Dr. Shades wrote:Although I've already given my opinion on this, what the heck, a new thread offers yet another opportunity, so here goes:
1) He was in on the smear campaign, and participated in it, including the gossipmongering.
I couldn't vote for this, since Quinn's Stake President knew about it before DCP did. Or, if not, the Stake President became aware of it quite independently of DCP--thus absolving him (DCP).
2) He gossiped, and the nature of the gossip itself was unethical/malicious, esp. considering the SP's involvement.
I couldn't vote for this either, since he merely heard about it, which, as Tarski says, can hardly be prevented by the hear-ee.
No, no---I think you misunderstood the option, Shades. The inclusion of the SP has to do with the sensitive nature of this particular gossip. You know, about how it involves matters of confidentiality and all that. E.g., if an attorney blabs about something a client told him, and you hear about it from your friend, it seems slightly worse that gossip you pass along about your next door neighbor. The SP's involvement in this adds the extra layer of violation of a social contract.
3) He gossiped, which was fine, but it crossed the line when he announced it on the FAIRboard.
I couldn't vote for this either, since (strictly speaking) he didn't actually announce it on the FAIRboard. The "gossip" in question was already common knowledge on the FAIR board;
It most certainly was
not! The notion that Quinn's SP and DCP's friend were blabbing about his sexual orientation, not to mention this "sad incident," seemed to be news to pretty much everybody.
DCP merely reported that said gossip was also common knowledge to the LDS intelligentsia before Quinn was excommunicated. And although it was common knowledge to that group before Quinn was excommunicated, I believe the fact that post hoc, ergo prompter hoc (sp?) is a logical fallacy ought to be kept in mind.
There seems to be some confusion here. No one is, nor has anyone ever, accused DCP of being the principal, driving force behind Quinn's excommunication. That has
never been the charge. The lone charge has been that he was spreading some pretty ugly gossip on the FAIRboard. That's it.
4) Everything was okay, save for the fact that Quinn was ex'ed due to this sort of gossip, which kind of condemns DCP.
I couldn't vote for this one either, for the same reasons that Tarski mentioned. Just because DCP was caught in the crossfire doesn't mean he pulled the trigger.
5) He only gossiped in the strictest, dictionary sense, and hey, don't we all?"
I voted for this one because the report to FAIR only
barely lifts it above Option #6. Personally, I don't see anything particularly wrong with gossip in the strictest dictionary definition, just so long as it isn't purposefully leaked to the powers-that-be in order to bring about punitive measures, which in this case didn't happen.
How about if it is purposefully leaked in order to sully somebody's reputation? Sort of like what was going on with the Tom Murphy incident?
