bathsheba.
2. After Bathsheba became pregnant and Uriah refused to be complicit in a cover-up, David arranged Uriah's death and then married Bathsheba.
3. Following after his father's example, Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar. David was angry, but he did nothing.
4. Tamar's brother, Absalom, killed Amnon, resulting in Absalom's estrangement from David's family.
5. Absalom later revolted against David and during the revolt publicly raped David's concubines.

Dr. Gee concludes: "While David's case is extreme, it provides a useful historical example of the consequences of viewing pornography. It illustrates the words of Jesus: 'whosoever looked on a women to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart' (Matthew 5:28)" (p. 98).

That's interesting, Tom. You have to wonder if something similar happened in the wake of Dr. Peterson viewing that infamous "Hot Booty Shaking" video of Jennifer Lopez. It was a mere couple of weeks after this incident that he was "fired" from the Maxwell Institute.

David was a man after God's heart so reads scripture!

I doubt lusting after Bathsheba makes the grade as pornographic. In any event God seems ready to forgive adultery -note Jesus and the woman caught in adultery story , and Jesus telling the Sumaritan woman at Jacob's well she has had 5 husband and a current sleep in in her life= no condemnation on his part to either. in fact he uses the encounter with the woman at the well to turn her into one of the first missionaries outside his disciples- actually quite n honor.

So the Geeman is pontificating on the ills of porn-perhaps a personal problem of his own causes him to raise the issue- too many goodlooking coeds at byu not to lust a little.

k

It pleases me to report the Interpreter Foundation's expenses for the fourth quarter of 2020. Major expenses: $21,556 for web design, digital publications, and set-up; $16,350 for Book of Mormon Critical Text Project Volume III; $8,225.59 for conferences - books - annual operating expenses; and $4,244.28 for technical editing. Grand total: $53,878.05. Note: the quarterly statement doesn't report expenses for the forthcoming Witnesses theatrical feature film and documentary. (Speaking of Witnesses, I recommend checking out the highly-entertaining Facebook page of Michael Zuccola, who plays a young David Whitmer in the film.)

The Interpreter Foundation has now spent an astonishing $329,289.65 on Critical Text Project Volume III. To put this figure into more concrete terms, I am reliably informed that $329,000 would fund the establishment of the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File archive at BYU's Harold B. Lee Library.

I should add that the long-suffering Interpreter Foundation executive board members reportedly donated 1,469 hours of physical and emotional labor to building the Kingdom during the fourth quarter of 2020 (worth, conservatively speaking, $73,450 in today's market). I have no information whether those 1,469 hours include hours spent by board members blogging and commenting at Sic et Non.