Secret Recordings of BYU Religious Education Faculty

Last updated on: November 17, 2014 at 10:51 pm by William Hamblin

Secret Recordings of BYU Religious Education Faculty 2014-11-17T22:51:15-07:00 William Hamblin

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The local media has finally gotten wind of the open secret that some classrooms in Religious Education have been secretly bugged with voice activated recorders. See media reports here:

Deseret News

KSL

SL Tribune

The story may go national. Tonight I received a phonecall from a CNN reporter asking for a comment on the story; I laughed and said I had nothing to say.

The BYU police are quoted as saying: “We have no idea who put that [digital voice activated recorder] there. Why they were doing it, it’s a mystery to us. We can’t see any purpose.”

Perhaps the BYU should hire me as a consultant. I can think of a number of possible motives and suspects. (And my private investigative consultation fees are quite reasonable: $25 dollars a day plus expenses, just like Philip Marlowe.) Here’s a couple of suggestions.

The first question of any investigation, as the great Roman legalist and philosopher Cicero reminds us, is: cui bono–“to whose benefit”? Who would have motive, means, and opportunity to bug several different Religious Education classrooms, apparently over a lengthy period of time?

A second investigation that should be undertaken is: find the names of all the teachers using each of the classrooms that were bugged, and see if there is any correlation of names–especially if the name of one particular teacher is found to have used each of the bugged rooms. That might indicate the target of the bugging.

Third, get the serial numbers off the recorders, and found out who purchased them.

Previous Post

November 13, 2014

Recording my classes

Next Post

December 2, 2014 Exactly

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Ancient Studies Atheism Bible bibliography Book of Abraham Book of Mormon Book of Moses Christianity Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Deseret News Column Doctrine and Covenants Documentary Hypothesis Genesis Haram al-Sharif Historicity History Islam Israelite Religion Judaism LDS Mormon Studies Mormonism Mormons Movies Noah Penteteuch Photography Religion Temple Temple Mount Temples Third Temple Movements Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 October 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did the high priest wear on his chest as a symbol of the twelve tribes?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Cloak Breastplate Headband Ring