The Mopologists Target a Maxwell Institute Grad Student

[_Doctor Scratch]

The Mopologists have been astir lately over on "Sic et Non." They grow ever angrier over the voting power of the cadre of Drs. and Professors who recently arrived on the scene. Midgley is practically incensed over their presence. C'mon, Dr. M.: all they're doing is voting! Was he a political science professor? Very strange.

In any event, late yesterday Dr. Peterson posted what we might call a "hit piece" entry on his blog. In it, he first quotes at length from Hymn 23 in the LDS hymnal ("We Ever Pray for Thee"), which is basically an expression of support for the LDS prophet. He's doing this, of course, as set-up. The presence of this song in the hymnal--so his logic goes--means that legitimate, orthodox Latter-day Saints should not criticize the prophet. Of course we all know this; Dallin Oaks himself said this on the PBS documentary, The Mormons: "It's wrong to criticize the leaders of the Church, even if the criticism is true." And yet, Mormonism is still very much an American religion, and there are few things that Americans enjoy more than throwing eggs at authority.

What does Peterson do next? Well, of course, he cites the Maxwell Institute's "Mission Statement." What is this all leading up to? Here you go:

Jaclyn Foster — who, I believe, is a doctoral student in history at the University of Utah — was a 2018 “Summer Fellow” of the Maxwell Institute, where her work resulted in a paper and a presentation entitled “The Influence of Scientific Racism on Mormon Racial Thought.”

Now, thanks to the miracle of modern technology, you can read a tweet that Jaclyn Foster published at 12:45 PM, on Saturday, 3 August 2019 — in other words, yesterday. Let’s call it “To be honest, or ‘to be honest'”:

“The True Ugliness of ‘Progressive Mormonism'”

His post ends there, though he does give a link to Robert Boylan's blog, where the actual tweet is posted in full. (I'm guessing that Peterson didn't post the tweet himself because, bizarrely, he's thinking to himself that he "doesn't want to hurt the young lady's reputation." Har-dee har har to that.) The tweet, it turns out, appears to be a retort to a tweet from an apparently Mopologist-run Twitter account called "John Dehlin Rumors" (is Greg Smith running this one?):

I heard a credible rumor that the best case scenario for Jaclyn Foster is to end up working at the mall selling cellphone cases at one of those kiosks since she's a joke of a human being and even more of a joke of a historian. Can anyone confirm? #Twitterstake #Apostake #DezNat

Best case scenario for Mormonism is Oaks and Nelson dying simultaneously in a car crash To be honest.

Hmm. Yes, that's quite harsh--to wish death on someone. But, from what I can gather, Foster is a passionate person who has strong feelings about certain things in the LDS Church. I can understand both perspectives: I get why hardcore conservative members of the Church might not take kindly to this sort of statement (hey, DCP is right: the hymn is right there in the hymnal), and yet I also get the anger and frustration that is felt by a number of politically left-leaning intellectuals in the Church. Should this be a case of forgive and forget, then? Maybe, but this is Mopologetics we're talking about, so you ought to prepare yourself to go slumming through the muck.

For one thing, did you know that Spencer MacDonald, a.k.a. "smac"from the old-school boards (e.g., FAIR, and if I'm not mistaken, ZLMB) has apparently been sending unwanted messages on Facebook to Foster? Due to my technological ineptitude, I cannot figure out how to copy and paste Smac's (decidedly creepy) message or Foster's response, but here is a small sampling:

I briefly reviewed some of the pictures you have posted on your FP (sic) profile. You have beautiful pictures of you as a missionary, you kissing your new husband in front of the temple, you with your husband and child, etc. It looks like you have a wonderful life. I am therefore perplexed at how you could think it appropriate to publicly wish for the death of these men.

[SNIP!]

...I am working hard not to judge you as a person. But what you said, your words, were awful. Depraved, even.

