Lots of little interesting things going on in Zion, so here we go:
*The director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Craig Jessop, abruptly resigned yesterday, leaving few answers and a LOT OF QUESTIONS.
This much is clear: Rather than conducting the choir’s rehearsal Tuesday, the 58-year-old Jessop arrived around 9 p.m. and read a short letter that said he was “at a major crossroads of life.” He said he intended to “keep active in the musical world, including teaching” and to spend more time with his wife, RaNae, their children and grandchildren. He then walked out, leaving the choir in stunned silence.
Man knows how to make an exit! I wish I’d been there to see the entire MoTab choir in stunned silence.
This is VERY interesting, coming as it did on the heels of another “resignation,” that of musician Peter Danzig, who, along with his wife Mary, resigned his LDS Church membership just last week. Danzig was basically forced out, after he wrote in support of fired BYU Professor Jeffery Nielson.
But in 2006, Danzig finally felt compelled to protest. BYU adjunct professor Jeffrey Nielsen lost his job for arguing in a The Salt Lake Tribune column that the LDS Church was wrong to oppose gay marriage and to enlist Mormon support for a constitutional amendment against it.
The dismissal appalled Danzig, who had explored the questions of homosexuality while pursuing a graduate degree in clinical social work.
“I wish to express to Jeffery Nielson that I admire his courage and that I stand with him,” Danzig wrote in a letter The Tribune published on June 14, 2006. “I was troubled that my church requested I violate my own conscience to write in support of an amendment I feel is contrary to the constitution and to the gospel of Christ.”
Soon after that, Danzig found himself counseled.
Within a week, LDS officials contacted Danzig with concerns about the letter. They suspended him from the orchestra and for the next year, he and, ultimately his wife, defended their loyalty, faith and actions. No amount of persuasion or pleading could convince these ecclesiastical leaders they meant well.
Danzig, like others before him, eventually resigned, before he could be excommunicated. Now, with LDS General Conference just weeks away, and just a few weeks after a new LDS Church President was appointed, Jessop’s “resignation” is VERY interesting.
See, it wasn’t noted as a retirement. Nor was there any “discussion” about it beforehand. He read a prepared statement. It is called a “resignation.” He is not “stepping down,” or “accepting another calling.”
Something is going on here. I have no PROOF the two are linked, but the timing is interesting….
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The Utah Bar Association is stepping in to say that Senator Chris Buttboy tried to to improperly influence a judge. Ya THINK?
“The leadership of the Utah State Bar is deeply concerned that communications such as Senator Buttars’ letter represent more than simple expressions of disappointment and are more appropriately characterized as attempts to improperly influence a judge’s decisions based on politics,” wrote V. Lowry Snow in an opinion piece that will appear in Thursday’s Tribune.
After a few high-profile, low-mentality weeks, Buttboy has literally disappeared. I like to imagine him tied up in the basement of the Church Office Building, duct tape over his mouth. But I’m sure that’s not the truth.
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In an appalling turn, the family of murderer David Ragsdale, who brutally murdered his wife in an LDS Church parking lot, claims a nurse gave him a dangerous combination of mood-altering drugs. They also intend to sue the nurse.
Nice. THis is CLEARLY a case of “blame the victim,” and Ragsdale’s family should be ASHAMED of their horrible actions and words. Ragsdale is a MURDERER.
“Myself along with many others believe that my brother David Ragsdale is innocent and was not conscious when this tragic act was committed,” sister Tamara Ragsdale told the press after a scheduled hearing in 4th District Court. She described her brother as a victim of an overly drug-dependent culture.
She went on to say:
Tamara Ragsdale said Kristy Ragsdale, who prosecutors say was shot 12 times by her husband as she was walking into a church service, “pressured him into going in to this nurse practitioner and putting his faith and trust in her.”
Tamara Ragsdale? You make me physically ill. You should be ashamed of yourself.
David Ragsdale is “waking up to the horror of this reality” as he comes off his medications, Tamara Ragsdale told reporters. She read a statement she said her brother had given her during a jail visit.
“Words cannot describe how incredibly sorry I am for the death of my wife Kristy,” read the statement. “I want the Palizzi family [Kristy Ragsdale’s family] and everyone to know I would do anything to bring her back, even if it meant giving up my own life.”
Johnson said the prosecution hopes to avoid having Kristy Ragsdale’s mother, who watched her daughter’s shooting, testify at trial. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether they will pursue the death penalty.
Gag.
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And in one of the bright spots, Buttboy’s idiotic meanderings failed, and the domestic registry bill passed–provided they don’t call it a domestic partner registry. Apparently, the term domestic partner dredges up images Utahns would rather not have. Yeah, whatever. It’s a step in the right direction.
So there you have it, a round up of life Behind the Zion Curtain….
