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<\/a>The lawsuit that has been filed against John Dehlin\u2019s Mormon Stories<\/em> podcast by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> has drawn considerable attention, some of it both confused and negative. \u00a0Here is a helpful article on the subject by my friend Steve Densley<\/a>, an attorney who also happens to be the Executive Vice President of the Interpreter Foundation: \u00a0\u201cProtecting the Symbols of Christ\u2019s Church: How a Trademark Lawsuit Aligns with Prophetic Guidance\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n There have been hundreds of responses to my recent conversation with Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Steve Smoot on Informed Saints<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 Many of them have been positive.\u00a0 Some have been very negative, not only toward Brigham Young but also toward the hosts of the show and, specifically, toward me<\/em>.<\/p>\n Some have faulted the conversation for having provided no evidence for what we said, as if our friendly 37-minute informal discussion had tried but failed to be an annotated academic treatise.\u00a0 A number have repeated the sorts of claims against Brigham Young that are common among his most negative critics, almost as if they hadn\u2019t actually listened at all to what we said.\u00a0 In such cases, I simply encourage them to watch the episodes of Becoming Brigham<\/em><\/a> as those appear over the next year and more.\u00a0 We\u2019re making a serious effort to address all of the serious issues and criticisms that are connected with Brigham Young and with the Church itself during the period of his leadership.<\/p>\n But you didn\u2019t say enough about the Mountain Meadows Massacre!\u00a0 And what about Brigham Young and racism! \u00a0What about Brigham Young and violence! \u00a0What about Brigham Young and women!<\/p>\n I can promise that, by time the series draws to a close, all of those issues (and others) will have been addressed.\u00a0 Not perhaps, I readily grant, to the satisfaction of every critic.\u00a0 (I\u2019m not na\u00efve enough to believe that such a goal, even if it were our target, is achievable.)\u00a0 But we won\u2019t be omitting any serious subjects.\u00a0 We\u2019re making a very deliberate effort not to do so.<\/p>\n However, I want to respond to one issue that has been raised, yet again, against me personally.\u00a0 It comes up pretty frequently:\u00a0 It is the charge that, because I\u2019m a bought-and-paid-for apologist for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, nothing that I say can be trusted.<\/p>\n First of all, even if it were true, the claim would merely be an illustration of the common logical error known as the \u201cad hominem<\/em> fallacy.\u201d\u00a0 There must be literally hundreds of definitions, descriptions, and discussions of it that are easily available online, but the\u00a0ad hominem<\/em> fallacy (the name is Latin for \u201cagainst the man\u201d) \u2013- is committed when a person attacks the character, motives, or personal traits of the individual making an argument rather than addressing the substance of the argument itself. This tactic, which can be viewed as an attempt to distract the audience\u2019s attention or to deflect the discussion to something that is actually irrelevant, tries to discredit a claim by attacking the person, rather than by providing evidence to refute what the person has said.<\/p>\n It might also be considered a specimen of the informal logical fallacy of \u201cpoisoning the well\u201d \u2013 also widely covered online \u2013 in which adverse (or, anyway, seemingly<\/em> adverse) information is preemptively presented to discredit an opponent before she even utters or writes a word, simply by virtue of who or what she is. \u00a0(\u201cYou can\u2019t believe anything he says, because he\u2019s a Republican\/Democrat\/Jew\/Catholic\/vegan.\u201d) \u00a0The name seems to be rooted in the ancient war tactic of contaminating an enemy\u2018s water supplies.<\/p>\n Strictly speaking, whether I\u2019m paid for apologetics is irrelevant to the question of whether my position or my argument is valid or not.\u00a0 If I say that sunny skies are blue, my statement remains true whether or not I\u2019m on the payroll of the militant League for Affirming the Blueness of the Skies (LABS) or not<\/em>.\u00a0 They might be paying me with daily truckloads of gold bullion sprinkled with high quality diamonds, but the skies will remain blue.<\/p>\n In fact, though, the claim that I\u2019m paid to do apologetics by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is false.\u00a0 One of those making the claim even buttresses it by noting that I work for Brigham Young University, the Church\u2019s flagship institution of higher education.\u00a0 But this is no longer true; I retired several years ago.\u00a0 And even when I worked for BYU, my principal duty was to teach courses on Arabic grammar, classical Arabic literature, the Qur\u2019an, the religion and culture of the Islamic world, and medieval Islamic philosophy, along with the usual responsibilities of a university professor (including quite a bit of editing and a lengthy and intellectually debilitating stint of academic administration).\u00a0 I was never paid to write or speak on Latter-day Saint apologetics.<\/p>\n And the Church certainly doesn\u2019t pay me to do apologetics now<\/em>.\u00a0 Period.<\/p>\n Although, given my years of experience with them, I have no reason to expect that those who deliberately make and love this lie will ever voluntarily surrender it, I want normal<\/em> people to understand the actual situation.