William Hamblin is a Pathetic Coward

[_MrStakhanovite]

As I was walking on my way to class today, my department chairman laughingly told me he had received letters from several people denouncing me regarding the recent scandal at the Maxwell Institute–”the blogosphere is afire” he chuckled, adding he had ignored the letters. I suspect the same, or similar letters have also been written to my dean and the university president, and perhaps even a general authority.

What a dip.

My department chair got e-mails accusing me of committing libel against DCP on my blog and his response was just to ignore them. Do I care? No, because if he did care, it would be a surefire sign that I’m in the wrong place and I need to change schools post haste.

We live in a world where if you write publicly long enough, you are going to generate hate mail, people sending things to your boss, and even death threats. I’ve gotten all that, but it doesn’t bother me, because I know it happens all the time, pointing out that it happens to you doesn’t make you special or some kind of martyr.

[_Philo Sofee]

As I was walking on my way to class today, my department chairman laughingly told me he had received letters from several people denouncing me regarding the recent scandal at the Maxwell Institute–”the blogosphere is afire” he chuckled, adding he had ignored the letters. I suspect the same, or similar letters have also been written to my dean and the university president, and perhaps even a general authority.

What a dip.

My department chair got e-mails accusing me of committing libel against DCP on my blog and his response was just to ignore them. Do I care? No, because if he did care, it would be a surefire sign that I’m in the wrong place and I need to change schools post haste.

We live in a world where if you write publicly long enough, you are going to generate hate mail, people sending things to your boss, and even death threats. I’ve gotten all that, but it doesn’t bother me, because I know it happens all the time, pointing out that it happens to you doesn’t make you special or some kind of martyr.

We also live in a country where we have free speech and we need to keep zealous of this right. Censorship is bad enough, but this is the power of the internet, EVERYONE has a voice. ALL sides get the green light to explore and examine.

[_Doctor Scratch]

As I was walking on my way to class today, my department chairman laughingly told me he had received letters from several people denouncing me regarding the recent scandal at the Maxwell Institute–”the blogosphere is afire” he chuckled, adding he had ignored the letters. I suspect the same, or similar letters have also been written to my dean and the university president, and perhaps even a general authority.

What a dip.

My department chair got e-mails accusing me of committing libel against DCP on my blog and his response was just to ignore them. Do I care? No, because if he did care, it would be a surefire sign that I’m in the wrong place and I need to change schools post haste.

We live in a world where if you write publicly long enough, you are going to generate hate mail, people sending things to your boss, and even death threats. I’ve gotten all that, but it doesn’t bother me, because I know it happens all the time, pointing out that it happens to you doesn’t make you special or some kind of martyr.

Whoa, really? Did the chair tell you who sent the emails?

[_MrStakhanovite]

Whoa, really? Did the chair tell you who sent the emails?

I asked, but the person requested that they remain anonymous and that he not share his name with anyone (including me). So the Prof. scanned the articles in question to make sure I wasn’t setting myself up for some real trouble, then simply deleted the e-mail. I asked if the e-mail came from BYU, but he wouldn’t say. All he would say is that the person wanted to remain anonymous and they were not anyone important, so I should just forget about it.

[Guest]

First, I need to say that I don't agree with the name-calling being directed against Hamblin on this thread. Remember that every time you call an apologist a name, you give him/her an excuse to talk about something other than the issue at hand. I find Hamblin's perpetuation of false information and name-calling as frustrating as the next person, but let's not stoop to his level.

Second, in addition to Patrick's example, I recall an exchange between Greek Orthodox blogger Perry Robinson and Blake Ostler wherein Blake got upset at what Perry was writing about Mormonism and threatened to talk to his advisor and/or department chair in his PhD program (can't remember which) and have him disciplined. EDIT: It was the regents at his university that Blake threatened to talk to. See below.

So the idea that it's only "anti-Mormons" and "apostates" trying to use back-door channels to censor people is very much untrue. Like Stak says: it happens on all sides. Spend long enough writing on the Internet and you're bound to upset someone enough for them to write to your bosses, etc. or threaten defamation suits. There's no need to play the part of martyr over it.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

I object to Kevin calling Mr. Hamblin a pathetic coward. Until I witness a round of fisticuffs between these two fine gentlemen the question as to who is more of a coward remains open.

