DCP: A New form of Missionary?

[_Mister Scratch]

I'm sure many here deeply regret the recent departing of our dear friend, Professor Daniel C. Peterson, from this messageboard. No doubt, his scholarly, well-considered, eloquent, and very thoughtful posts have left many of us with a great deal of intellectual gristle to gnaw upon. That said, I think it's worth reflecting upon the (potential) reasons why he may have left. The first relates to what has by now become an "old chestnut."

(1) Is apologetics helping to finance DCP's globetrotting lifestyle?

This theory was established, partly by accident, in a thread entitled, "How About an Alaskan Cruise with Dr. Peterson":

Yup. It seems clear that BYU has paid for your family to have a "gay ol' time" on the nickel and dime of LDS tithe payers.

Some of my trips have been at the behest of the Church. In those cases, some area or agency of the Church has picked up the tab.

Some of my trips have been paid for by other academic institutions of various types.

Many of my trips have been at my own expense. My wife and I like to travel.

That is more than you have any right to know, but I'm sure it won't be enough and I'm quite confident that it will be suggested that I'm being less than forthright, etc.

I appreciate your candor, Prof. P.

Elsewhere, The Good Professor suggested that he and his wife had taken their kids to see Paris, St. Petersburg, and other exotic places.

Certainly, one cannot help but envy both DCP, and the kids. I know that I sure would have liked to have traveled all around the world when I was a wee lad! And, of course, one cannot criticize The Good Professor for his travels, nor for taking his kids along for the ride.

All that said, I cannot help but wonder if DCP fled the board because it began to seem clear that BYU, FARMS, or the Church are paying for all of this. He has denied repeatedly that he accrues wealth on account of his Mopologetic work, and yet, it seems to me that this kind of travel is available primarily to the very wealthy. (Bear in mind that he admitted above that some of the travel expenses came out of his own pocket. How many of *you* out there can afford this kind of travel??)

The second theory (far more plausible) is somewhat poignant, and it comes to me via an "anonymous informant."

(2) DCP is a new kind of "missionary," and when his efforts fell through, he fled the scene.

I have received permission from the individual in question to cite from a serious of fascinating and provocative PMs. These are devastating accounts of The Good Professor's utterly selfish, manipulative, and monomaniacal behavior. [Note: I have edited these accounts slightly for readability, and to protect this "informant'"s anonymity.]

He was trying to dominate the whole board, and I saw the old ZLMB DCP all over again. All I wanted was some decent and very frank and open discussions with him, but that's not possible with DCP - you either agree with him or you're a lost cause. He was not here to debate Mormonism - he was here to "have the critics for lunch".

When DCP speaks, the debate is over. I don't dislike the man as a person at all, but on Internet boards he can be obnoxious. And I did get sucked in again by posting on FAIR/MAD, a mistake I won't be making again. DCP is a man who seems to think that if you criticise him, you're criticizing God himself.

Yeeouch! Quite a devastating critique! But, sadly, it gets worse. It turns out that this individual---"Agent B"---had once been victim of DCP's incredibly deceptive gestures towards friendship.

...DCP is a strong personality. DCP misread me very early on, and I told him in two emails that I didn't want his [contact with me] to be anything other than social, that I would be pleased to meet him... but largely because of my "spiritual expressions" about the Book of Mormon, he thought he could finally convince me it is history, and he was wrong. Once that failed, I sensed that he didn't have the same interest, not even a friendly email to ask "how are you going?" Communication dropped altogether, and I realized that he had only one goal in mind, which was to convince me about Book of Mormon historicity.

Needless to say, DCP's recent appearance and departure from this messageboard appear to be related to his failure to "convert" this individual, whom I have referred to here as "Agent B."

I cannot help but think: How sad. DCP offered himself up as some kind of "comforter," but in the end, all he was interested in was a "conversion" to his "team." How completely reprehensible and appalling. What an utterly crummy way to treat a "friend." It seems obvious, too, that DCP saw Jersey Girl as being a potential ally. But does DCP really hold her in very high esteem? Or is she, too, one of the pawns in his little chess game? For example, does DCP think that Jersey makes good points, and good posts? Would he have continued to treat her "cordially" if she had criticized him, or Mormonism?

What occurs to me amidst all of this is that DCP and other Mopologists are a new kind of "missionary" for the Church. Whereas traditional LDS missionaries are trying to convert people to the Gospel, and to do the Lord's work, Mopologists are trying to save people from leaving the Church---or, as The Good Professor has put it, to "open up a place for faith" (or whatever it was he said). The key difference, in my mind, is that there is no oversight for apologetics. These are missionaries torn free from any ethical moorings or administrative oversight. DCP doesn't have to constantly be with his "companion." Lou Midgley does not have to report to his Zone Leader. Instead, these folks are free to bash with whomever the want, in whatever manner they want. We have observed LDS missionaries desecrating the holy artifacts of other faiths. In Mopologetics, we are seeing an older, and more mature version of essentially the same thing.

