lulu wrote:I think you make serveral good points. In terms of academics, DCP is a zero, or am I overstating your case?
No. In terms of broader academic Mormon studies, DCP is irrelevant. His credentials in Arabic studies may be very high, and I have no real reason to doubt them (though I must admit that his utterly stupid political attacks on his blog make me wonder).
lulu wrote:But the Review and MI as a whole aren't primarily about academics even though they are in the middle of a "unversity." They are about PR and DCP is a PR disaster in the middle of the Mormon Moment.
No. They really aren't about PR. The Mormon (formerly LDS) Newsroom doesn't ever point to the MI or Review. Instead they go to Bushman, Givens, Flake, and others who are much more credentialed and taken seriously in the broader academic world.
lulu wrote:But you don't really mean that Bradford is completely autonomous. He has a boss, who has a boss, who has a a lot of bosses. Management decisions, even in a unversity aren't unilateral. One need not posit a conspiracy to think that someone above President, the former Elder, Samuelson wanted general and specific changes at MI.
Of course he's not completely autonomous. (Who is?) However, Bradford already had plenty of reasons to replace Petersen. There is no need to jump to conspiracies.
lulu wrote:PS If the emails are to be believed, DCP doesn't still have the same pay.
I meant that he wasn't losing any of his salary. And unless there is some corruption going on (which I highly doubt) then Peterson's fee for editing the journal would be minimal at best. I am pretty assured that his complaint about making sure he is still given the fee is more about ego than dollars.
You're absolutely vile and obnoxious paternalistic air of intellectual superiority towards anyone who takes issue with your clear misapprehension of core LDS doctrine must give one pause. - Droopy