Book of Mormon Central Reports Over $1 Million in "salaries and wages"
Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2023 8:30 pm
Happy Fourth of July, Friends and Colleagues!
I hope you are enjoying the summer festivities. Here at Cassius, I have been ruminating once again on the question of Mopologetic compensation. As long time students of Mopology all know, the apologists have sworn up and down that they do not receive any compensation whatsoever for their apologetic work--the most famous instance of this is arguably Dr. Peterson's "not one dime of my salary comes from apologetics." Of course, we later discovered--via FARMS's tax forms from the late 1990s--that this wasn't true, and that, in fact, he was paid over $20,000 to serve as "Chair of FARMS." (He later claimed that his actual salary never went up in that amount, meaning, in effect, that his *normal* BYU salary was "bought out" by FARMS: so, yes--many, many "dimes" of his salary went towards apologetics.) More recently, he has sworn up and down that he receives nothing for his work with Mormon Interpreter, and that, indeed, pretty much no one gets paid for their work.
What about Book of Mormon Central, though? Interestingly, a perusal of their 2019 990 Tax Form reveals some interesting details. For one thing, the form reports that none of the officers--including John with. Welch--averaged *zero* hours of work during the period in question. Gee, if the Officers don't do any work, then what use do they have?
Perhaps the most interesting detail, though, appears in Part IX, number 7, which lists the amount paid out for "Other wages and salaries," and the total dollar amount is a staggering $1,161,695!! Holy mackerel! What on earth are they doing that requires compensation like this? Who are they paying, and for what? Could it be, as folks have speculated in the past, that people like Daniel C. Peterson still *are* being paid for apologetics, but the payment is coming in the form of "Consulting Fees" from an entirely separate organization such as Book of Mormon Central? He would still technically be in the clear in terms of claiming that he receives not compensation from Interpreter, and to my recollection, he's never denied getting payment from *elsewhere*. And even if he doesn't receive "one dime," you have to admit: $1 million+ is a lot of money.
Another interesting line item 17, for travel, which is listed as $92,357. How much of DCP's airfare, food, and lodging would that cover, I wonder? And why would an apologetic organization like Book of Mormon Central even need a nearly 100K travel budget? What the heck are they doing?
Regardless, something seems very clear: Book of Mormon Central is paying people over $1 million dollars to support its apologetic activities. *Some*one is definitely "making money off of apologetics."
I hope you are enjoying the summer festivities. Here at Cassius, I have been ruminating once again on the question of Mopologetic compensation. As long time students of Mopology all know, the apologists have sworn up and down that they do not receive any compensation whatsoever for their apologetic work--the most famous instance of this is arguably Dr. Peterson's "not one dime of my salary comes from apologetics." Of course, we later discovered--via FARMS's tax forms from the late 1990s--that this wasn't true, and that, in fact, he was paid over $20,000 to serve as "Chair of FARMS." (He later claimed that his actual salary never went up in that amount, meaning, in effect, that his *normal* BYU salary was "bought out" by FARMS: so, yes--many, many "dimes" of his salary went towards apologetics.) More recently, he has sworn up and down that he receives nothing for his work with Mormon Interpreter, and that, indeed, pretty much no one gets paid for their work.
What about Book of Mormon Central, though? Interestingly, a perusal of their 2019 990 Tax Form reveals some interesting details. For one thing, the form reports that none of the officers--including John with. Welch--averaged *zero* hours of work during the period in question. Gee, if the Officers don't do any work, then what use do they have?
Perhaps the most interesting detail, though, appears in Part IX, number 7, which lists the amount paid out for "Other wages and salaries," and the total dollar amount is a staggering $1,161,695!! Holy mackerel! What on earth are they doing that requires compensation like this? Who are they paying, and for what? Could it be, as folks have speculated in the past, that people like Daniel C. Peterson still *are* being paid for apologetics, but the payment is coming in the form of "Consulting Fees" from an entirely separate organization such as Book of Mormon Central? He would still technically be in the clear in terms of claiming that he receives not compensation from Interpreter, and to my recollection, he's never denied getting payment from *elsewhere*. And even if he doesn't receive "one dime," you have to admit: $1 million+ is a lot of money.
Another interesting line item 17, for travel, which is listed as $92,357. How much of DCP's airfare, food, and lodging would that cover, I wonder? And why would an apologetic organization like Book of Mormon Central even need a nearly 100K travel budget? What the heck are they doing?
Regardless, something seems very clear: Book of Mormon Central is paying people over $1 million dollars to support its apologetic activities. *Some*one is definitely "making money off of apologetics."