And he signs his name. (Foster, in her response, accuses Macdonald of "Facebook stalking a stranger.") But that's not all of it! Of course the Mopologists are going to be bouncing off the walls over the fact that Foster was, as DCP said, a "Summer Fellow" at the Maxwell Institute. "Carl," down in the comments on the "SeN" thread, writes this:

What is going on at the Maxwell Institute? How and why would someone that is plainly hostile to the church be a summer fellow at a religious scholarship institution at BYU bearing the name of Elder Maxwell? Maybe she only recently began hoping for the death of various of the apostles?

Sour grapes, eh? And then there is Steve Smoot, who fires off this missive:

When she hasn't been idly wishing for the deaths of the President of the Church and his First Councilor, Jaclyn Foster has been busy as part of an ugly Twitter smear campaign against Kwaku El, a prominent black Latter-day Saint YouTuber and comedian (and close friend of mine), for the horrendous crime of him not being as woke as she is when it comes to accepting and propounding important Progressive Shibboleths. (Mind you, Kwaku is an active, committed Latter-day Saint, but was also a past president of BYU Democrats, and has openly spoken out against the Alt-Right and other lamentable racist undercurrents within "Mormonism" today.) And when I say "ugly smear campaign," I don't mean your run-of-the-mill, petty online nastiness. I mean a concerted attempt to ruin his life with outrageous false accusations and slanders. (Not just questionable or debatable accusations, but accusations so patently untrue that BYU Police, Title IX, and the Honor Code dismissed them out of hand when they arose.)

Which is odd, because my impression from members of the radical Left such as Foster has long been that it's unspeakably racist to so much as voice the slightest amount of disagreement with black or African American commentators, or to question or critique them when they stake out political and social arguments, much less participate in an online mob attempting to destroy their reputation, employment, and schooling (which is what has happened to Kwaku at the hands of the self-styled woke Progressive "Mormon" [sic] Twitterati).

I suppose that rule only applies to black commentators who fall in line with Progressive orthodoxy.

However unpleasant it was at the time, I must also actually thank Foster for when she led the outrage mob against me on Twitter back in 2017 for the cardinal sin of also not being woke enough. This incident gave me the sense to leave Twitter altogether (thank God) and prompted me to rethink my own political and social positions. Whereas at the time I considered myself something of a Social Democrat, after being effectively excommunicated from the Church of Wokeness by Foster and other likeminded inquisitors, I undertook a gradual transformative journey that today finds me aligned more closely with Classical Liberalism and my loyalty to the Brethren stronger than ever before.

Had I not been so suddenly awoken from my deep slumber thanks to Foster and her woke confederates, I might still be chained inside that cave looking at dancing shadows on the wall.

So thanks for that, Jaclyn, I suppose.

Foster's reply on Twitter is this:

Side note: LOL both at Smoot’s “the mean lefties made me swing to the right” trope AND Smoot trying to accuse me of not being woke for daring to criticize a black person...which is such a racist caricature of the left I can’t even

And:

Anyways Smoot got run off Twitter because he kept telling queer PoC that they weren’t being nice enough to Ben Shapiro so,

Ouch. Meanwhile, on a separate "SeN" thread, Smoot has now found himself in the position of having to defend his infamous "bukkake" remark:

Aren't you the same guy that referenced some x-rated sex acts with one woman and several men on Bill Reel's Facebook page a while back? Not a good look for you, brother.

Aren't you the same guy that referenced some [memes] on Bill Reel's Facebook page a while back?

Fixed that for you.

As much as Bill Reel, in his utter desperation to assassinate the character of his demonstrable intellectual superiors, would like to paint me as some kind of depraved pervert, the boring reality is simply that I know what memes are (welcome to the Internet in 2019), and was feeling especially fed up with the typical moronic balderdash coming from Reel and his cultists that day, and so I turned up the meme spice a little extra on that occasion.

That's it. Sorry to disappoint you.

Not a good look for you, brother.

As if I gave a damn what you or the Chumlee of ex-Mormonism think about me or my "look." LoL.

