mentalgymnast wrote:I have a sneaky suspicion that as time has moved on and Dr.Michael Quinn has remained secure in his literal testimony/belief in the restoration, that the critics have either moved his books and him to the back shelf, or at least him. I remember that years ago he seemed to be referenced a lot more than he seems to be nowadays, but maybe that's just my active imagination or faulty memory.
I think you are wrong. Of the half dozen or so recent Mormon studies and utah history books I read over the summer, I think he was cited at least once in all of them. If anything his work has moved from being considered something of a recent innovation to becoming one of the necessary classics of the subject. You can not "do" Mormon studies without taking his foundational work into consideration in some capacity.
I don't really understand what you mean by the following:
It's almost as if he is an untouchable in regards to the attention the critics pay to him anymore.
From the Ernest L. Wilkinson Diaries: "ELW dreams he's spattered w/ grease. Hundreds steal his greasy pants."
I'm with Blixa on this one, MG. I can't see how anyone other than Mopologists and the most rabid anti-Mormons would have reason to hammer away at Quinn. As Blixa already pointed out, his key works are critical, foundational texts in Mormon Studies. And as far as him continuing to maintain faith--I don't see how there's anything wrong with that. It seems rather cheap to fault someone for wanting to have a spiritual side to his/her life.
"[I]f, while hoping that everybody else will be honest and so forth, I can personally prosper through unethical and immoral acts without being detected and without risk, why should I not?." --Daniel Peterson, 6/4/14
bcspace wrote:I hope he repents of his sins and comes back.
What sins do you find him guilty of? Or, I mean, what sins do you speculate that God finds him guilty of?
As soon as you concern yourself with the 'good' and 'bad' of your fellows, you create an opening in your heart for maliciousness to enter. Testing, competing with, and criticizing others weaken and defeat you. - O'Sensei