LDS "world famous scholar" publishes book

[_dartagnan]

Mike, does anyone really think a scholar whom Peterson had assigned to work on the translation series pulished by BYU press eight years ago, is not going to know who he is?

Emailing known friends of his is not a good way to verify his popularity or reputation.

At least, it is not comparable to random emails sent to a half dozen dept heads who are not his friends, and have never heard of him.

Every scholar has some friends willing to speak well of them. I think the question however, is how well known Dan really is in the field. It appears he is not as well known as most LDS seem to lead on.

But.... so what?

[_Levi]

Really, Dart, don't your friends and colleagues ever denounce your racism? How can an educated man, who is presumably an educator himself, espouse such right-ring views on the basis of spurious and specious authority?

1. Do you believe that the forced conversion of the Jews in Iberia was a good thing?

2. Do you believe the Crusader's slaughter of the Jews a good thing?

3. Do you think the Holocaust is overrated?

4. Do you think the persecution of Muslim Albanians by Christian Serbs a good thing?

5. Do you think that Mormons shouldn't be making Africans bishops?

Levi

[_dartagnan]

Really, Dart, don't your friends and colleagues ever denounce your racism?

Absolutely not. Wade Englund, Daniel Peterson and Juliann Reynolds were never "friends and colleagues" even in the loosest senses of the terms. But even they have never accused me of racism; not that I recall anyway. The racism gambit was started by Tradd, who started threads accusing me of racism because he was too dumb to realize Islam is not a race. At most he found one LDS apologist I know (smac97) who responded. He said he thought my comments "seemed racist" - or something to that effect - but then after reading the context of what I said, stated: "I don't think you are a racist." Just last week he sent me an email out of the blue, asking how things are going in Brazil, so I doubt he has changed his mind about me.

Four years later the only persons to ever accuse me of racism are Tradd, and whatever mysterious supporters of his appear in the course of our exchanges. Actually, I think you're the only sock puppet of his to accuse me of racism. And why in the hell would you accuse me of racism without a shred of proof, and why in the hell would you say I lost favor with "friends and colleagues" (a preferred line used only by Tradd) unless of course you're actually Tradd?

If you're truly just a curious walk-on observer, then you know absolutely nothing about me. So the most logical conclusion is that you and Tradd are one in the same.

How can an educated man, who is presumably an educator himself, espouse such right-ring views on the basis of spurious and specious authority?

That’s a loaded question that assumes several false premises - mainly that my so-called “right-wing views” are “based” on “spurious and specious” authority. You’ve demonstrated your unfamiliarity with the term authority. You don’t know what authority is. You do not consider anyone an authority if you reject scholars with Harvard and Princeton doctorates and decades of experience.

Do you believe that the forced conversion of the Jews in Iberia was a good thing?

Jews were forced to convert to what? What is your “authority” for this assertion?

Do you believe the Crusader's slaughter of the Jews a good thing?

Of course not, but the atypical acts to which you refer were by renegade groups that received the immediate condemnation from the Catholic Church. Oftentimes bishops would travel out of their way to stop persecutions of the Jews by such groups. The Crusades, overall, served the purpose of defending Christendom from the Arab (Islamic) invasions. Whether or not it succeeded is another question. By the time the Crusades were called, Islam had wiped out two thirds of the Christian territories. To suggest the Crusades were all about persecuting Jews is typical of the ignorance and bigotry from “left-wing” amateurs. Are you willing to be educated about the crusades and the inquisition? Somehow I doubt it. You’ll probably reject every authority on the matter as an “idiot” while cross-referencing some anti-Catholic website written by disgruntled journalists who love to recant the tales of myth.

I also wonder if you’re capable of seeing the irony and hypocrisy in your claim that my factual statement regarding Islam is “manifest bigotry,” while you criticize the entire religious world. Does that make you a bigot?

Do you think the Holocaust is overrated?

No. But it is underrated and even denied in Muslim countries. But you probably didn’t know this. You don’t seem to know much of anything.

Do you think the persecution of Muslim Albanians by Christian Serbs a good thing?

Why would I think that? Do you still beat your wife?

Do you think that Mormons shouldn't be making Africans bishops?

I have no problem with a black bishop from any religion. Why would I? I recently found out that black man I baptized on my mission, has recently been called to be bishop of his ward in Madrid.

[_MAsh]

Mike, does anyone really think a scholar whom Peterson had assigned to work on the translation series pulished by BYU press eight years ago, is not going to know who he is?

Emailing known friends of his is not a good way to verify his popularity or reputation.

At least, it is not comparable to random emails sent to a half dozen dept heads who are not his friends, and have never heard of him.

Every scholar has some friends willing to speak well of them. I think the question however, is how well known Dan really is in the field. It appears he is not as well known as most LDS seem to lead on.

But.... so what?

So if I send and email to someone who has heard of him, I'm doing it wrong. I must, instead, send emails to someone who hasn't heard of him and thereby show that they haven't heard of him???

At the time I sent the email it was because Tal said that he sent emails to various Universities (one of which was UCLA) & they hadn't heard of Dan. I sent an email to a UCLA Islamacist (didn't know at the time if he knew of Dan or not) & got the response.

Hypercritical, Kevin....

Mike

[_Mister Scratch]

Mike, does anyone really think a scholar whom Peterson had assigned to work on the translation series pulished by BYU press eight years ago, is not going to know who he is?

Emailing known friends of his is not a good way to verify his popularity or reputation.

At least, it is not comparable to random emails sent to a half dozen dept heads who are not his friends, and have never heard of him.

Every scholar has some friends willing to speak well of them. I think the question however, is how well known Dan really is in the field. It appears he is not as well known as most LDS seem to lead on.

But.... so what?

So if I send and email to someone who has heard of him, I'm doing it wrong. I must, instead, send emails to someone who hasn't heard of him and thereby show that they haven't heard of him???

At the time I sent the email it was because Tal said that he sent emails to various Universities (one of which was UCLA) & they hadn't heard of Dan. I sent an email to a UCLA Islamacist (didn't know at the time if he knew of Dan or not) & got the response.

Hypercritical, Kevin....

Mike

With all due respect, I think you're missing the point, Mike. (And welcome to the board, by the way!) The point of Tal's initial exercise, as I understand it, was to poll the heads of some noteworthy Arab Studies departments in order to get a sense of how well-known DCP is in his field, generally speaking. Your stumbling across *one guy* who happens to know---and to be friendly with---Prof. P. hardly effects the results of Tal's inquiry, I'm afraid. If you'd like to undertake a more general poll, perhaps you will come up with some better, not to mention more persuasive, results.

[_dartagnan]

Hey Mike, I don’t think I am being critical here. I also didn’t say you were “wrong” to do what you did. I just think the two of you are trying to answer two different things. Tal seemed to be trying to determine whether or not Peterson has a good reputation or whether he was well known in the academic community, and this was in response to numerous LDS claims that he is a world class or world renowned scholar. Emailing the heads of the leading NES departments is a good way of accomplishing this, and I was actually surprised to see how many had never heard of him. Incidentally, you could also add Daniel Pipes to that list. He is a guy who scours academia for Islamic scholars, good and bad, and he had never heard of him either.

Anyway, you seem to be trying to determine whether or not anyone in academia actually likes Dan. This is something entirely different from what Tal had set out to do so it doesn’t offset anything Tal established. I was pointing out Ziai’s work with the BYU translation series just to make the point that these two have established working relationships, so it should be of no surprise that they two of them know and like each other. Dan is a likeable guy, so I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone who knew him liked him. But the question is how many people know him.