I am undoubtedly wrong, and I know you believe in research over speculation, but allow me to speculate. It was the aggressive pursuit of Correlation that drove the Brethren to bring FARMS under the wing of BYU. It was all about the priesthood chain of command. The Ziggurat demonstrated the kind of independence that belonged already to the past. They needed to head it off before it got underway.

Any note of disapproval, not matter how indirect, would be taken with the utmost seriousness, if it came from the Brethren.

On the other hand, we have to bear in mind that the Brethren appear to have ceded much of their doctrinal authority over to the apologists (cf. the Cumorah revisionism in the 2nd Watson letter, etc. by the way: DCP has been lying to the MADites on this issue. Critics have contacted the 1st Presidency on multiple occasions concerning this letter, and they haven't ever heard anything back.

In fact, so convinced was I that this scam had to be obvious to someone else, I did a little Googling and turned up this story from yesterday's New York Post:

That's amazing, Will, and you still believe the Book of Mormon is history?

There is no doubt whatsoever that the woman can sing. No doubt.

But if you believe that everything is on the "up and up" here, you're nuts.

In fact, so convinced was I that this scam had to be obvious to someone else, I did a little Googling and turned up this story from yesterday's New York Post:

Ray:

And look what you’ve become in the meantime!

Hello!

Ray, you’re life has become a freaking disaster in the quarter century since you first violated your covenant with God. Look around you, my would-be nemesis! Do you like what you see?

Where is the committed love of an eternal companion with whom you might have relished life all this time, and whom you might have had beside you forever? What do you “enjoy” in its place?

Where is your posterity of gospel-rooted children and grandchildren, whose eyes shine with the pure light of truth and virtue?

Where is your peace of mind when you lie down at night?

The corrosion of your soul continues from day to day, leaving you bitter and cold; crippled and old.

Where is the light of truth and knowledge that might have steadily expanded your mind beyond the base and earthly thoughts upon which you are now fixated? Gone. Replaced with the vanity of the pretended wisdom and meagre intellectual attainments of men who know less of the meaning and purpose of our existence than your average primary child. You might have positioned yourself for learning on a galactic scale, and instead you’ve settled for the constricting walls of a dank flat and a dingy cab.

And now, from the source you’d least prefer, you’ve been warned again. That is perhaps the most ironic cut of all, I know, but you have to learn to hear God’s voice in the most unlikely of places, and be willing and humble enough to accept it regardless of its origin.

And so, I implore you again: get off this train before it's too late. The consequences of ignoring the warning I bring could very well fall upon you with much more force, alacrity, and permanence than did those of the previous 24 years.

But I fear your feet are set on this path, no matter if an angel should call upon you with a voice of thunder.

The choice is, as always, yours to make.

Help me out here. Is this frickin' guy serious or just clowning around?

Nomomo:

That is the $64 question, isn't it?

I'll give you a hint: you never really can be sure.

At the very least, I'm gratified that you found it so entertaining.

In the immortal words of Tom Stoppard:

LOLOLOL....I did not mean to resurrect this thread. My apologies to the Board.