Mormon think editor summoned to court of love

[Guest]

Hopefully the future of MormonThink is not in any way in jeopardy.

stay tuned

[_Chap]

Sorry. It's been a day of long journeys across timezones, and I may be (if possible) in a less respectful mood than usual of people's religious beliefs and the institutional structures within in which they are expressed.

But this religious organization that some nice people here are apparently reluctant to leave seems to function ... well (recovering my self control), like an organization whose disciplinary practices are in more than mild conflict with the spirit behind the First Amendment. "OK, I'll take that down, maybe that was 'insensitive', that can go too, here is the password to my blog so you can take it over ...".

Resign, already! This all sounds so un-American.

(Edited to add: of course I have no right to tell people what to do, especially if their family is tied to the church hand and foot. But to outsiders this is all jaw-droppingly appalling - especially as a member of this organization is running for President. What a guardian of freedom he is likely to be!)

[_brade]

Wait a minute, this editor, the one being harassed by church authorities, is it our very own zee?

[_Drifting]

I'm not sure the GA's have thought this through properly. The Church is hemorrhaging members and they think the solution is to go after the people who are telling the truth rather than amend their own behaviour.

Hmmm...

If they continue to force this door open they may not be able to shut it again when they realise how many people are on the other side. Victimising Mormonthink could generate activism in every Stake.

[_brade]

I'm not sure the GA's have thought this through properly. The Church is hemorrhaging members and they think the solution is to go after the people who are telling the truth rather than amend their own behaviour.

Hmmm...

If they continue to force this door open they may not be able to shut it again when they realise how many people are on the other side. Victimising Mormonthink could generate activism in every Stake.

It's already waaaaaay too late to think about closing doors. The doors are open and they cannot be shut again. +1 for the internets.

[_Drifting]

I'm not sure the GA's have thought this through properly. The Church is hemorrhaging members and they think the solution is to go after the people who are telling the truth rather than amend their own behaviour.

Hmmm...

If they continue to force this door open they may not be able to shut it again when they realise how many people are on the other side. Victimising Mormonthink could generate activism in every Stake.

It's already waaaaaay too late to think about closing doors. The doors are open and they cannot be shut again. +1 for the internets.

I didn't mean that.
At the moment the attending apostates are quiet folk.
That may not remain the case if the Church starts picking on people for telling the truth.

[_Stormy Waters]

At the moment the attending apostates are quiet folk.
That may not remain the case if the Church starts picking on people for telling the truth.

I don't know. I think if the punishment for speaking up is church discipline I believe it will cause many to be even quiter. It'll make the church look bad overall, but those who fear family conflict may be pushed deeper underground.

[_just me]

Wait a minute, this editor, the one being harassed by church authorities, is it our very own zee?

Wha? no.

[_Drifting]

Is the MormonThink editor an Apostate?

Apostate
“Members of the Church vary in their levels of participation or belief. Latter-day Saints who have seriously contravened or ignored cardinal Church teachings (publicly or privately) are considered apostates, whether or not they have officially left the Church or affiliated with another religion” (Encyclopedia of Mormonism [1992], 1:59).

http://www.LDS.org/topics/apostate?lang=eng

Where does one find what the Church officially considers 'cardinal' teachings?
Where is the official explanation of what constitutes a 'serious' contravention of Church teachings?

[_Doctor Scratch]

Can you elaborate on this, Shades? I have to admit that I'm not surprised to learn that Holyoak is involved in all this. He was apparently the one who was busy cyber-stalking John Dehlin in an effort to mine "damning" quotes against him. He was also involved, I believe, in helping to assemble the FAIR Wiki "article" on Mormon Think.

I suppose I can. My informant told me that he or she noticed that the new FAIR page that has replaced the nuked blog is controlled by someone with the username "atari_guy" (how he or she found this out, I don't know). He or she then did a google search; this led to a Twitter account with that username. The user's Twitter feed mentioned his pinterest account, and the link led to Trevor Holyoak's page. . . all this according to the informant.

You know, the more I hear about Holyoak, the more I'm convinced that the guy is a real slime ball. I mean, just look at him:



It looks like he is actually suppurating some kind of oily, mephitic substance out of his face. You could run your finger down his nose and use it to grease up your transaxle.