Into Thin Air?

I don’t know what to say about these new takes on the alleged incident of allegedly uncontested, unimpeded racist insults allegedly hurled by a non-student at a women’s volleyball game between Brigham Young University and Duke University.  I wasn’t there.  I assumed initially that the incident really occurred as described.  And maybe it did.  These articles do suggest, however, that those who immediately (and quite predictably) jumped from the specific alleged case to full-throated denunciations of BYU more generally and of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints altogether may have been, well, a little bit too obviously eager:

Washington Examiner:  “Media go all-in on apparent volleyball racism hoax at BYU”

Salt Lake Tribune:  “The fan who was banned by BYU does not appear to have yelled slurs at volleyball match, campus police say”

Deseret News:  “BYU police report details what happened during BYU-Duke volleyball match: Police report and an ESPN interview with a Duke volleyball player add new information to report of racial slurs during the match”

Deseret News, already cited here in a previous post:  “Opinion: The view from the stands at the BYU-Duke volleyball game”

And, as regards that juicy earlier scandal — do you remember it? it’s been displaced just a bit by the women’s volleyball story, but it’s still out there in the minds of ardent critics of the Church — I want to add a new item to my list of resources on the topic.  It’s a conspectus by the irreplaceable Jeff Lindsay:

“AP’s Narrative-Based Reporting on the Church’s Handling of an Abuse Case in Arizona”

And here, for convenient reference, is my previous list of recommended articles on the topic:

“Ten Ways the AP Abuse Article Misrepresented the Evidence:  I was surprised by how many discrepancies I found when comparing Rezendes’ AP article with the actual court documents. Here is a comprehensive list of contrasts between the two.”

“Should a member of the clergy report sex abuse of the penitent? A look inside the priest-penitent privilege”

“Church Provides Further Details about the Arizona Abuse Case: Church outlines its feelings on abuse and how a recent Associated Press story got it wrong”

“What the bishops knew: Church releases details, timeline about Arizona sex abuse case”

“Church Offers Statement on Help Line and Abuse: Church responds to recent Associated Press article about the Church’s abuse help line”

“Are Publicized Abuse Cases Exceptional or Representative of Our Faith? Responses to key questions regarding the Associated Press report alleging attempts to cover up sexual abuse cases in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”

“Perspective: I survived abuse. I worked for the church’s help line. The AP story broke my heart: No child should have to suffer what those sisters went through. Heroes are working to help stop this sickening abuse”

“Reporting Abuse, Church Helpline, & the Bishop | An Interview with Jennifer Roach”

“Reflections on Abuse, Reporting, and the Church”

“Failure to Report Sexual Abuse—Bisbee, Arizona: 37 Primary Sources”

Posted from Amsterdam, The Netherlands