Is FARMS Making Money Off of the General Authorities?

[_Doctor Scratch]

The following link was passed along to me via an anonymous informant:

http://www.mormonmentality.org/2007/07/ ... packer.htm

The posting is about President Boyd K. Packer, and his various "quirks". What is of interest to me, though, is the fact that the poster, Dan Ellsworth, is a former FARMS employee:

My first encounter with someone’s discomfort with Pres. Packer was when I worked at FARMS after my mission; one day I heard a discussion in the office about an incident that has generated some strong feelings about Pres. Packer among folks in the Provo area. Pres. Packer came to speak at a large gathering — I don’t recall what kind of conference it was, and please correct me if you are better familiar with the details – and the people attending the meeting were seating away from the podium and toward the edges of the building, as if to make it easy to be early out the door and miss traffic on the way home. One of the local leaders noticed this, and at the beginning of the meeting, he asked the people to move and fill up the center seats, up to the podium. People responded at first, and then many gradually moved their seats farther away during the meeting and its intermission. When it came Pres. Packer’s turn to speak, he got up, said a few pleasant words, then sat back down without giving his talk. My co-worker at FARMS was still shaking his head in disbelief over the incident; he was really bothered by what he saw as an unwarranted reprimand of the entire audience over something as small as seating.

Now, this is fascinating. It appears that there is an undercurrent of insolence among the FARMS employees in regards to the GA's authority. Can you imagine a normal, TBM shaking his/her head in disbelief at the Brethren? It turns out that feeling was mutual. This next bit, from the "Comments" section, really blew me away:

anothernonymous
Wed, Jul. 25 @ 1:43pm

Funny you mention FARMS personnel shaking their heads at Pres. Packer. I remember during my stint at FARMS being present when a couple of top personnel at FARMS were commenting that he had apparently made some remarks to the effect that he believed that FARMS was trying to “make money off of the general authorities”. I was surprised that they would be talking about an apostle that way, but then again maybe they were surprised that an apostle had apparently made those types of comments about them (FARMS).

(emphasis added)

Wow! Many of us have asked in the past, "What do the Brethren think of FARMS?" and now we have at least one answer. Notice, too, that some FARMS "top personnel" were apparently speaking disrespectfully about Elder Packer. This tidbit also reminds me of the whirlwind of activity surrounding the plans for the building of the ziggurat. You'll recall that FARMS's massive fundraising efforts attracted the attention of BYU and the Brethren, and this led to FARMS being formally integrated into BYU.

In case anyone doubts "anothernonymous"'s comments, here is Dan Ellsworth to back him/her up:

That’s a great story. I had a good experience at FARMS for the most part, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he said that; he wasn’t the only one who felt that way, I’m sure.

I guess this lends support to my earlier supposition that FARMS was brought into BYU because it had begun to threaten the Brethren's authority in certain ways. If FARMS was going to be making money (and it had a multi-million dollar budget prior to being sucked into BYU), the Brethren wanted to make sure that the money would get siphoned back into the Church, rather than into the apologists' pockets.

[_Dr. Shades]

In my mind, this raises more questions than it answers.

How on earth is it possible for FARMS to "make money off the General Authorities?" It's the Chapel Mormons who cull quotes, repackage them into books, then sell them at Deseret Book, not FARMS. It appears to me that FARMS is the LEAST apt or liable to make money off the General Authorities--at least the living ones.

I'm afraid I'll need more background information about this before I'll be able to draw any conclusions. For now, I'm just confused.

[_harmony]

What amazes me is that anyone would think BKP would behave any differently than reported.

I don't wonder what the Brethren think of FARMS/MI, or what FARMS/MI thinks of the Brethren. I wonder what the Brethren think of the church members. And I guess that's pretty obvious, judging by the intentional separation from the (unwashed) masses and the condescending tone too often heard in their talks.

If they're going to be in the CK, I'm going somewhere else. I wonder if there's a deserted tropical island still available?

[_The Nehor]

And you're knocking me for being speculative and guessing on another thread?

[_Doctor Scratch]

In my mind, this raises more questions than it answers.

How on earth is it possible for FARMS to "make money off the General Authorities?" It's the Chapel Mormons who cull quotes, repackage them into books, then sell them at Deseret Book, not FARMS. It appears to me that FARMS is the LEAST apt or liable to make money off the General Authorities--at least the living ones.

I'm afraid I'll need more background information about this before I'll be able to draw any conclusions. For now, I'm just confused.

I agree that it's confusing. It would be helpful if we could date the BKP comment. I wonder: is he saying that FARMS is "profiting" directly off the Brethren? I.e., that FARMS is leeching money away from BYU and the Church? I tend to think not, since the Church gave them a "fundraiser," and since they seem to have their own means of drumming up cash. So, did BKP mean that FARMS is "profiting" off what the Brethren represent? I think that this latter possibility seems more likely. FARMS has all along been meant to fill up the holes in Church doctrine---holes that the Brethren generally refuse to address. So, maybe BKP meant that FARMS was cashing in on the Brethren's failures.

[_Gadianton]

This article is epic, another fine piece of journalism. If anyone doubted the very real tension between the apologists and the brethren then this post surely puts those doubts to rest. To have an insider come out and tell it like it is, at the risk of retribution, is something we should all appreciate.

I am also puzzled by the Packer comment about "making money." Surely this is a staggering find, and will draw rich commentary for months and perhaps years. In the spirit of throwing out possibilities, Packer may not be fully clued up on what FARMS does and he may of meant something like, FARMS takes the teachings of the general authorities, repackages them, and sells them. After all, a lot of "heady" books prior to FARMS drew off talks by GAs, the JD and stuff like that.

Another possibility is that we simply don't know the context. It's such an odd statement that really makes little sense, that something very specific that we are not privy to occured early in FARMS's history. It may be that there was a rather direct money flow at one time between x GAs and FARMS, somthing went south, and hence bad feelings on both sides.

[_harmony]

Surely you aren't saying that BKP doesn't like FARMS/MI? What's not to like? FARMS is full of intellectuals, and of all types of people, BKP loves intellectuals most, doesn't he? I mean, they're right in front of historians in importance, according to him, right?

[_Gadianton]

did BKP mean that FARMS is "profiting" off what the Brethren represent?

But your quote says "make money" not profit. As generous as I see you are trying to be, I think we are forced to assume the issue is monetary without very good reason to believe otherwise.

[_Gadianton]

That’s a great story. I had a good experience at FARMS for the most part, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he said that; he wasn’t the only one who felt that way, I’m sure.

I went back to the blog and read the article and comments. This quote needs to be addressed. Wouldn't surprise him if who said what? That BKP said FARMS was trying to make money off the GAs? What else could Dan be talking about? Why wouldn't Packer have been the "only one to feel that way?" If that's what's being addressed here. Was it a natural thing to feel, that FARMS was trying to make money off of the GAs? Would anyone who knows anything about FARMS suspect such a thing? What is it that we don't know?

[_Gadianton]

l.