The Top Ten Happenings in Mopologetics, 2025

[Doctor Scratch]

Do you hear those jingle bells jangling, Friends & Colleagues? Is Jack Frost nipping at your nose? (Or is Jack Welch nipping at your assessment of chiasmus?) Tis the season, of course--Happy Holidays! The wintry weather has descended upon the Cassius University campus, and I, for one, find that I am often in need of the luxurious Angora-fur scarf that was gifted to me by Dean Robbers several Christmases ago. I often find myself gazing plaintively out the window of my office these days, watching the feathery flakes of snow dancing in the late autumn dusk.

Of course, with technology these days, there is no need to brave the cold weather--why, we could all be warm and huddled together in front of everyone's favorite holiday oracle--the television set! It turns out that, this holiday season, there is one streaming service in particular that has seemingly cornered the market on Mormon- and Mopologist-themed content. The name of this streamer is Apple TV+.

I'm sure by now that you've read Dean Robbers's fascinating reviews of the currently-unfolding episodes of Pluribus, which depicts a rather startlingly "hive-mind" scenario that has clear parallels with modern LDS culture. But there are other programs that fit the theme as well, such as Foundation--based on the Asimov books--which features an unchanging, all-powerful and dynastic fascist leadership (and tellingly, they refer to each other as "Brother"). Even the rotten shows seem to demonstrate and LDS influence, such as Invasion, which is about an alien invasion and which features a murderous cult that decides to traitorously side with the aliens out of a belief that doing so will enable them to be reunited with their deceased loved ones.



Indeed, Apple TV+ seems to be killing it when it comes to Mormon-related material, but there is one show that stands head and shoulders above the others, and which features a character that is perhaps the most Mormon and most Mopologetic of any fictional character ever. The show in question is Severance and the character is Mr. Seth Milchick. (Beware: some mild spoilers are forthcoming....)



The show is about a strange company called Lumon that employs a group of workers who are "severed." A chip has been implanted in their brains that causes a clear division: when they are at work, they cannot remember anything about their outside lives, and when they are at home, they cannot remember anything about their work at Lumon. This leads to all sorts of comedy and intrigue, but also raises a rather eerie question: namely, how does this secrecy wind up serving Lumon's interests?

I'm sure you can already see the parallels: i.e., can you think of anyone else who manages to keep their brain on in one context, but completely shuts it off in another? (If not, let me job your memory: it's called Mormon Scholars Tesitfy.) The tone of Severance, straddling off-beat and sometimes surreal comedy with the eerie, conspiratorial and menacing aspects of a thriller, is quintessentially Mormon. And guess what? It turns out that Lumon is not simply a "company," it is also some kind of semi-cult that was launched by a strange and charismatic leader named Kier Eagan. So, we've got a secretive cult/business started by a charismatic leader that installs chips in people's brains that prevents them from knowing fully what the company is doing. Oh, and Lumon also engages in rather extensive surveillance of these "severed" employees. That's how you "strengthen" employee morale, right?



(Tramell Tillman as Mr. Milchick in Apple TV+'s Severance.)

Arguably the most interesting character on the show, though, is Seth Milchick, powerfully portrayed by Tramell Tillman, who won an acting Emmy for his work. Clad in the standard-issue Mormon uniform of a short-sleeved white collared shirt and a necktie, Milchick is an endlessly fascinating presence on the show: he's unfailingly polite, with a soft, soothing voice and a thousand-watt smile. But he is also a villain: he functions essentially as a kind of "muscle" for the cult-like company. One of the most chilling lines he delivers comes in the second season, when he remarks, all-too-calmly, "We don't have any punishments at Lumon."

But Milchick himself seems to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. He's seemingly devoted to Lumon, but it becomes clear--especially in the 2nd season--that the company is using him. He is given a "performance review" at one point, by a giant, bearded fellow named Drummond, and one of the criticisms of Milchick's performance is that he "uses too many big words." Sound familiar?



Of course, another reason Milchick stands out is that he is one of the few people of color on the show, and there is a strange and unnerving moment in Episode 3 of Season 2, where Lumon apparently tries to address this issue by gifting Milchick a set of paintings in which the cult/Lumon leader, Kier, is depicted as Black. Milchick's normally placid expression turns sour at the sight of them. You can't help but wonder: Would the Mopologists react similarly if Church leaders did something like this? Mr. Milchick, the quietly menacing head of the Severed Floor, who is nonetheless operating under the thumb of Lumon--who tries so hard to be the good employee and yet cannot seem to catch a break--is arguably the most "Mormon" and most "Mopologetic" of any current character on TV. Granted: he's far more charming than any of the Mopologists, and, as has been pointed out before, there are not Black Mopologists (apart from Richard Nygren, I suppose?)

