MormonLeaks Goes to Battle With Mormon Church Over Leaked 'Enemy List'

[Heddi]

http://gizmodo.com/mormonleaks-goes-to-battle-with-mormon-church-over-leak-1793233049

On Tuesday March 14th, a group of former and inactive Mormons—who have leaked dozens of internal documents exposing the inner workings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—sent a legal letter to the LDS Church warning that MormonLeaks has no intention of ending their crusade for transparency.

Since launching in December, MormonLeaks has published a steady stream of controversial internal documents that have drastically altered how many Mormons view the secretive, gerontocratic governing body of well-paid Apostles and prophets who oversee the business dealings and dogma evolution of the LDS Church.

..
The letter was a response to a takedown notice the Church issued earlier this month after MormonLeaks published an internal PowerPoint made for senior Church leaders showing the people, organizations, and ideas that are leading members away from the Church. Ex-Mormons have even been referring to it as the “enemies list” in forums and on podcasts.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice requested MormonLeaks remove the documents on the basis that they are copyrighted and not authorized for distribution by the intellectual property owners. Randazza’s letter warns if the Church continues to press the copyright claim, MormonLeaks will file a claim against the Church under a statute of the DMCA, which penalizes wrongful takedown notices.

Members of the MormonLeaks board aren’t sure why this leak, their 66th document posted on MormonLeaks.io, is the one that drove the Church to take action. They have theories. For instance, one slide of the presentation reads like an “enemies list” and includes excommunicated Mormon podcasters and bloggers who have criticized the Church and advocated for LGBTQ and gender equality within the institution. Or maybe this was just the first document that the Church could finally make a copyright claim on. (The LDS Church declined to comment on this story.)

One page of the presentation shows 17 bubbles positioned on a spectrum from “far left” to “far right.” The most leftist influence, according to this infograph is the feminist group Ordain Women, a group dedicated to gender equality in Mormonism—a radical notion within an organization whose leadership is literally called the “patriarchal order.” On the right, there are the false prophets and end-time preppers. In the middle lies lies “lack of righteousness” and “pornography.”
...
“The Church has tried throughout our history to paint it as if the leaders have gotten paid nothing,” Reel told Gizmodo. “And when they have mentioned getting paid, it’s just a small, modest living stipend. What we’ve come to find out because of MormonLeaks is that these guys get a base salary of $120 thousand.”

When Ryan McKnight, founder of MormonLeaks, received the financial documents right after launching MormonLeaks, he knew the project would soon become the bane of the LDS Church. “I was shocked. I never really imagined we would get that kind of documentation so early on,” McKnight said. “My heart was racing thinking about the implications of publishing that.”

...
Scott K. Fausett joined the Mormon Leaks team next, becoming the vice president. Fausett is still a member of the Church and hopes the leaks will encourage senior leaders to be more transparent. As a gay man with three children, he was especially disheartened by the leaked policy change regarding children of same-sex parents. Fausett recalls his bishop and stake president (local leader) telling him when he was a child that he could be cured from his homosexuality so long as he went on a mission, married a woman in the temple, and had children. Fausett has since realized that was bad advice and is no longer married. He wants his children to grow up in a more accepting, healthier Church than the one that raised him. “We are not out to destroy the Church. We are out to create a more open environment,” Fausett said. “We’re also not encouraging people to do anything illegal. We’re not asking them to break into filing cabinets. We’re just providing an avenue for people who may already have information to share.”

[Heddi]

1. MormonLeaks reposts LDS Church apostasy presentation, challenges faiths claim of copyright violatio

http://www.sltrib.com/news/lds/5056058-155/mormonleaks-reposts-lds-church-apostasy-presentation

The MormonLeaks website on Tuesday reposted a PowerPoint LDS Church presentation dealing with the roots of apostasy, such as pornography, campaigns to ordain women, challenges to church history and general "lack of righteousness."

The site, which has generated past headlines by posting restricted church papers on topics ranging from the salaries of Mormon apostles to rules governing calls home by missionaries in the field, had taken down the presentation after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints threatened legal action March 1.

Based on a copyright violation claim, it was the first time that the faith had turned to its attorneys to challenge MormonLeaks' revelations in the four months the site has been up.

[Lordquinton]

2. Burn it all to the ground

The grand museum of Rome sounds good.