\u00a0 So, periodically, I feel that I need to restate the truth.<\/p>\n Happily, the little essay above transitions very naturally into today\u2019s report for my dedicated monitors at the Peterson Obsession Board. \u00a0They, by the way, were roused from their dogmatic slumbers by yesterday\u2019s report (\u201cAnother glimpse of my glamorous life as an apologist\u201d<\/a>), and they\u2019re eagerly calling out questions like cub reporters in an old black-and-white Superman<\/em> episode. \u00a0(I\u2019ll address some of their earnest inquiries in a moment.) \u00a0Here, for the benefit of the researchers at the POB, is today\u2019s installment in the chronicle of this week\u2019s luxury dining tour of Utah:<\/p>\n Where appropriate, Redbrick Filmworks builds travel expenses into its project budgets. \u00a0People traveling on Redbrick jobs have their travel expenses covered. \u00a0Although, unlike the others who are involved in the Becoming Brigham<\/em> series (Camry Bagley Fox, John Donovan Wilson, Mark Goodman, James Jordan, and Russ Richins), I\u2019m not paid for my time, my motel and travel and food expenses are covered, per Redbrick\u2019s policy, just as those of the others are. \u00a0Here are today\u2019s details:<\/p>\n I savored a hearty gourmet breakfast of instant oatmeal and hot water at the motel restaurant this morning, washing it down with a small carton of orange juice, and then, after several hours of further filming for Becoming Brigham<\/em><\/a> at the Utah Territorial Statehouse (on Brigham Young, race, and slavery), went again with the group to The Eatery in Fillmore for lunch.\u00a0 I had a chicken-fried breakfast steak, but I couldn\u2019t actually finish the meal. \u00a0Thereupon, we drove up to Scipio<\/a> (2020 population 353) and over to Richfield<\/a>\u00a0(population roughly 8200) where I\u2019ve just gotten into my room at the Ramada Inn<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is the life I dreamed of living! \u00a0This is the lifestyle that I went into apologetics to achieve!<\/p>\n Now, though, permit me to address some of the specific questions from those eager cub reporters, which I\u2019ve paraphrased for the sake of conciseness and efficiency:<\/p>\n \u201cPeterson\u2019s diet isn\u2019t balanced. \u00a0How can he justify such eating?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n It isn\u2019t, and he can\u2019t. \u00a0Fast food places aren\u2019t known for healthy nutrition, and Peterson didn\u2019t really have the time to scan for the various vegan, vegetarian, or pescatarian options in Fillmore (2020 population 2592). \u00a0This isn\u2019t his usual<\/em> diet. \u00a0Where the group goes, he goes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Best Western Paradise Inn in Fillmore is quite upscale. \u00a0Did Peterson book the best room for himself?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Someone\u2019s definition of \u201cupscale\u201d seems a tad eccentric. \u00a0Anyway, Peterson didn\u2019t book the rooms in Fillmore; Redbrick Filmworks did. \u00a0And all of the rooms seem to be pretty much identical in terms of splendor, refinement, and elegance.<\/p>\n \u201cFillmore is only about 90 minutes from Peterson\u2019s home. \u00a0Why didn\u2019t he just commute between his home and his filming location?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Notwithstanding the vast sums that he earns from his apologetic enterprises, Peterson\u2019s home currently has fewer cars than drivers, and those cars are needed throughout the day. \u00a0So he and his five associates piled into two vehicles for their journey, thus leaving means of transportation for the people living in his house. \u00a0Anyway, as illustrated today, Peterson and his co-conspirators didn\u2019t remain in Fillmore, and they won\u2019t remain in Richfield, either. \u00a0As Bilbo sings, \u201cThe Road goes ever on and on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHad Peterson\u2019s wife been able to come along, would her expenses have been paid?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n No. \u00a0As in past trips, she would have paid for her own meals. \u00a0In the past, when she has flown to a filming location, she has paid her own airfare. \u00a0She and Peterson would have shared a room, though. \u00a0And she probably would have driven in the same car with Peterson. \u00a0(Notwithstanding his notoriously repulsive personality and his poor character, they\u2019re still on friendly terms with each other.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n My little crowd of devoted groupies is actually both rather cute, in its way, and quite amusing. \u00a0We\u2019ll see what additional questions they\u2019ll come up with for tomorrow\u2019s<\/em> report!<\/p>\n Posted from Richfield, Sevier County, Utah<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 The lawsuit that has been filed against John Dehlin\u2019s Mormon Stories podcast by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has drawn considerable attention, some of it both confused and negative. \u00a0Here is a helpful article on the subject by my friend Steve Densley, an attorney who also happens to be the Executive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":25411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[68,292,933,2905,788,1260],"class_list":["post-115874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-apologetics","tag-brigham-young","tag-john-dehlin","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-mormon","tag-racism"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a><\/a>