A still photograph by Rhett Fernsten of James Jordan filming a scene for the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s forthcoming film projects on the Witnesses to the Book of Mormon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was in June 2012 \u2014 eight years ago \u2014 while I was traveling in Israel, that I was drop-kicked (via an email from the organization\u2019s still fairly-recently appointed executive director) from the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University. \u00a0The Institute, he told me, was going to make a \u201cchange in course,\u201d and I was essentially the last remaining of those who had led the organization (previously known as FARMS, or the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies) for the previous thirty-four years. \u00a0So, plainly, I had to go.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was in order to carry on the mission that we had long pursued via FARMS and then via its successor organization, the Maxwell Institute, that a small group of us then founded the Interpreter Foundation. \u00a0It was launched in early August of 2012, with no resources (not even a bank account!) but with a lot of energy and commitment and with many friends who soon joined us.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In fact, one thing that made my sudden expulsion from the Maxwell Institute \u2014 a cause to which I had devoted much of my time and energy, at considerable cost to my own personal academic agenda \u2014 \u00a0at least somewhat less painful was the support that I received from many, many friends. \u00a0I can\u2019t count how many emails and personal notes I received, including some from people whom virtually everybody reading this blog entry would recognize. \u00a0Here is one of those notes that I came across just now, while searching for something else:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I just wanted to say hi, and I have read all the blather concerning what has happened. I love you like a brother\u2026..brother\u2026\u2026 I have read everything you have written that I can get my hands on, and have used extensive materials for my You Tube videos, and writings, etc. I am deeply sorry for the way the issue was handled, based on what little I understand. If there is anything I can do, I am here for you Dan. In my own opinion, you and the original group of FARMS Boys (I say that respectfully, not in any way disparaging) ou[gh]t to start another group and this time remain independent. I had a chat with you years ago when you informed us at one of the FAIR conferences and told you then to remain independent, and you said it was desired, but impossible. Perhaps this is a huge hidden blessing in disguise for you to do just that?<\/span><\/p>\nAnyway, thoughts and prayers are with you\u2026..head up, because\u2026.. seriously\u2026\u2026\u2026 what the critics say is irrelevant, and you need not heed them\u2026\u2026..<\/span><\/p>\nBest to you and the family,<\/span><\/p>\nKerry A. Shirts<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m grateful for loyal friends during a difficult time, and always.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Garden City, Utah<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 It was in June 2012 \u2014 eight years ago \u2014 while I was traveling in Israel, that I was drop-kicked (via an email from the organization\u2019s still fairly-recently appointed executive director) from the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University. \u00a0The Institute, he told me, was going to make […]<\/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":[13025,1152,1149,2550,7248,939,7401,2863,13028,13022,975,8813,3256,2532,13019,13016],"class_list":["post-86231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-13025","tag-brigham-young-university","tag-byu","tag-critic","tag-daniel","tag-farms","tag-foundation","tag-foundation-for-ancient-research-and-mormon-studies","tag-friend","tag-institute","tag-interpreter","tag-kerry","tag-maxwell","tag-peterson","tag-philo-sofee","tag-shirts"],"yoast_head":"\n
"What the critics say is irrelevant, and you need not heed them."<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" It was in June 2012 -- eight years ago -- while I was traveling in Israel, that I was drop-kicked (via an email from the organization's\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/what-the-critics-say-is-irrelevant-and-you-need-not-heed-them.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""What the critics say is irrelevant, and you need not heed them."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" It was in June 2012 -- eight years ago -- while I was traveling in Israel, that I was drop-kicked (via an email from the organization's\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/what-the-critics-say-is-irrelevant-and-you-need-not-heed-them.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-30T01:09:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-03T04:37:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2020\/06\/James_Filming-1024x666.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/what-the-critics-say-is-irrelevant-and-you-need-not-heed-them.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/what-the-critics-say-is-irrelevant-and-you-need-not-heed-them.html\",\"name\":\"\\\"What the critics say is irrelevant, and you need not heed them.\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-30T01:09:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-03T04:37:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" It was in June 2012 -- eight years ago -- while I was traveling in Israel, that I was drop-kicked (via an email from the organization's\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/what-the-critics-say-is-irrelevant-and-you-need-not-heed-them.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/what-the-critics-say-is-irrelevant-and-you-need-not-heed-them.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/what-the-critics-say-is-irrelevant-and-you-need-not-heed-them.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“What the critics say is irrelevant, and you need not heed them.”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"What the critics say is irrelevant, and you need not heed them.\"","description":" It was in June 2012 -- eight years ago -- while I was traveling in Israel, that I was drop-kicked (via an email from the organization's","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/what-the-critics-say-is-irrelevant-and-you-need-not-heed-them.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"What the critics say is irrelevant, and you need not heed them.\"","og_description":" It was in June 2012 -- eight years ago -- while I was traveling in Israel, that I was drop-kicked (via an email from the organization's","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/what-the-critics-say-is-irrelevant-and-you-need-not-heed-them.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2020-06-30T01:09:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-03T04:37:38+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2020\/06\/James_Filming-1024x666.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/what-the-critics-say-is-irrelevant-and-you-need-not-heed-them.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/what-the-critics-say-is-irrelevant-and-you-need-not-heed-them.html","name":"\"What the critics say is irrelevant, and you need not heed them.\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-06-30T01:09:40+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-03T04:37:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" It was in June 2012 -- eight years ago -- while I was traveling in Israel, that I was drop-kicked (via an email from the organization's","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/what-the-critics-say-is-irrelevant-and-you-need-not-heed-them.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/what-the-critics-say-is-irrelevant-and-you-need-not-heed-them.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/what-the-critics-say-is-irrelevant-and-you-need-not-heed-them.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“What the critics say is irrelevant, and you need not heed them.”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Fernsten](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2020\/06\/James_Filming.jpg\")
<\/a>