In any case, it's time to get down to business! As the B. H. Roberts Chair of Mopologetic Studies at Cassius University, it is my great honor and privilege to present you with the Top Ten Happenings in Mopologetics in 2025!


10. The Mopologists are Incensed over American Primeval

Let's face it: there has been a lot of Mormon-related media content lately. There are the aforementioned Apple TV programs, of course, but there was also the Hugh Grant film, Heretic, plus the Interpreter Foundation's box office bomb, Six Days in August. Indeed, 6DIA's failure may be part of the reason why the Mopologists were so wound up about the Netflix limited series, American Primeval, which seemed to draw a mixed response from viewers, but was, at least, popular for a month or so. The show featured a scheming Brigham Young, which poses a problem since it is arguably a far more accurate depiction compared to the Mopologists' scrubbed-clean version of BY. But the anger and gnashing of teeth in response of American Primeval was remarkable, and serves as yet another reminder of the fact that that Mopologists will not tolerate any depiction of Latter-day Saints that isn't tightly controlled by the Church and its servants.


9. The Continuing Battle with the Heartlanders

While other Mopologetics outlets--such as Scripture Central--decided to make amends with the Heartlanders, other Mopologists--notably the Interpreter Foundation--cannot let go of their old animosity, and so the war rages on. This year, Interpreter kept up the skirmishes via a pair of angry, snarling essays aimed at Jonathan Neville, Rodney Meldrum, and others. I have said before: the old-school Mopologists cannot function without enemies. So, either they pick a new group to target, or this war with the Heartlanders will go on and on and on and on and on and on.....


8. The Mopologists Reminisce About Bashing with EVs

Speaking of "necessary enemies," 2025 offered up an opportunity for the President of Interpreter to reminisce about the "good old days"--the olden times where it was unnecessary to slam other Latter-day Saints, because EVs were far more appealing as targets. The reminiscence offered up an occasion to criticize EV's Sunday attire and a ripe opportunity for boasting:

I responded that, yes, by the standard of mainstream traditional Christianity, my Latter-day Saint view of the Godhead is indeed heretical. I think that I remember him smiling in triumph. But then I pointed out that, again by the standard of mainstream traditional Christianity, he too was a heretic. I told him that his view was an expression of Sabellianism, or what is sometimes called “modalistic monarchianism.” Sabellianism was a third-century heresy that denied the existence of real, distinct persons within the Trinity. It viewed the one God as, if I may, something of an actor, one who simply puts on this or that mask, according to whatever would serve at the time. It was rejected by most Christians anciently and is still considered a false doctrine.

He protested against my description of what he had said, claiming that his was true, biblical, trinitarianism.

“Actually,” said one of the others who were standing nearby, “I don’t think you’re right. Maybe you need to talk with Pastor.”

My, how those Mopologists smacked down those EVs! What a pity that those days are long gone, and that now, all the principal targets are other Latter-day Saints, and the occasional atheist. Oh, and Christopher Hitchens. Always and forever, Christopher Hitchens.


7. Forced Sterilization in the Lower Kingdoms

Normally, the Mopologists--for very good reasons--are reluctant to weigh in on matters of theology. Still, one widely-held assumption has been that they are strong proponents of the "TK Smoothie Hypothesis"--i.e., they agree with prophetic speculation that those who wind up in the lower kingdoms will be resurrected without any genitals--similar to a Barbie or Ken doll. It would certainly help to explain their behavior and attitudes, which seems to stem from an assumption that those who were "too stupid" to fall in line with their more "enlightened" stance will have to suffer eternal punishment.

Luckily, in a September "SeN" post, Dr. Peterson helped to clarify: the genitals won't actually be removed, *but*, those in the Telestial and Terrestrial Kingdoms *will* be forcibly sterilized. No kids for anyone in the afterlife except for the exalted! There is still the matter (I suppose) whether the resurrected genitals are actually functional or not (i.e., procreation may be off the table, but is actually sex a no-go, too?), but it seems we will have to continue wait for further clarification on this issue.


