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Peterson's Pity Party continues....
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 6:50 am
by _I have a question
The narrative of my ouster from FARMS or the Maxwell Institute by righteously indignant and justifiably outraged Church leaders in Salt Lake City — they had, so the tale goes, become disgusted with the way the organization was being run and by the mean-spirited and dishonest pseudo-scholarship that was its primary product (and that I sponsored and, indeed, virtually embodied) — has become dogma in some quarters, despite its complete falsehood. So I was amused today when the invaluable Stephen Smoot, now pursuing graduate studies at the University of Toronto, called the above photograph to my attention. It’s from the Facebook page of Elder Gary Stevenson, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“Notice what Elder Stevenson keeps on his bookshelves?” Brother Smoot wrote, with tongue firmly in cheek. “But I thought ‘classic FARMS’ was an embarrassment to the Church. Isn’t that why you were fired, Dan? Can’t believe an apostle would have that dreck in his library.”
Incidentally, quite a number of years ago now, Elder Dallin H. Oaks — also of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles — showed me the substantial collection of FARMS/Maxwell books that he had in his office.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterso ... nt-be.htmlPeterson is the only person still talking about this, nobody else cares enough to bring it up.
Re: Peterson's Pity Party continues....
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 10:48 am
by _moksha
Well, that has to prove Classic FARMS to be true. The apostles are well served with FARMS books by Dr. Peterson, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and George Orwell. Agriculture helped make Utah great. Where would we be without Utah Sweet Corn and Green River Melons?
Re: Peterson's Pity Party continues....
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 1:10 pm
by _reflexzero
Let's see a picture of a GA actually reading one of those books.
Re: Peterson's Pity Party continues....
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 1:20 pm
by _Chap
reflexzero wrote:Let's see a picture of a GA actually reading one of those books.
Well, I have quite a few books on my shelves that I have acquired by gift, or otherwise, and despite the fact that I have never really made use of them, I let them stay there. Why? In part, I suppose, because I cherish the vague hope that they might one day turn out to be useful, and in part too because I know no-one else who would want them and I hate the idea of throwing any book away.
I suspect the same may go for FARMS/Maxwell Institute publications from the point of view of LDS Apostles.
Re: Peterson's Pity Party continues....
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 1:47 pm
by _I have a question
Given the outcome of a few years ago, the GA's can't have been all that impressed with the contents even if they had read them...
Re: Peterson's Pity Party continues....
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 4:08 pm
by _Doctor Scratch
There are all sorts of reasons why a GA would have FARMS materials on his bookshelf. That they would exclude the journals due to them being "dreck" is seriously off-base. In fact, the journals being cause for concern could very well be the *chief* reason for including them--they may have felt that the FARMS Mopologists needed to be carefully watched. Remember that the SCMC maintains files/ clippings/ bookshelves with plenty of "dreck," too, and this is directly overseen by General Authorities. Thus, merely owning copies of the materials doesn't imply much.
It may be that Elder Stevenson heard that Terryl Givens had an article in there somewhere, and he was interested in reading it at some point. Or, maybe he wanted to get his hands on the ultimate FARMS collector's item--an unedited, unadulterated copy of the "Metcalfe is Butthead" issue. Who knows?
Re: Peterson's Pity Party continues....
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 4:32 pm
by _RockSlider
I assumed it had more to do with:
"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:"