Fear?

Because it is funnier that way....lol

History is full of examples of insiders leaking evidence to outsiders so the outsiders can publish it.

One famous one was known only as "deap throat" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Throat



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2012 09:30PM by MJ.

If it's a current member, it may be fear. Everyone has issues with his/her job and needs to vent. I assume Steve's tentacles reach all over Utah, and who better to vent to than the face of exmormonism?

Because he is not stupid?

I'm not a current TBM.

I can see why in the pre-internet days some insider would leak information to an outsider for publishing, etc. But now, via the internet, it's so easy to anonomously get information
"out there" an "outsider" is hardly needed.

A Mormon insider who wants people to know what he or she knows but not risk his or her membership could easily want someone with credibility to pass on their information. By having Steve pass it on they can gain a level of authenticity that a simple anonymous claim wouldn't.

. . . the informant (who is employed by the Mormon Church in a department that will remain unnamed here) was concerned about being unmasked as a non-believer.

The informant therefore requested (when giving permission to me to post their "insider" information on RfM--information, by the way, which the informant brought to me), that I present that information (coming as it did from certain Mormon Church sources) in such a way as to assist in protecting the informant's identity.

I agreed to that request and the informant appears to have found its presentation on RfM to be acceptable.

People do what they feel comfortable with, given their unique circumstances. I respect that and work with them when they wish to make certain information public.



Edited 9 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2012 01:21AM by steve benson.

Seems like common sense to me. It's odd that someone needed an explanation.

The only thing left out is that telling you and asking you to share it provides credibility. If the inside informant has info they want to get out, the last thing they want is to come here and say "hi, I'm bill the insider, here's my info" and then have the post turn into some sort of troll baiting/disproving/proving match.

That answers your question, but I don't think you were really looking for an answer.

Information laundering is like money laundering.

If you don't want people to know the real source, you have to "launder" it through a different party. With the Big Brethren out there one has to be careful in this "church" of "Jesus's love."

He has the background to understand their concerns and the journalistic ethics and contacts.

He's more likely to be able to spread the word than just being another anonymous voice on some board.

He has credibility and can spot BS a mile away.

Still doesn't make much sense to me. If I were worried about being found out for leaking some information on RFM because it threatened my career and had these two choices, I'm pretty sure which one I'd be more comfortable with:

1. Post the information directly to RFM from an anonymous computer using an anonymous name.

OR

2. Send the information to a person I didn't really know and then when they request my identity in order to validate the information, I reveal my identity to them.

Sheesh! This is no brainer...

People here have stories of their identities being found out thru IRL tracking by mormons and some serious consequences as a result...child services called and whatnot.

By having Steve air this info, there's no direct connection to the informant because he didn't post here and there's nothing to track.

possibly the same reason that you post here not using your real name ?

Steve also knows who to give information to. It wasn't until he began working with the right people in the Jewish Defense League that they felt comfortable that the information was accurate and that they had the whole story from an authoritative source.

There's a difference in giving it to the JDL together with citings and giving it to Bill Maher via Facebook.

Steve has the right contacts.

Anagrammy

. . . then working behind the scenes with the head of the ADL in laying out the details as to what the Mormon Church has actually been doing to Nazi-exterminated Jews may have had its intended effect.

Information is power--specifically, the power to think and act in rational and informed ways to effect results and/or change.

When the Mormon Church won't release necessary information for people to make knowledgeable decisions about the designs and activities of the Mormon Church, then sometimes the only way to get the Mormon Church to change its ways is to openly call it on the carpet with facts that it has been attempting to hide--and thus publicly shame the Mormon Church into behavior modification.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2012 01:43AM by steve benson.

Dave the Atheist: "possibly the same reason that you post here not using your real name ?"

Bubba: Exactly my point! It's a foolproof way to maintain one's anonymity. So why wouldn't "Church Insider" do the same? If I wanted to risk giving up my anonymity, I'd reveal it to someone I didn't know so they can speak for me. Duh! How stupid would I have to be?

Yes, you can post is anonymously -- but why would anyone believe you?

Or, you can provide your bona fides to someone with credibility who can then say: "I learned this from an inside source who wishes to remain anonymous." -- and then more people will accept the statement as valid.

It's not that hard to understand.

And Steve Benson, as a public individual, is no more "someone I don't know" than Walter Cronkite. He's a respected individual who can disseminate information with credibility.

Look up the Strengthen the Members committee...An organization within mormonism strictly for spying on other mormons...like the KGB.


THAT'S why Steve posted this instead of the person who had the info

Tools of the computer trade, Bubba.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2012 01:33AM by steve benson.