6. The 2025 FAIR Conference

As it does every year, the 2025 FAIR Conference offered up a smorgasbord of talks and other tidbits of interest. This year, Dr. Peterson continued his obsessive defense of Brigham Young, and Zachary Wright took home the coveted John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. Perhaps the highlight of the conference, though, was the presence of Aaron Sherinan, who is Managing Director of the Church Communication Department for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As the always-insightful commentator Tom noted, Sherinan was "raked over the coals" because he apparently "had published several social media posts expressing support for same-sex marriage and transgender rights." To cite just one of the comments (helpfully collated by Tom):

He should be excommunicated along with everyone who called him. His call was no accident. If secret combinations need to be ferretted out of the church, then brazen open colluding with those who openly crave to bring the very darkest of evil into the church must also.

The issue raises a number of important questions: What is the role of continuing revelation? How many people will continue to exit the Church due to its generally antagonistic stance towards LGBTQ+ people? Conversely, how many people would leave if the Church openly adopted a more tolerant stance--such as allowing same-sex sealings in the temple? And how will all this play out under the newly appointed "Oaks Regime"? Time, as always, will tell.


5. The Ongoing Dehumanization of Martin Tanner

This year's winner of the prestigious Sampson Avard Golden Scepter Award was Martin Tanner, the erstwhile/sometimes host of the Mormon Interpreter Radio Show / Podcast (or something like that). But Tanner, like many of the Mopologetic "underlings," is something of a "whipping boy" for the Senior Tier: DCP and the upper-echelon people bark orders at him, and he sulkily carries on with his (volunteer!) duties. He took heavy criticism for the poor quality of the new Interpreter YouTube podcast, and as of this writing, he still does not have a bio on the Interpreter Foundation website, despite years' worth of volunteer contributions. One can't help but think of the famous Groucho Marx quote about how he would "never join a club that would have me as a member."


4. Rumors Swirl about Cuts to Mopologetic Budgets

There was something of a shake-up in the world of Mopologetics as key younger figures--notably Jazmin Rappleye--departed from Scripture Central. Rappleye, along with her husband Neal and fellow "Young Turk" Stephen Smoot, launched a new YouTube venture, but the move led to speculation about the reasons behind the "breakup," with some suggesting that Church-subvened finances had been slashed. Another possibility is that the younger crowd is friendlier towards LGBTQ+ issues, and Scripture Central--helmed by former FARMS chieftain Jack Welch--is not, thus leading to the fissure. Regardless, the split seemed to signal that something noteworthy was underway: to this point, Scripture Central had been dominating the scene with its flashy, media-savvy presentations; its diplomatic work with the Heartlanders; and its million-dollar+ operating budget, which dwarfed the budgets at Interpreter and FAIR. Perhaps new details will emerge in 2026.


3. Greg Smith Publishes Another Epic Hit-Piece

Arguably the most detestable and unlikable Mopologist is Gregory L. Smith: a mean, vindictive, intolerant and vengeance-fueled person who is perhaps best know for his novella-length "hit piece" on John Dehlin. It was a piece of writing that played a key role in the self-destruction of "classic-FARMS," and it is also notable for being one of the few "peer reviewed" pieces that nonetheless somehow never found its way into the paper version of the "journal."

This year, Smith was back with another epic-length, odious, homophobic hit piece aimed at one of Interpreter's favorite targets: fellow LDS scholar Taylor Petrey. In 2021, Petrey was described as a "red flag" in Daniel Ortner's review of Queer Mormon Theology, and, of course, Smith himself went ballistic on Petrey in his (Smith's) review of Petrey's award winning Feet of Clay. But whereas Smith seemed to be exercising a degree of restraint in the former article, his new one holds no punches, as evidence by the mocking title: Intellectual Colonialism and Air Bud Theology: More on Queer Theory and the Church of Jesus Christ." Air Bud, of course, is the film about a dog who can play basketball, so you can see that Smith is setting things up so that Queer Theory and LGBTQ+ rights, vis-a-vis Mormonism, are every bit as absurd and worthy of mockery and laughter:

This claim requires considerable unpacking, but we should first recognize it as a striking example of what one wise friend has called “Air Bud theology.”37 For those who do not recall this cinematic gem, Air Bud is a Disney film starring a dog who plays basketball. When the opposing team protests at the manifest absurdity of having a dog on a basketball team, the dog’s coach retorts, “You check in your rulebook. Bet you don’t find anything in there that says the dog can’t play.”