In any case, I imagine that it is only a matter of time before "his highness" returns to grace us with his presence. In the meantime, I suppose we can expect him to continue lobbing his pathetic waterballoons from the cushy safety of the aptly named MADboard.

[_The Nehor]

In any case, I imagine that it is only a matter of time before "his highness" returns to grace us with his presence. In the meantime, I suppose we can expect him to continue lobbing his pathetic waterballoons from the cushy safety of the aptly named MADboard.

Pot, meet kettle. Keep lobbing waterballoons Scratch.

[_Mister Scratch]

In any case, I imagine that it is only a matter of time before "his highness" returns to grace us with his presence. In the meantime, I suppose we can expect him to continue lobbing his pathetic waterballoons from the cushy safety of the aptly named MADboard.

Pot, meet kettle. Keep lobbing waterballoons Scratch.

Nehor, I am not permitted to post on the aptly named MADboard. You know that.

[_The Nehor]

Nehor, I am not permitted to post on the aptly named MADboard. You know that.

Yeah, well when I become a MOD using my secret CAMPAIGN to get POWER to alleviate my LONELINESS and deep SENSE OF INADEQUACY if I caught you on the board I'd chop your hands off at the wrists and stick hot pokers in your eyes to keep you from ever typing anything on the board from another IP address or another location and that you would never read another hallowed word on that board again.

[_Jersey Girl]

MS

It seems obvious, too, that DCP saw Jersey Girl as being a potential ally. But does DCP really hold her in very high esteem? Or is she, too, one of the pawns in his little chess game? For example, does DCP think that Jersey makes good points, and good posts? Would he have continued to treat her "cordially" if she had criticized him, or Mormonism?

Huh? Don't you read the board?

[_Mister Scratch]

MS

It seems obvious, too, that DCP saw Jersey Girl as being a potential ally. But does DCP really hold her in very high esteem? Or is she, too, one of the pawns in his little chess game? For example, does DCP think that Jersey makes good points, and good posts? Would he have continued to treat her "cordially" if she had criticized him, or Mormonism?

Huh? Don't you read the board?

Yes, I do, Jersey. He saw you as a pawn. If you had criticized him in any kind of meaningful or significant way, then you, too, would have been thrown under the bus. I think you probably noticed that he said he would leave the board if you failed to win the "MDB Survivor." I also think it is telling that, when you failed to win, he left. That ought to tell you something.

[_Jersey Girl]

Yes, I do, Jersey. He saw you as a pawn. If you had criticized him in any kind of meaningful or significant way, then you, too, would have been thrown under the bus. I think you probably noticed that he said he would leave the board if you failed to win the "MDB Survivor." I also think it is telling that, when you failed to win, he left. That ought to tell you something.

It tells me that you don't read the board.

[_Bond James Bond]

All I can say is when I'm a college professor I hope I get to do a fraction of the globetrotting DCP does. BYU must pay well if he can do all that flying about with the kids and wife.

[_Mister Scratch]

Yes, I do, Jersey. He saw you as a pawn. If you had criticized him in any kind of meaningful or significant way, then you, too, would have been thrown under the bus. I think you probably noticed that he said he would leave the board if you failed to win the "MDB Survivor." I also think it is telling that, when you failed to win, he left. That ought to tell you something.

It tells me that you don't read the board.

Come on now, Jersey. He saw you as a potential ally, and tried to piggyback onto your support. In other words, DCP thought that, by allying himself with you, it would give you a significant foothold on the board. But, obviously, that fell through.

How does it feel to have been used by the Chief Apologist? Go ahead and test it, Jersey. Ask him if he admires your intellect, or if he has learned anything from your posts. Ask him if he thinks you are impressive as a debater, or if his thinks you make good points.

[_The Nehor]

Come on now, Jersey. He saw you as a potential ally, and tried to piggyback onto your support. In other words, DCP thought that, by allying himself with you, it would give you a significant foothold on the board. But, obviously, that fell through.

How does it feel to have been used by the Chief Apologist? Go ahead and test it, Jersey. Ask him if he admires your intellect, or if he has learned anything from your posts. Ask him if he thinks you are impressive as a debater, or if his thinks you make good points.

Everything is a political move to you isn't it? I think that says more about you then anyone else.