On a serious note...

I don't understand the overt hostility toward this guy. He's probably just a frumpy old Mormon fat fingering the keyboard in a desperate attempt to... I don't know... Bamboozle the Believing? He seems relatively harmless, non?

- VRDRC

[_Doctor Scratch]

First, I need to say that I don't agree with the name-calling being directed against Hamblin on this thread. Remember that every time you call an apologist a name, you give him/her an excuse to talk about something other than the issue at hand. I find Hamblin's perpetuation of false information and name-calling as frustrating as the next person, but let's not stoop to his level.

Second, in addition to Patrick's example, I recall an exchange between Greek Orthodox blogger Perry Robinson and Blake Ostler wherein Blake got upset at what Perry was writing about Mormonism and threatened to talk to his advisor and/or department chair in his PhD program (can't remember which) and have him disciplined.

By any chance do you have a link to this?

[Guest]

Disregard this post; found it at the same time aussieguy did.

[_kjones]

I really do think it's probably fellow believers complaining about the tactics of Hamblin and his ilk. I've long thought that all it would take would be one grandchild of one GA to wander onto MDDB with the "wrong" question and be given the treatment to alert GAs as to the danger of this approach.

I am a believer, I am active in the church today, and although not a grandchild of a GA my father was BYU faculty, a mission prez three times (I grew up in a mission home), etc, etc...and I was banned from MAD for...you know, I have never understood why I was banned from MAD. I sent an email to the mods asking for the reason, also requesting to have my banishment rescinded, or at least explained; and I was met with...silence. To this day I still do not know the reason of my banishment. They are sooooooo sensitive, so easily offended, while a certain cadre of faithful are given free rein to be snarky, occasionally insulting....

[_aussieguy55]

"Perry Robinson says:
November 12, 2007 at 1:58 am

Blake,

I have just now noticed your comments threatening my academic standing and in turn my family and livelyhood. This makes it personal and unacceptable. Just because I think your religion is false is hardly a good reason to go to the regents of a private CATHOLIC university and lobby them to dismiss me. In fact, I can’t think of anyone in the entire philosophy department who thinks your religion is true or even beyond blasphemy. So you might wish to inform the people you know of that fact as well.

More to the point, what I write on a private blog, which is in no way connected with the university won’t be sufficient to do much of anything. And, I criticize lots of theological and philosophical views. It is what philosophers do. That hardly makes me a bigot. I have read enough of the primary source material and secondary literature about your religion to be as or more informed than the average practicioner. My judgments are formed primarily from such sources. if you don’t think so, I don’t care.

Moreover, there is nothing in my post, which was about heretical works by Lutheran standards in a Lutheran bookstore that prided itself on selling works in the Lutheran tradition, that is slanderous. If you disagree with the LCMS, go sue them.

As to my sketch of errors that the LDS usually fall into regarding the Fathers, you have provided our readership with ample evidence, which I will mostly happily will dice up at some time in the near future.

All of that said, I have given you a fairly wide berth here, which I didn’t have to do. I also warned you to tone down the rhetoric. You seem unable to keep yourself from attacking people personally as well as their livelyhood and family and this reflects badly on the character formation which the LDS have offered you. Everyone has faults but you seem routinely and in a short period of time unable to refrain from making personal assualts and now threats against me, even when I haven’t written anything to you or anyone else on this blog in a matter of days. All of this in the face of sheer ignorance of my person from which you made substantial claims about what I had or had not read, which proved to be false. The frosting on the cake was your deafening silence concerning y our demonstratably false claim that Norman was some be all and end all of scholarship on theosis, which was sufficient so show that you were talking out of your lawyeresque posterior.

Consequently I am banning you from this venue and all threads. I am sure Daniel will agree with me. Your posts will remain so that I can dismantle them when I have some free time,to the benefit of future Christian (that means NON-MORMON) readers.

I sincerenly hope that you find some constructive way to cope with the significant character flaws and sheer hatred you have for those who disagree with you.

Wishing you the best.

http://energeticprocession.wordpress.co ... pocalypse/