I can understand being scared about losing your livelihood and wanting to make sure there was no way to tie this information back to you. I quit my job at the church before I started posting on these or other exmormon forums, but I can empathize with those who are still depending on the church for a paycheck.

Plus having someone trusted like Steve validate the information can be useful.

That said, I don't know if I would term the information "scathing" or all that surprising. It is worded vaguely (not Steve's fault) and kind of confusing (for example, 'asset' seems to be used interchangeably for a few things and is, in that context, almost meaningless anyway), but I think I understand what it is related to. If it is related to what I think it is (the Vineyard program), then it basically means two things:

1) They are trying to push more work that was typically paid to unpaid members who volunteer for it. We've already seen this with the church custodians and other actions in the past few years.

2) With the numbers of licenses they are requesting (no idea what the licenses are for, though) it seems to possibly semi-confirm what everyone already knows - a third or less of the membership is actually active.

That approach changed when I made a conscious decision to show respect and consideration for the opinion of the informant by asking the informant to provide their personal interpretive take on the information that was being shared.

I did not want to misconstrue or misreport what the informant was saying so I requested that they flesh out, for my benefit, what they were saying. Simple as that.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2012 01:40AM by steve benson.

IMHO, Bubba hasn't a clue who SB is and what SB's credentials are. Otherwise Bubba wouldn't even have asked the question. JMHO.

I was recently approached by a member and employee of the Mormon Church who informed me that they had “a couple of interesting stats” that they were willing to share with me.

In response, I requested some confirming I.D. (this person’s identity will remain confidential for obvious reasons). I then asked the informant if they wished that the data be posted on RfM. The informant said that I would be “welcome to do that.” The informant then sent me the information and told me that I could refer on this site to the informant as "an insider who writes for TSCC [The So-Called Church].”

The information relayed to me included the following:

--The Mormon Church is providing assistance to its “assets” manager in tasking for quality assurance—i.e., data automatically collected on Church assets is in need of cleaning, scrubbing and formatting in order to verify that vendors are in Mormon Church-specified compliance.

--The assets involve 30,000 workstations that are presently being tracked by the Mormon Church.

--The Mormon Church expects these workstation assets to increase in number to 70,000, and to include 4,000 servers and 5,000,000 individual licenses.

The informant urged me to “read between the lines” when reviewing this information. In response, I asked the informant for their interpretation of the information and was given the following assessment:

“It is my understanding that TSCC will grant licenses to members to access TSCC's database. Why the hierarchy feels the need to issue licenses to members is bewildering. Personally, it continues to shelter more of secret society and a possible attempt to make members feel more secure withing their own, cult-subscribed world.

“More importantly, and granted that the majority of members in undeveloped countries don't have access to computers, note that the projection of only 5 million licenses, as opposed to 14 million members, gives reason to believe that TSCC's active membership is only 1/3 of the total membership which coincides with what RfMers have been noting. And again, this is a projection and possibly a lofty one as I think TSCC is on the decline.

“Honesty and integrity appears to be out the door: Requesting members to serve ‘missions’ in lieu of actually paying members, some of whom I am sure could use the money, for their computer, accounting, etc. skills and requiring them to volunteer 20 to 40 hours per week at home (as 'assets') leaves me to question whether these requests are both ethically and morally right. But, they are hopeful!

“Apparently, the data that has been collected by TSCC has a quality issue. Considering the duplication mess specifically within the temple records, I do not doubt that it has.“

******************


--*for the original post along with responses, see:

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,467611

--*see also:

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,468066,468066#msg-468066

That is really interesting.

I wonder if it is linked to New Family Search - as opposed to Family search that any body can look at, New Family Search requires an account created using name, membership number, birth date, and baptism date, IIRC.

If you have all this info, you may be able to log on.

...is that they are exempt from employment laws.

Lose your job with Mormon, Inc. and you do not get unemployment insurance...because the cult doesn't pay into the system.

While I have some doubts about the conclusions being drawn from the information I certainly think s/he acted judiciously in using Steve as his medium.

And a reliable inside source is worthy of some modicum of respect and latitude for the prospect of providing future tidbits that might be interesting.

Rebeckah: "Yes, you can post is anonymously -- but why would anyone believe you?"

wittyname: "the last thing they want is to come here and say "hi, I'm bill the insider, here's my info" and then have the post turn into some sort of troll baiting/disproving/proving match."

Bubba: We've had anonymous posters in the past provide inside information who have successfully avoided troll accusations. "The mighty builder" comes to mind. Doesn't seem that difficult.