Now, the proper answer to this would be, “Only a moron would think there would be.” In the interests of the story, the referee replies, “He’s right. Ain’t no rule says a dog can’t play basketball.”38 Hijinks ensue.

[Page 103]As we will see, Queering offers us Air Bud theology—”ain’t nothing in scripture that explicitly comes right out and says that God and humanity can’t be sexually fluid.” That’s slightly sillier than a dog wearing high-top sneakers.

Smith goes on to make a rather shaky argument concerning Petrey's use of sources. (Surely interpretation of a text can vary depending on the reader, no? And these differences can be honest, and not tendentious manipulation, no?) And the essay goes on, and on, and on. Smith is particularly nasty towards the end, where, after making it clear that he's spent ample time stalking Petrey's various social media accounts, Smith accuses Petrey of being a traitor to the Church who is only interested in "worldly gain":

The cluster of perverse incentives that thus infects the field has led to a proliferation of a certain unfortunate subspecies of Mormon Studies scholar whose work is both predictable and pedestrian despite the assurances of fellow scholars.297 These scholars settle for dull thrills when it is their turn to epater les bourgeois, procuring an ink-stained fifteen minutes of fame when the Salt Lake Tribune anoints them as the expert du jour on anything remotely connected to the Church. Such scholars enjoy self-satisfying bursts of moral grandstanding on social media and, if they are lucky, a sinecure at a third-rate college.

Hilariously--coming from Interpreter--Smith complains that Petrey hasn't been properly "peer reviewed":

Accountability to non-complicit peer review—which used to be the definitive control on all scholarly activity, and the best solution we’ve ever found for the biases that postmodernity highlights—is sorely lacking. At the same time, there seems to be a great deal of informal policing for “proper” opinions and social attitudes. These factors get you exactly what you’d expect, and exactly what you don’t want in genuine thought—ideological conformity based on fear and a tolerance or encouragement of shoddy work if it conforms ideologically.

Meanwhile, Smith struggles mightily to make the claim that Petrey's work is an attempt to "colonize" Latter-day Saint theology and culture. He writes, without citing any concrete evidence, that:

I know professionals in the academy, social work, psychology, and medicine who keep their heads down in training, lest they run afoul of similar moral crusaders who could threaten their licensure or tenure. Medical trainees are blackballed—and told so in writing—because of their faith’s social views. That’s the sort of thing elites only do when they are implacably convinced of both their own rectitude and their own overwhelming power.

"Colonization," in his view, seems to mean that he might be asked to give up his intolerance and prejudice--that he might (God forbid!) one day have to deal with the reality of same-sex couples being sealed in the temple. Would he, like the angry critics of Aaron Sherinan, leave the Church if it came to that?

Regardless, Smith's latest piece is a reminder of just how much rot continues to fester at the heart of the Mopologetic enterprise.


2. Interpreter's Radio Show is Cancelled

We had to bid a sad farewell in 2024 to the Interpreter Radio Show. The program, with a weekly audience of perhaps half a dozen, had been on the air for over a decade, but the problems (evidently) had been mounting, and at last, the Interpreter crew was shown the door. Spin-doctoring of the event quickly ensued, with the Interpreter President claiming that they "weren't fired, we quit!"--i.e., that they left so that some member of the team wouldn't have to drive as far, and also that they had been "planning" the move for sometime so as to take advantage of "new technology," such as podcasting and YouTube.

But the new YouTube version of the show was such an utter disaster that even Peterson publicly trashed it, with Sampson Avard Golden Scepter Award Winner Martin Tanner apparently being the main person to blame. It seems that the podcast has continued to limp along, with exceptionally weak viewership numbers. All of which is indicative of Interpreter's current status in the Mopologetic online landscape.


And that brings us to this year's Number One! The most important Happening in Mopologetics in 2025 is.... (drumroll)....



1. The Majority of Interpreter's "New" Content is Rehashed

Clear back in 2012 when it was first launched, Interpreter seemed like a ramshackle, hastily-slapped-together project, with blog posts that were riddled with grammatical errors and typos, and some postings recycled from past FARMS (or other) material. The Interpreter President has frequently made passive-aggressive jokes about the "unchanging" Interpreter website, or about how critics are always predicting that it will "fail" (has it ever "succeeded")?