This Dialogue article offers a breakdown of the events surrounding the creation of the transfiguration myth. It's only 23-pages so you should be able to get through it.

Van Wagoner takes a characteristically minimalist approach to the historical record surrounding the transfiguration episode.

I myself prefer Jorgensen's analysis, as it is on the whole much more balanced than Van Wagoner's.

But please don't let balanced, nuanced scholarship dissuade you from disaffected nihilism by any means.

Uh, "memes"? Is the idea that he knows what the "memes" are but he doesn't understand what they mean? Like he sees them basically as cultural tokens that you spend--sort of like poker chips--but there is no value/meaning/context connected to them? This seems like a rehash of Midgley's explanation for his understanding of the phrase "spit or swallow." Or things Schryver used to say. Or DCP stating (If I recall correctly) that he had to counsel a young woman in his ward (he was bishop of a student ward, if I'm not mistaken) about "coitus interrupts."

All of this is enough to make your head spin. Things have definitely gotten interesting in 2019.

[_Lemmie]

So Smoot thinks this post of his is just a reference to a 'meme'?

Stephen Smoot:

Well kids it's been fun, but I have big boy stuff to do tomorrow, like drive six hours to an academic conference.

I'm very pleased that my trolling has prompted this conversation. If nothing else it has proven to me why I hope to God that I never become an ex-Mormon.

So long everyone' Just remember to clean up after your tapir bukake (which you still haven't proven to me that you don't engage in frequently).

('Academic conferences are these things where people who don't rot their brains on Bill Reel's podcasts go to do actual and engage in critical thinking)

https://imgur.com/FFGDfEM

http://mormondiscussions.com/phpBB3/vie ... 5#p1184015

Jaclyn Foster apologized for her tweet. Smoot defended his shitposting above as acceptable 'meme referencing.' What's the takeaway on that?

[_Gadianton]

This is very interesting. So Smoot thinks that anyone who knows anything would see that his outlandish wish for Reel wasn't literal, but just a way of expressing extreme frustration. However, Foster's statement can't conceivably be taken as anything like that at all, and must be a very real, and serious wish for a literal transpiring of what was said?

It's also quite revealing that Smoot's entire social economic perspective has been determined by Facebook and Twitter wars. I mean, seriously, 'clap clap'.

[_SuperDell]

One of the most pernicious aspects of L-d$,inc leadership is their paranoia over members asking questions. They too often see an honest question - or discussion - as "speaking evil of the Lord's Anointed".

When younger (50's=60's) we were encouraged to ask questions. For decades Joseph Fielding Smith did "answers to Gospel questions". Big Bruce even put out his Mormon Doctrine to help with this.

As one who had honest questions I would ask and at times would get "we don't know right now". Often I would get answers. Tinged with the SoUtah opinion at times but at least they were addressed.

Later things shut down and we were pushed more and more to shut up and quit asking. Now? Asking anything other than a few "approved" type questions is verboten.

It is a sick society led by paranoids protecting their paychecks.

[_MsJack]

So the people who didn't think William Schryver's comments were even a little bit misogynist are now clutching their pearls over a prog Mormon's tweet about church leadership preferences?

K.

Hey Jaclyn: just tell them that you didn't actually tweet that, the Twitter mods changed your tweet to make it look like you said something you didn't. Don't worry if multiple people actually saw your tweet immediately after. The people criticizing you won't be able to discern that you're telling a stupid lie.

As a reminder, the MI Summer Seminar takes all types. They've accepted at least two non-Mormons (Chris Smith and myself, but I had to decline attending) and one ex-Mormon (Mike Reed). Almost like they're after a diversity of thought on Mormonism or something.

[_Lemmie]

Proletarius > Proletarius • 11 hours ago

One additional thought. We hear these sorts of things, quite literally, from those who commit violent atrocities. The general consensus seems to be that these kind of violent ideations are precursors to actual violence.

Does she need to be put on a watch list? I would rather she get help, at the risk of being paternalistic. (Surely not my intent.)

