The infamous Seventh East Press interview with Sterling McMurrin

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

You think BYU-I's president challenges the BOT on anything?

I have some ocean front property I'd like to sell you....

Only one reason he took that job: because he is a man who does what the Brethren ask him to do.

I have no idea how much he challenges the BOT. But you have carved out an awfully convenient and self-serving logical position: anybody who would accept a BYU admin position couldn't possibly be a quality leader or independent thinker. That's just BS.

[Solon]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

I was pleased to see Waters lionize my old hero Sterling McMurrin yesterday. My last year living in Utah the Seventh East Press, a student publication at BYU, published the linked interview of Dr. McMurrin by Blake Ostler, then a BYU student. As a young college student on my way out I loved the infamous McMurrin interview. In retrospect, I think it had a big impact on LDS culture, and maybe somewhat on my outlook. Not long after the interview the Seventh East Press suffered a (metaphysical) vigilante attack that burned it to the ground and scattered its type. BYU shut it down. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did 24 years ago.

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/doc...CISOSHOW=14326

Here's a quotation from the interview I remember well (I found it on an anti-Mitt Romney site when searching for this interview):

“I came to the conclusion at a very early age, earlier than I can remember, that you don’t get books from angels and translate them by miracles; it is just that simple. So I simply don’t believe the Book of Mormon to be authentic. I think that all of the hassling over the authenticity of the Book of Mormon is just a waste of time. Many things have been intentionally ignored and sometimes concealed or have been taken to have religious meanings or implications which, in my opinion, have no religious connections whatsoever. I believe that the Church has intentionally distorted its own history by dealing fast and loose with historical data and imposing theological and religious interpretations on the data that are entirely unwarranted.”

Tremendous interview. Thanks for posting this. It's the best thing I've read about Mormonism in years.