But 2025 brought greater scrutiny to Interpreter's overall output and raised important questions about whether this donor- and Church-funded operation really is offering "value" or original content to readers and viewers. The observant poster drumdude noted, in a late 2024 post that the Interpreter President had been repeatedly misrepresenting several of the postings as being "new" (they were reprints), and this resulted in a rather embarrassing end to the Proprietor's boasting about "646 weeks in a row" of new content being posted.

Further analysis is needed, but it seems that, on the basis of a cursory review, that well over half of Interpreter's content is re-hashed or sycophantic: old FARMS articles that are freely accessible elsewhere, or Tyler Rasmussen's "Interpreting Interpreter" summaries, which, I guess, are like "Cliff's Notes" or ChatGPT summaries of the articles so that you don't have to waste time reading the originals?

Interpreter thus seems to be positioning itself as being something akin to the "Nick at Nite" of Mopologetics: a site devoted to replaying old stuff from the past. Good for nostalgia, I guess? Assurance that things can still be like Leave it to Beaver? The problem, as always, seems to be one of quantity: the leadership has always seemed more interested in pumping out massive amounts of material rather than pausing to think about how *good* that material is. One wonders what they'd produce if they cut out the chaff and focused instead on doing strictly original content. But that seems unlikely.


* * * * * * *

Well, that brings things to a close. I thought that 2025 in many respects was a quiet and subdued year for Mopologetics, but once you dig a bit beneath the surface, there are always little nuggets--or lumps of coal, perhaps--that are worth pondering in more detail. And as the year draws to a close, I find myself wondering what 2026 will offer to the student or scholar interested in Mopologetics. For one, Interpreter's Bowdlerizing Brigham film project promises to be interesting. And it may be that the "Oaks Regime" will make moves that shake the very foundations of the Church. We will have to wait and see!

All right: with that, I'm off to the annual Cassius Christmas party, where Reverend Kishkumen will be serving up Irish coffees while he regales us with Christmas tunes done in the style of Gary Numan. Happy Holidays to all!



And a bonus--a few honorable mentions:


--The Mopologists Are Still Haunted by The CES Letter--Oh, and PDF Technology, Too

--Interpreter's Ongoing Obsession with Brigham Young

--The Interpreter Foundation Gets a New Website

[drumdude]

I always look forward to this post all year long! It just doesn’t feel like the holiday season until it drops.

I’ll note that DCP has many (over a dozen) times pointed out that the reprints are Thursday’s slop. They’re not the crucial Friday slop. The Friday chain is still unbroken, if you count Dan copy-pasting a Christmas message from years prior only hours before the deadline. As I recall, the author of that Friday’s “article” called in sick. DCP rushed to get something, anything, out to keep his unbroken record.

I chuckle a bit at how seriously he takes his little Potemkin academic journal. No one else does!

I predict in 2026 we will see the first damming evidence of AI slop appearing in an Interpreter “article.”

[malkie]

I always look forward to this post all year long! It just doesn’t feel like the holiday season until it drops.

I’ll note that DCP has many (over a dozen) times pointed out that the reprints are Thursday’s slop. They’re not the crucial Friday slop. The Friday chain is still unbroken, if you count Dan copy-pasting a Christmas message from years prior only hours before the deadline. As I recall, the author of that Friday’s “article” called in sick. DCP rushed to get something, anything, out to keep his unbroken record.

I chuckle a bit at how seriously he takes his little Potemkin academic journal. No one else does!

I predict in 2026 we will see the first damming evidence of AI slop appearing in an Interpreter “article.”

Did I hear correctly that Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich is suing you for misuse of trademark, and reputational damage to his system of village façades?

[Res Ipsa]

I always look forward to this post all year long! It just doesn’t feel like the holiday season until it drops.

I’ll note that DCP has many (over a dozen) times pointed out that the reprints are Thursday’s slop. They’re not the crucial Friday slop. The Friday chain is still unbroken, if you count Dan copy-pasting a Christmas message from years prior only hours before the deadline. As I recall, the author of that Friday’s “article” called in sick. DCP rushed to get something, anything, out to keep his unbroken record.

I chuckle a bit at how seriously he takes his little Potemkin academic journal. No one else does!

I predict in 2026 we will see the first damming evidence of AI slop appearing in an Interpreter “article.”

Did I hear correctly that Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich is suing you for misuse of trademark, and reputational damage to his system of village façades?

