Carton wrote:It would have to be one of the Big 15. And I'm sorry, I just can't imagine one of them taking the time to read a 100 page "hit piece" or "critique" of John Delin (someone I didn't know about until just recently) and then calling down to Daniel Peterson and ordering him to not print it for ... what were the reasons now?
I think John said that he didn't think the GA had read the entire piece. That you did not know about Dehlin until recently does not mean that the Brethren have likewise been ignorant of his activities. He has had a high profile for half a decade or more now. They are very aware of him and his activities. He has a brother who works (or used to anyway) for the church at a pretty high level. He was the editor of Sunstone for a while. He is frequently quoted in national news articles about the church.
Carton wrote:If the Big 15 were going to become editors of BYU journals, why wouldn't they have put the kibosh on the Meldrum article too?
Or are you saying they're just getting started, and this is the first time they've exercised their editorial powers?
I don't think anyone knows whether this is the first time a GA has used his power to put the kibosh on a planned article in the FARMS Review. It wouldn't surprise me either way.
Carton wrote:I'm just saying most of this story stinks in my opinion. No offense intended to John Delin, but I just don't think he's important enough for the Big 15 to care whether or not Peterson (or Smith or whoever) wants to publish a hit piece/critique about him.
He's at least as "big" as others the Brethren have historically taken an interest in.
Carton wrote:I mean, what would it really matter? Are you trying to say that so many people would be offended by a hit piece/critique of Delin that they would stop going to church or paying their tithing or doing their home teaching?
I just don't get it.
It's not so much the people who would be directly offended by the hit piece, but the media firestorm that could erupt in the wake of such a piece that I think might have been the concern. John has connections at media outlets around the country. I can see a cautious GA preferring not to take the risk of such a media shitstorm in the midst of a presidential election year in which one of theirs has a chance to take the White House.
"The Church is authoritarian, tribal, provincial, and founded on a loosely biblical racist frontier sex cult."--Juggler Vain
"The LDS church is the Amway of religions. Even with all the soap they sell, they still manage to come away smelling dirty."--Some Schmo