{"id":27296,"date":"2015-10-19T13:15:05","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T19:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=27296"},"modified":"2015-10-19T13:15:05","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T19:15:05","slug":"letter-to-a-ces-director-a-closer-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/10\/letter-to-a-ces-director-a-closer-look.html","title":{"rendered":"“‘Letter to a CES Director’: A Closer Look”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Is<\/a>
The entrance to the Sacred Grove, near Palmyra, New Work
(Wikimedia Commons; click to enlarge.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A document called \u201cLetter to a CES Director\u201d has been circulating for a while now. \u00a0Written by a young man who\u2019s lost his testimony, it\u2019s done substantial\u00a0damage to the faith of a number of Latter-day Saints. \u00a0I regret that very, very much \u2014 and especially so because I don\u2019t think the \u201cLetter\u201d does a remotely responsible job of addressing the issues. \u00a0In my judgment, it fails, painfully and comprehensively, to adequately engage the relevant evidence and arguments.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In response to the request of another, I offered a brief evaluation of it \u2014 transcribed here<\/a> \u2014 at the FairMormon conference in 2014. \u00a0I didn\u2019t enjoy the task at all. \u00a0I found the \u201cLetter\u201d extraordinarily frustrating and exasperating. \u00a0Every page, and indeed virtually every line, struck me as significantly misconceived and wrong.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I keep thinking that I should, \u00a0maybe, return to the subject, since I know that the \u201cLetter\u201d is doing harm, but I also keep putting it off. \u00a0Reading the \u201cLetter\u201d was, for me, roughly as much fun\u00a0as undergoing certain very uncomfortable medical procedures. \u00a0As I went through\u00a0it, I grew increasingly vexed and annoyed. \u00a0I could scarcely finish the thing, and haven\u2019t, thus far, been able to muster any enthusiasm for going back to it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

So I\u2019m grateful to others who\u2019ve given it their attention.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another response to the \u201cLetter\u201d that some might find helpful:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

http:\/\/debunking-cesletter.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thanks to Varden Hadfield for bringing it to my attention.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 A document called \u201cLetter to a CES Director\u201d has been circulating for a while now. \u00a0Written by a young man who\u2019s lost his testimony, it\u2019s done substantial\u00a0damage to the faith of a number of Latter-day Saints. \u00a0I regret that very, very much \u2014 and especially so because I don\u2019t think the \u201cLetter\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n"'Letter to a CES Director': A Closer Look"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"      A document called "Letter to a CES Director" has been circulating for a while now. \u00a0Written by a young man who's lost his testimony,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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