[Gadianton]

In recent years, as we draw close to the end of the year, I've felt that not much happened this time, and then the Top Ten comes along and I'm blown away at how much really happened. Some of these episodes I was aware of and others I wasn't. I completely missed the Greg Smith review. What a riot! He really thinks the kind of sexual unions permitted or ordered by God aren't fluid at all after reading the Bible, not to mention Mormon polygamy? And isn't it his team -- conservative Christianity -- which has drilled the message home that the Bible condemns homosexual relations?

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... r?lang=eng

Given this is what Smith's church teaches, we need to reframe his analogy. It's not a situation where an unconventional basketball team argues that a dog can play because the rule book doesn't say they can't, but that most other teams since the dawn of the rulebook have claimed that the rule book expressly forbids dogs from playing basketball more than just about anything else in the world and cite several passages in support. And so this unconventional basketball team responds by showing that those passages actually don't forbid dogs from playing. Seems pretty reasonable. Smith really isn't very bright, is he?

The saga of Interpretor trying to get a radio or multi-media audience is fascinating. They cancel the radio show promising big plans for podcasting, and then let some poor underling kick it off in a spare bedroom without any guidance whatsoever, and then viciously attack the poor guy when it's anything less than a Hollywood production! This is a failure of leadership in the worst way. It really shows leadership is just coasting. I assume travel and dining are the main priorities. This negligence shows up again in the number one happening.

Finally, I'm astounded that the B.H. Roberts chair took up Severance for comment. He may be right that it's the most Mormon series ever made. In fact, I only subscribed to Apple TV a few months ago in order to watch Season 2 of Severance when it came out, and once it did, I forced myself to watch a few lesser series first to delay the gratification as much as possible. I'm a huge fan of Severance and I also believe Milchick so far is the best supporting character. Kind of the "Ben" of Lost. Fantastic commentary.

[Doctor Scratch]

I am very grateful for the kind remarks.


Dean Robbers:

Smith really isn't very bright, is he?

No, he’s not. This latest article is reprehensible. It’s bad and vicious even by classic-FARMS standards.

I'm a huge fan of Severance and I also believe Milchick so far is the best supporting character. Kind of the "Ben" of Lost. Fantastic commentary.

Yes: I agree that Ben Linus definitely has a very LDS vibe about him. Not all the characters from Lost seem “Mormon-y” to me, but Ben definitely does. There is Marvin Candle, the stiff, unnerving guy from the filmstrip documentary—he seems like a GA, woodenly conveying the party line. And then there’s John Locke: the hyper-earnest “man of faith.” Think of the most ambitious guy in any given mission: the guy who truly thinks that tracting is going to save the world.

Ben Linus, though? He calls to kind that infamous BY quote about how Mormonism has “the best and smoothest liars in the land.” Ben certainly looks the part: head over the Utah and throw a rock and you’re bound to hit someone who at least looks like they could be his kin. But he is dishonest about who he is—terrifyingly so. A great contrast with Milchick, but still very much someone who fits squarely into the Mopologetic mold.

[I Have Questions]

It’s been a hectic start to a new academic year here at Winston Polytechnic Oxford. The first two terms are flying by. I was teaching second years who have been held back, a lesson on ‘pan European religious asset management in post Brexit secularised environments’ (which can be a pretty dry subject at the best of times), when this years Top Ten Happenings pinged my inbox. I admit, there was a temptation to immediately assign 30 minutes of quiet reading. But I know the effort that Doctor Scratch puts into collating this annual missive. I’m grateful that he still includes the British Isles on his distribution list in these tariffically challenging times, and I like to do it proper justice. It’s a treat to be savoured. So I will be resisting the temptation to devour it until the end of college on Friday. The undergrads will have headed off for their happy hours and student nights, and the tourists, hot toddies and mince pies in hand, will be wandering round the Castle which is lit up at night for Christmas with a Tolkien/Rowling themed walking route.

There’s a local “dive” bar that has been recently refurbished and repurposed into a jazz club that I’m keen to try out. I’ve booked myself a quiet table at the back of the room when I can take my time over this seasons Top Ten Happenings. A glass of something amber-coloured and mellow at my elbow, I’ll wander through the recounting of events, probably twice, live jazz as my background noise. Does it get any better than that?

Thank you in advance Doctor Scratch, for your wonderful annual Christmas gift.

[Tom]

As ever, thank you, Doctor Scratch, for gifting this board with another entertaining and informative recap of the year in Mopologetics.

