Back in 2012, a BYU professor got in trouble for saying the quiet parts out loud.
Randy Bott getting forced into early retirement for sharing a view of the priesthood ban that he had (a) always openly taught and (b) still wasn't nearly as bad as things top Mormon leaders taught, remains one of the saddest incidents I have ever seen in Mormon academia.
Talk about someone who didn't deserve to be canceled.
BA, Classics, Brigham Young University
MA, American Religious History, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
PhD Candidate, Church History, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Back in 2012, a BYU professor got in trouble for saying the quiet parts out loud.
Randy Bott getting forced into early retirement for sharing a view of the priesthood ban that he had (a) always openly taught and (b) still wasn't nearly as bad as things top Mormon leaders taught, remains one of the saddest incidents I have ever seen in Mormon academia.
Talk about someone who didn't deserve to be canceled.
The dude should've known better. He HAD to have been aware of the church's efforts to sweep the whole thing under the rug.
.
"When the Mormon God requires a PR crisis to act moral, we've clearly outgrown him."
Randy Bott getting forced into early retirement for sharing a view of the priesthood ban that he had (a) always openly taught and (b) still wasn't nearly as bad as things top Mormon leaders taught, remains one of the saddest incidents I have ever seen in Mormon academia.
Talk about someone who didn't deserve to be canceled.
The dude should've known better. He HAD to have been aware of the church's efforts to sweep the whole thing under the rug.
So you’re saying he should have kept quiet and gone along to get along?
Premise 1. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable.
Premise 2. The best evidence for the Book of Mormon is eyewitness testimony.
Conclusion. Therefore, the best evidence for the Book of Mormon is notoriously unreliable.
The dude should've known better. He HAD to have been aware of the church's efforts to sweep the whole thing under the rug.
So you’re saying he should have kept quiet and gone along to get along?
No; I'm saying he shouldn't have been the least bit surprised when an ultra-authoritarian organization delivered the smackdown on him for embarrassing it.
.
"When the Mormon God requires a PR crisis to act moral, we've clearly outgrown him."
So you’re saying he should have kept quiet and gone along to get along?
No; I'm saying he shouldn't have been the least bit surprised when an ultra-authoritarian organization delivered the smackdown on him for embarrassing it.
Exactly, because being a member of the cult requires you keep the rules, both the written and unwritten rules. Otherwise, you'll have to pay the price. Being a member of the church is slavery to the system. You can think for yourself but you can't say it out loud.
...Peterson raises the hot button topic of the Priesthood Ban...
Racist Peterson wrote:I’ve had a few critics claim that I’m lying about this, just as I lie about almost everything else.
Peterson will lie, cheat, and steal in order to defend Book of Abraham racism and the wanton act of Smith hacking off Anubis's face in order to produce his fictitious slave for the narrative in the Facsimile.
Peterson is a liar! He admits the Narmer Palette was created in 3000 BC to commemorate the Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, yet the Mormon church has always taught that Egypt was founded *after* the flood in 2400 BC.
So, yeah, Peterson is just another Mormon liar who deserves what he gets. He is not to be trusted. He does not know how to tell the truth.
So you’re saying he should have kept quiet and gone along to get along?
No; I'm saying he shouldn't have been the least bit surprised when an ultra-authoritarian organization delivered the smackdown on him for embarrassing it.
Why have you concluded that he was surprised?
Premise 1. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable.
Premise 2. The best evidence for the Book of Mormon is eyewitness testimony.
Conclusion. Therefore, the best evidence for the Book of Mormon is notoriously unreliable.
No; I'm saying he shouldn't have been the least bit surprised when an ultra-authoritarian organization delivered the smackdown on him for embarrassing it.
Why have you concluded that he was surprised?
Well, MsJack said he was "forced into early retirement," so I concluded the word "forced" meant he didn't want it to happen. I suppose he could've anticipated the forced retirement and welcomed it as a fair exchange for getting to say what he wanted to say.
.
"When the Mormon God requires a PR crisis to act moral, we've clearly outgrown him."
Well, MsJack said he was "forced into early retirement," so I concluded the word "forced" meant he didn't want it to happen. I suppose he could've anticipated the forced retirement and welcomed it as a fair exchange for getting to say what he wanted to say.
Bott retired from his teaching position in order to serve a senior mission with his wife (unlike the subject of the OP who believes himself above such counsel from the Prophets). Saying he was forced into early retirement seems to be social media exaggeration as far as I can see.
Randy Bott’s comments seem to have been the catalyst for the Church writing and publishing “Race and the Priesthood” (but that is also speculative).
Last edited by I Have Questions on Thu Jun 04, 2026 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
Premise 1. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable.
Premise 2. The best evidence for the Book of Mormon is eyewitness testimony.
Conclusion. Therefore, the best evidence for the Book of Mormon is notoriously unreliable.
Well, MsJack said he was "forced into early retirement," so I concluded the word "forced" meant he didn't want it to happen. I suppose he could've anticipated the forced retirement and welcomed it as a fair exchange for getting to say what he wanted to say.
Bott retired from his teaching position in order to serve a senior mission with his wife (unlike the subject of the OP who believes himself above such counsel from the Prophets). Saying he was forced into early retirement seems to be social media exaggeration as far as I can see.
Randy Bott’s comments seem to have been the catalyst for the Church writing and publishing “Race and the Priesthood”.
So this means A) MsJack was incorrect, and B) his comments occurring immediately prior to his retirement was the sheerest of coincidences?
.
"When the Mormon God requires a PR crisis to act moral, we've clearly outgrown him."
