The Week in Mormonism, 4/24/16: Clayton vs Brown on Intellectual Curiosity

L. Whitney Clayton drew some attention for his remarks at BYU’s commencement ceremony, where he called for members to “disconnect immediately and completely from listening to the proselytizing efforts of those who have lost their faith, and instead reconnect promptly with the holy spirit.”

While some commenters see a sinister similarity to the Church of Scientology’s practice of “disconnection,” or cutting off all contact with apostates, I see Clayton’s choice of words in the context of the rest of his talk, which was largely about how the Internet is full of dangerous things: pornography, ex-romantic interests, and apostates. The language of disconnecting/reconnecting is used to tie into that theme.

However, I do see a more serious problem with Clayton’s advice here. Kant suggested that one way to judge the morality of a course of action is to ask, “what would happen if everyone acted this way?” In other words, what if Baptists and Catholics and the rest of the world were similarly taught to categorically reject Mormon proselytizing efforts?

Clayton represents a step backwards from the confidence of Mormon leaders like Hugh B. Brown, who taught BYU students of an earlier generation, “I hope that you will develop the questing spirit. Be unafraid of new ideas for they are as stepping stones to progress. You will, of course, respect the opinions of others but be unafraid to dissent — if you are informed... I caution you that your thoughts and expressions must meet competition in the market place of thought, and in that competition truth will emerge triumphant. Only error needs to fear freedom of expression.” (Often misattributed to Brown’s BYU commencement speech in 1969, this is actually from a 1958 address, “What Is Man and What He May Become.” I am unable to find the full text of this speech online, but a longer excerpt may be found in Leonard Arrington, “The Intellectual Tradition of the Latter-day Saints.”)

Dialogue Journal launches its Spring 2016 issue under the new leadership of Boyd Peterson. Peterson shares his thoughts on Dialogue and his editorial philosophy on his personal blog.

From the new issue, I particularly recommend Fiona Givens’s article on divine and ecclesiastical communion with women, and the five interrelated articles on Mormon/Catholic dialogue. As always, a subscription to Dialogue is one of the best values in scholarship anywhere.

Jeremy Runnells, author of the Letter To a CES Director and (recently) professional gadfly to the Church, resigned last Sunday at his disciplinary court. Video and transcript of the court are available, but I suggest this three minute summary for all but the truly obsessive.

Brian Whitney shares his thoughts on Runnells’s departure, and Steve Otteson imagines how it could have ended. Finally, I again recommend Randall Bowen’s review of the CES Letter itself.

More on the pattern of BYU investigating victims of sexual assault for possible Honor Code violations:

• Exhibit A: Why So Few Women Report Sexual Assault. And the BYU Daily Universe presciently noted a month ago, Technicalities and under-reporting obscure BYU campus crime reporting. “They’re usually pretty hesitant because they think they’ll get in trouble with the Honor Code Office.”
• Lawyer Says BYU Cited Title IX As Reason To Take Honor Code Action Against Alleged Rape Victim.
• BYU Student Madeline MacDonald got to look at her file, showing the Honor Code office opened an investigation into her on the same day she told the school that she was groped on a blind date in Orem. “The immediate action… calls into question the school’s recent claims that Honor Code investigations are separate from sex-crime investigations by the Title IX Office.”
• Understanding Title IX and BYU.
• BYU announces decision to study Title IX reporting processes and structure.

Other Links

1. Chalk Circles and Honor.
2. A redaction analysis of the recently released “Doctrinal Mastery Core Document.”
3. On the Routinization, Bureaucratization, and Correlation of Charisma: Max Weber and the Mormons. A good introduction to Weber’s insights; highly recommended.
4. ‘Forgotten’ massacre of Utah Paiute group recalled with new monument.
5. Blessed? Or Lucky? Particularly relevant given the tragedies in Ecuador and Japan this week.
6. The Huntsman family is buying The Salt Lake Tribune.
7. The New Yorker covers Mormon Transhumanism and the Immortality Upgrade.
8. Will It Play in Papua? And “is the Church, as a patriarchy, universally negative for women’s status?”