Speaking of the holidays, I am presently feeding my soul this season by bathing in the French black-metal band Blut Aus Nord’s (BAN) epic piece titled “The End Becomes Grace.” I dare say it’s one of the most achingly, exquisitely beautiful pieces of music ever composed. Few things make me feel closer to the cosmos than listening to BAN for twelve minutes.

https://youtu.be/VpcEORkr6t0?si=-DZ9ZDZg8U7GQGUS

I would like to offer a few comments on the year’s developments in Mopologetics.

4. Rumors Swirl about Cuts to Mopologetic Budgets

There was something of a shake-up in the world of Mopologetics as key younger figures--notably Jazmin Rappleye--departed from Scripture Central. Rappleye, along with her husband Neal and fellow "Young Turk" Stephen Smoot, launched a new YouTube venture, but the move led to speculation about the reasons behind the "breakup," with some suggesting that Church-subvened finances had been slashed. Another possibility is that the younger crowd is friendlier towards LGBTQ+ issues, and Scripture Central--helmed by former FARMS chieftain Jack Welch--is not, thus leading to the fissure. Regardless, the split seemed to signal that something noteworthy was underway: to this point, Scripture Central had been dominating the scene with its flashy, media-savvy presentations; its diplomatic work with the Heartlanders; and its million-dollar+ operating budget, which dwarfed the budgets at Interpreter and FAIR. Perhaps new details will emerge in 2026.

I’ve read rumors that the Rappleyes and Br’er Smoot have taken positions with the Ancient America Foundation. Can you confirm?

3. Greg Smith Publishes Another Epic Hit-Piece

Arguably the most detestable and unlikable Mopologist is Gregory L. Smith: a mean, vindictive, intolerant and vengeance-fueled person who is perhaps best know for his novella-length "hit piece" on John Dehlin. It was a piece of writing that played a key role in the self-destruction of "classic-FARMS," and it is also notable for being one of the few "peer reviewed" pieces that nonetheless somehow never found its way into the paper version of the "journal."

This year, Smith was back with another epic-length, odious, homophobic hit piece aimed at one of Interpreter's favorite targets: fellow LDS scholar Taylor Petrey. In 2021, Petrey was described as a "red flag" in Daniel Ortner's review of Queer Mormon Theology, and, of course, Smith himself went ballistic on Petrey in his (Smith's) review of Petrey's award winning Feet of Clay. But whereas Smith seemed to be exercising a degree of restraint in the former article, his new one holds no punches, as evidence by the mocking title: Intellectual Colonialism and Air Bud Theology: More on Queer Theory and the Church of Jesus Christ." Air Bud, of course, is the film about a dog who can play basketball, so you can see that Smith is setting things up so that Queer Theory and LGBTQ+ rights, vis-a-vis Mormonism, are every bit as absurd and worthy of mockery and laughter:

Smith goes on to make a rather shaky argument concerning Petrey's use of sources. (Surely interpretation of a text can vary depending on the reader, no? And these differences can be honest, and not tendentious manipulation, no?) And the essay goes on, and on, and on. Smith is particularly nasty towards the end, where, after making it clear that he's spent ample time stalking Petrey's various social media accounts, Smith accuses Petrey of being a traitor to the Church who is only interested in "worldly gain":

The cluster of perverse incentives that thus infects the field has led to a proliferation of a certain unfortunate subspecies of Mormon Studies scholar whose work is both predictable and pedestrian despite the assurances of fellow scholars.297 These scholars settle for dull thrills when it is their turn to epater les bourgeois, procuring an ink-stained fifteen minutes of fame when the Salt Lake Tribune anoints them as the expert du jour on anything remotely connected to the Church. Such scholars enjoy self-satisfying bursts of moral grandstanding on social media and, if they are lucky, a sinecure at a third-rate college.

I find it remarkable that an outlet styling itself as the premier source of faithful Latter-day Saint scholarship would stoop to insulting, venomous personal attacks against other scholars. Does the journal’s editor-in-chief endorse this type of corrosive dialogue? I trust he will address this matter shortly. In any event, people who live in glass houses—including physicians who do not understand Derridean deconstruction (see Jim Faulconer’s comment on Dr. Smith’s piece)—should not throw stones.

Dr. Smith writes:

[Petrey’s] employer (Kalamazoo College) receives a great deal of funding from The Arcus Foundation—$66 million as of 2018. The Foundation’s CEO and founder is gay billionaire Jon Stryker. Arcus has not hesitated to use funding to target attitudes in conservative religious groups:

The Arcus Foundation dispenses millions of dollars in grants every year to support LGBT activism. Its 2014 grants included $120,000 to the Religion Newswriters Foundation, the owner of the widely syndicated Religion News Service.

