BYU Dictating Speakers at the May 2026 Interpreter Foundation Conference

[I Have Questions]

Some apparently contradictory comments:

I want to remind you yet again of the 2026 Interpreter Foundation conference on the Small Plates of Nephi, which is approaching rapidly:

“For a Wise Purpose in Him”
The 2026 Small Plates of Nephi Conference
In Honor of President Jeffrey R. Holland

The conference will be held on the Provo campus of Brigham Young University on Friday, 29 May 2026, and Saturday, 30 May 2026. All are welcome and, although we would appreciate prior registration, there is no charge for attending.

“All are welcome”? Really? That feels like a remarkably deceptive statement.

Well, it’s a bit like the disingenuous “Visitors Welcome” sign outside the chapels. Only people willing to conform and comply will actually be welcomed.

[Tom]

The Afore is certainly acting as if this were an existential matter, but I see no reason to believe it. I see no reason to think this was anything more than a technicality. A phone call or two probably could have seen to an exception. But that was too much effort.

The conference begins tomorrow, and Deane is not on the current version of the program. What are we to conclude? Did the Afore make a phone call? If so, was he shut down by BYU? If not, why didn’t he make a call?

[Gadianton]

If so, was he shut down by BYU? If not, why didn’t he make a call?

I think we can only speculate here, unless somebody has heard something solid. I think Sartre gave us a clue in a famous example where he tells of a young man who had to make a choice between fighting for the resistance, or helping his sick mother. There is no right answer here, one makes a choice. Weighing the options, it's unlikely he would make much of a difference to the war whereas he could do a great deal of good for his sick mother. But on the other hand, if everyone stayed home to do a thing their efforts could influence more directly for the good, the resistance wouldn't happen.

I think it's a similar impossible choice. Affecting the candidate speaker's status with the standards board had a much better chance at success than personally sealing victory for the French revolution. However, putting the matter out of his mind to more thoroughly enjoy a series of meals and trips of comfortable circumstance and with like-minded friends would create enjoyment for several more people including himself, as opposed to easing the suffering of just one dying woman. And so the amount of happiness generated and the ease of obtaining the result is far to the right in terms of effort to reward, and so the distance between the two options are about the same for both our person of interest and the young man Sartre spoke of.

Therefore, the choice to be made had no grounding, and so it's impossible to say what choice was therefore made. I have my guess though.

[I Have Questions]

A quick flick through the roster suggests there are no black people presenting this year. Is that right? What do we think the root cause of that might be? I wonder if the Interpreter Foundation is maintaining an informal pre 1978 position?

[Tom]

The Afore missed a real opportunity when BYU informed him that Brother Deane was not permitted to speak at the Interpreter Foundation conference. The Afore should have asked Richard Nygren—one of only a few African-American apologists in the church at the moment and he lives in Birmingham, Alabama—to take Brother Deane’s spot.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

The Afore missed a real opportunity when BYU informed him that Brother Deane was not permitted to speak at the Interpreter Foundation conference. The Afore should have asked Richard Nygren—one of only a few African-American apologists in the church at the moment and he lives in Birmingham, Alabama—to take Brother Deane’s spot.

Rumor has it Mike Parker is planning a surprise, and Richard Nygren might actually make an appearance. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Doctor Scratch]

Still no mention of the censorship of Deane. But the Afore says that he is nonetheless "very pleased" with the way that the conference has been going so far--he's even boasting that they are going to need 2 whole book-length volumes in order to publish the "proceedings"! Maybe Deane could be invited to publish his paper in *that* volume?

Hilariously (or appropriately?) the Afore only took time out to watch presentations delivered by his long-term Mopologetic buddies. Why, you might ask? Because of food, naturally!

I needed to see to arrangements for the dinner that we were sponsoring in the BYU Skyroom for presenters at the conference and other special guests. (Did I say that an administrator’s lot is not a happy one?)

Right--of course. *Some*one has to make sure that there are enough onion rings and enough deep-fried items in the buffet, and that the soft-serve ice cream machine is working properly. It would seem that, once again, the Interpreter Foundation is drawing upon donor funds in order to feed the President yet another free meal.

[Marcus]

Still no mention of the censorship of Deane. But the Afore says that he is nonetheless "very pleased" with the way that the conference has been going so far--he's even boasting that they are going to need 2 whole book-length volumes in order to publish the "proceedings"! Maybe Deane could be invited to publish his paper in *that* volume?

Hilariously (or appropriately?) the Afore only took time out to watch presentations delivered by his long-term Mopologetic buddies. Why, you might ask? Because of food, naturally!

I needed to see to arrangements for the dinner that we were sponsoring in the BYU Skyroom for presenters at the conference and other special guests. (Did I say that an administrator’s lot is not a happy one?)

Really? The organizer of the entire thing has to leave a current event because the "arrangements" for a "special" meal were not in place? What about an upcoming meal does he need to arrange? Advance tastings???? So far, he has jusitified skipping out on multiple presentations due to administrative duties. These tales he tells are hilarious.

[Gadianton]

I'm sure he was dreading suffering through all those talks and so found a way out. If the amount of material really was enough to fill two books, I can't say that I blame him.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

These tales he tells are hilarious.

Marcus,

The Afore's tales really are manna from heaven. Reading the delusional chronicles of a raging narcissist like the Afore is an absolute, delicious treat. Who can resist the unintentional comedy? A few of my favorites are when we have God acting as his personal wake-up call, an encounter with learning the German language that somehow left him with a permanent accent, and the deeply unsettling '"taking his time with his hands" in a dark-basement groping incident. And who could forget his groundbreaking foray into the paranormal, where the Afore was utterly stunned to discover he possesses the mystical gift of dowsing, a revelation triggered by the profound, supernatural movement of a wire coat hanger. Then there's the action movie Guatemalan river rescue, a teenage traffic ticket magically dismissed by a sympathetic Mormon judge, and that time he almost dumped a bowl of steaming hot goulash onto Bill Maher’s head. And, let's not forget his academic brilliance so staggering his professor excused him from the final exam. And let’s not overlook his agonizing brush with compassion when he won a high school student body election and felt a sudden, confusing wave of conflict while savoring the literal tears of his vanquished opponent. These tales are pure comedy gold, and I fervently pray the Afore never stops.

An accurate depiction of the Afore, after sneaking out of the event to make sure the arrangements for the special meal were in place: