Pressure from leaders and Mormon Stories/John Dehlin

[_gramps]

I don't know how many of us here follow John Dehlin's blog and podcasts. Apparently, he is getting pressure again from someone above. Check it out:
http://mormonstories.org

For those who are still in the Church, and have felt that his work has helped you in your life, it might be a good idea to post something up there.

Wish you all the best, John!

[_Mister Scratch]

I don't know how many of us here follow John Dehlin's blog and podcasts. Apparently, he is getting pressure again from someone above. Check it out:
http://mormonstories.org

For those who are still in the Church, and have felt that his work has helped you in your life, it might be a good idea to post something up there.

Wish you all the best, John!

Gramps---

I love a juicy story as much as anyone, but I am confused. I looked at the link but was unable to find any mention by Dehlin that he was "getting pressure again from someone above." He posted that "a small situation has arisen," but I'm not sure how to interpret that. Can you provide some more citations/explanation?

If he has been "pressured" by the COB/Church hierarchy that would be a scoop of a story indeed!

[_gramps]

I don't know how many of us here follow John Dehlin's blog and podcasts. Apparently, he is getting pressure again from someone above. Check it out:
http://mormonstories.org

For those who are still in the Church, and have felt that his work has helped you in your life, it might be a good idea to post something up there.

Wish you all the best, John!

Gramps---

I love a juicy story as much as anyone, but I am confused. I looked at the link but was unable to find any mention by Dehlin that he was "getting pressure again from someone above." He posted that "a small situation has arisen," but I'm not sure how to interpret that. Can you provide some more citations/explanation?

If he has been "pressured" by the COB/Church hierarchy that would be a scoop of a story indeed!

Well, I can only say that I read some of the posted replies and they are addressed to his bishop. I think over on the FLAK board, there is some hint to this as well. I'm sure we will know more as time goes on.

But, it stands to reason doesn't it, if he is asking for those who have been helped specifically by his board and podcasts to respond? But, I am willing to be wrong here, and certainly hope I am. But, I don't have much faith in such a possibility.

I will try to find out more from the FLAK board as the posts continue. But again, read the comments on mormonstories. Have you done that, yet?

[_Mister Scratch]

Well, I can only say that I read some of the posted replies and they are addressed to his bishop. I think over on the FLAK board, there is some hint to this as well. I'm sure we will know more as time goes on.

But, it stands to reason doesn't it, if he is asking for those who have been helped specifically by his board and podcasts to respond? But, I am willing to be wrong here, and certainly hope I am. But, I don't have much faith in such a possibility.

I will try to find out more from the FLAK board as the posts continue. But again, read the comments on mormonstories. Have you done that, yet?

I think your read on this is absolutely plausible, Gramps, I would just like some more evidence, that's all. I did indeed look over the comments on mormonstories, and am still left somewhat unsure what they signify. Is Mr. Dehlin being pressured to take down his blog/podcasts? Is he being threatened with excommunication, ala the Sept. 6? Or is this about something else? So far, I remain unsure.

Also, I think it is important to note the difference if it is his Bishop who is pressuring him, vs. the Stake Pres. or (heaven forbid) the SCMC/COB/Hierarchy. If it is the latter, then this is potentially huge. I will anxiously await further details!

[_gramps]

I think your read on this is absolutely plausible, Gramps, I would just like some more evidence, that's all. I did indeed look over the comments on mormonstories, and am still left somewhat unsure what they signify. Is Mr. Dehlin being pressured to take down his blog/podcasts? Is he being threatened with excommunication, ala the Sept. 6? Or is this about something else? So far, I remain unsure.

Also, I think it is important to note the difference if it is his Bishop who is pressuring him, vs. the Stake Pres. or (heaven forbid) the SCMC/COB/Hierarchy. If it is the latter, then this is potentially huge. I will anxiously await further details!

And I will do my best to become more fully informed. I agree, though, it could be big, or not. Funny, just after the Bushman interviews, too.

[_gramps]

Hey Scratch, check this link out. This is the latest that I have heard.

http://www.thefoyer.org/viewtopic.php?t=1769

Edited to add: Yes, there are priesthood leaders involved.

[_Mister Scratch]

Hey Scratch, check this link out. This is the latest that I have heard.

http://www.thefoyer.org/viewtopic.php?t=1769

Edited to add: Yes, there are priesthood leaders involved.

Wow... fascinating!

This, in particular, caught my interest:

I don’t want to talk about the details of the situation to avoid escalating this into a bigger issue than it needs to be (I’m in no hurry to become the next Buckley Jeppson or Jeff Nielson, though I admire them both), but sufficeth to say that I’ve been asked to discuss my site/podcast w/ a church leader, due to concern expressed by another church leader in a different part of the country. I have no reason to believe that any attempt will be made to silence open, honest discussion — so we really shouldn’t jump to those conclusions. For all I know, they are maybe seeing if I can help in some regard.

I sincerely hope and expect that this all blows over very quickly. I am confident that it will. Many of your letters will be very helpful in this regard.

Thanks again.

P.S. If I’ve helped or harmed your faith or commitment to the church, I’d love to hear your stories. If you’ve left the church, and my podcasts/blogs had little effect in this regard, your stories might be a bit less helpful for this purpose (for what it’s worth).

(emphasis added)

It is beginning to seem more and more likely that the SCMC is a part of this, in my opinion. Either that, or we are forced to believe that that "leader in a different part of the country" (where is Dehlin located, by the way?) went out of his way to contact Dehlin's ecclesiastical leader....

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[_gramps]

Hey Scratch, check this link out. This is the latest that I have heard.

http://www.thefoyer.org/viewtopic.php?t=1769

Edited to add: Yes, there are priesthood leaders involved.

Wow... fascinating!

This, in particular, caught my interest:

I don’t want to talk about the details of the situation to avoid escalating this into a bigger issue than it needs to be (I’m in no hurry to become the next Buckley Jeppson or Jeff Nielson, though I admire them both), but sufficeth to say that I’ve been asked to discuss my site/podcast w/ a church leader, due to concern expressed by another church leader in a different part of the country. I have no reason to believe that any attempt will be made to silence open, honest discussion — so we really shouldn’t jump to those conclusions. For all I know, they are maybe seeing if I can help in some regard.

I sincerely hope and expect that this all blows over very quickly. I am confident that it will. Many of your letters will be very helpful in this regard.

Thanks again.

P.S. If I’ve helped or harmed your faith or commitment to the church, I’d love to hear your stories. If you’ve left the church, and my podcasts/blogs had little effect in this regard, your stories might be a bit less helpful for this purpose (for what it’s worth).

(emphasis added)

It is beginning to seem more and more likely that the SCMC is a part of this, in my opinion. Either that, or we are forced to believe that that "leader in a different part of the country" (where is Dehlin located, by the way?) went out of his way to contact Dehlin's ecclesiastical leader....

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Yeah, the bolded part is the most fascinating. sounds like a Packer move, but, we will wait and see.....I hope it is good news, but I think John is being a little optimistic.

I thought he was maybe in Washington state, but, maybe Salt Lake City. Who knows? He was running Sunstone at one point. Would he have to be in SLC to do that?

[_harmony]

And some people wonder why we use pseudonyms. When a simple misunderstanding like the one Mak and I had might escalate into the threat of church discipline? Better to be able to solve those sorts of misunderstandings without waking up the three-headed dog.

[_Sethbag]

What does he expect? He's talking about the church, in-depth, but out of the channels the Church has set up for this, ie: the PR department and the missionary program, and not according to the correlated Church-published official story. He's bypassing the whole chain of command, and that is inevitably going to make someone nervous. Remember, according to the church bigwigs, they bear the "mantle" of responsibility for the public face of the church, not some podunk guy in his basement with a computer and a decent microphone.