The Arcus Foundation’s grant listing said the one year of support was intended “to recruit and equip LGBT supportive leaders and advocates to counter rejection and antagonism within traditionally conservative Christian churches

Massive amounts of money from ideological allies of queer theory are thus poured in. One need not receive any money directly to be affected. Are we to believe that this has no influence on university pressures and policies? No impact on chances for professional advancement? Do the risks of power that Petrey is so keen to highlight and interrogate in others somehow vanish when he is involved? Would not conservative billionaires leveraging their money for power attract his ire. Why hasn’t he gone on the offensive to deconstruct a mega-rich donor’s largely unaccountable concentration of power on his home turf? Admittedly, that would be dangerous to perceived power.

I am reminded of insinuations from the Deseret Stone, an X account run by one or more writers who have been affiliated with the Dez Nat movement. On January 9, 2025, the Deseret Stone posted the following on X:

Crazy how Kalamazoo College, Taylor Petrey’s employer, is heavily funded and influenced by Jon Stryker (gay billionaire) and his Arcus Foundation, who spend millions each year to specifically target “traditionally conservative Christian churches” on LGBT issues.

Arcus was also busted back in 2015 by Catholic News Agency for a “grant” of $120k from a program intended "to recruit and equip LGBT supportive leaders and advocates to counter rejection and antagonism within traditionally conservative Christian churches."

On January 27, 2025, the Deseret Stone posted:

The reality of “Mormon Studies” is:

1) That it’s largely funded by big political players (e.g., Taylor Petrey, Jana Reiss, etc. are all just paid mouthpiece of the Arcus Foundation)

2) Taylor Petrey has doxxed academics who dared to slightly disagree with him

3) The “friendly” atmosphere is entirely dependent upon bending the knee to the far left side of the organization, who police each other’s statements and social media presence in ways the Stasi would think are overboard.

What Taylor is saying is that everyone smiles and plays nice with him publicly because they know he’ll leverage media connections to hound them if he doesn’t.

“Everyone sure seems nice to me, the guy waving around an I’ll-end-your-career-if-you-utter-something-I-disagree-with-gun!”

On March 17, 2025, the Deseret Stone posted:

Fun Facts:

- Taylor Petrey is employed by Kalamazoo College, which is basically funded by Jon Stryker (gay billionaire heir who funds attacks on conservative Christian denominations) and his Arcus Foundation.

- Jana Riess works for Religion News Service—another major Arcus Foundation funds recipient.

- TayTay is also the Editor in Chief of Dialogue Journal, an ExMo ramble rag that has aggressively marketed the Hamakers

So if this big PR push for some ExMo podcasters that no one has ever heard of all feels very fake / gay / astroturfed…

Well, that’s because it is.

Like most people, I don’t bother reading the Trib Blog, but I’m sure ol’ Peg [Peggy Fletcher Stack] has an inbox of pull quotes from ExMo failed academics / “mental health professionals” ready to be put together by an intern / AI bot

On October 5, 2025, the Deseret Stone posted:

Quick reminder that Taylor Petrey is not a scholar

He’s a PR guy for Jon Stryker, a gay activist and heir to a multi-billion fortune

Stryker directly and indirectly (through his Arcus Foundation) funds “Kalamazoo University” (lol), Petrey’s employer, and his entire job is posting nonsense to attack the Church and agitate for the ghey

There’s no scholarly argument to be had with Petrey because he’s not a scholar—he’s just paid to be an “expert” whenever a “news” organization needs someone to bash the Church

I trust that Dr. Smith did not use the Deseret Stone as an uncited source in preparing his essay.

[Doctor Scratch]

Thank you for the kind remark, IHQ! I hope your visit to the pub is enjoyable. Happy Holidays!

[Doctor Scratch]

Tom:

As always, I am grateful for your thoughtful and informative commentary. Re: the young Mopologists—No, I have not heard anything about them accepting new employment.

As far as Smith’s repellent article is concerned: like Faulconer, I was also perplexed by Smith’s account of “deconstruction.” I could certainly understand how one might connect Queer Theory with the work of Foucault (which Faulconer repeatedly misspells as “Foucauld,” by the way), but Derrida?

And the material you quoted from “Deseret Stone” is certainly disquieting. And yet, will we ever learn who all has been sending donations to Interpreter?