Surely not.

Fourfingeredjake > Spencer • 10 hours ago

I read the letter. She is mentally ill, most likely borderline personality disordered ("It is unacceptable that you would cause me to feel this way.") at a minimum. She and her family are to be pitied.

Wow. These Mormons really hate each other, don't they? Or is it just that Peterson, et. al., still resent all things Maxwell?

Dr. OMG > DanielPeterson • 7 hours ago

....In all seriousness, I remember a few years ago when you publicly apologized on Patheos for posting inappropriate lynching photos. I was one of the first people to publicly support you after your apology and I also remember you asking everyone for understanding and forgiveness.

That's one of the reasons I was surprised you posted this article and have allowed these comments. Oh well, to each his own. Please continue with the public crucifixion.

Also, Proletarius would suggest putting DP on a watchlist, to make sure he doesn't lynch anyone.

[_Lemmie]

Speaking of unprofessional behavior:

Fourfingeredjake > Spencer • 10 hours ago

I read the letter. She is mentally ill, most likely borderline personality disordered ("It is unacceptable that you would cause me to feel this way.") at a minimum. She and her family are to be pitied.

Surprised to see 4FJ, who has stated he is a board-certified psychiatrist, making online diagnoses like this. I thought professional standards recommended against doing that.

DanielPeterson Mod > Unconvinced • 11 hours ago

No bargain-basement amateur pop psychology, please. Especially of the hostile kind.

Did Peterson say this to Fourfingered Jake? Oh wait, no. No he didn't. He said it to Unconvinced, who posted this:

Unconvinced > Fourfingeredjake • 11 hours ago

We could probably all use some mental health expertise, present company included. Lou and Kiwi are disturbingly angry and could use it more than most.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

Weird that Mr. Midgley’s mind went to ‘Jews are Communists’ when complaining about ad hominem attacks. Where in the world did that come from?

- Doc

[_moksha]

Jaclyn Foster apologized for her tweet. Smoot defended his ____ above as acceptable 'meme referencing.' What's the takeaway on that?

My takeaway from that is Jaclyn Foster needs to avoid forums that infuriate her and cause her to lash out. Civility and graciousness are two attributes to aim for at all times. Also, we can acknowledge that apologists can be a rough bunch, who are using Jaclyn as a means to shove a shiv into the ribs of the Maxwell Institute.

As to Steve Smoot, that meme stuff is probably as good of cover as can be devised for a subconscious desire to experience some Tapir Bukkake. Don't do it, Steve, try to relate to Dr. Peterson in some other way! Hold true to the ideals you've been taught, and they certainly don't include tapir bukkake. Wash that idea out of your mind immediately.

As far as managing Lou and Kiwi, let them have plenty of naps, then feed them a pound of raw hamburger and hose them down afterward so they can be their most civil on the various forums and blogs.

[_Madison54]

For one thing, did you know that Spencer MacDonald, a.k.a. "smac"from the old-school boards (e.g., FAIR, and if I'm not mistaken, ZLMB) has apparently been sending unwanted messages on Facebook to Foster? Due to my technological ineptitude, I cannot figure out how to copy and paste Smac's (decidedly creepy) message or Foster's response, but here is a small sampling:

I briefly reviewed some of the pictures you have posted on your FP (sic) profile. You have beautiful pictures of you as a missionary, you kissing your new husband in front of the temple, you with your husband and child, etc. It looks like you have a wonderful life. I am therefore perplexed at how you could think it appropriate to publicly wish for the death of these men.

[SNIP!]

...I am working hard not to judge you as a person. But what you said, your words, were awful. Depraved, even.

And he signs his name. (Foster, in her response, accuses Macdonald of "Facebook stalking a stranger.")

Yeah, Smac seems obsessed with this. He posted about her yesterday on a thread over on MD&D (about BYU admissions policies and many accused him of an on purpose derail since it was off topic.):

http://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/721 ... 1209920200