I'm amazed at all the howling about the Church trying to prevent the theft of its copyrighted Handbook of Instructions for Leaders. Critics are scowling about our use of a "secret" book - how insidious. Look, virtually every institution has confidential materials meant for leaders. Don't other churches have training materials and guidelines for their pastors and other leaders that are not meant for everyone to see? And if their critics have a knack for violating not just the principles of civility and basic ethics, but also the law in their theft and publication of someone else's materials without permission, should the victims just roll over or take action to protect their rights?

The Church's efforts to train its many unpaid leaders and maintain uniform standards and guidelines requires instructional materials for those leaders. There are numerous copies of these handbooks floating around in every Stake of the Church. I've read it and think it is a healthy, inspired document that demonstrates that the purpose of the Church is to bless the lives of its members. But details of decision making, use of welfare funds, guidelines on dealing with serious sin, etc., are simply not meant for general consumption.

The latest effort at publishing the LDS Handbook of Instructions doesn't seem motivated by religious bigotry, as it has been in previous attempts by anti-Mormons, but by profit seeking. "We're the good guys trying to expose the dread secrets of Mormonism, and now the Church is so scared that they are suing us! Come see youself and click on our revenue-generating ads." The Streisand effect kicks in here, with the (predictable) action of the Church leading to more publicity and traffic, but if you don't protect your rights, they will be violated by everybody.

As an aside, regarding previous publication efforts by well known anti-Mormons, I have to say that some antis have a disturbing track record of publishing other people's materials. So interesting that some of the voices who cry "plagiarism! plagiarism!" when trying to discount the Book of Mormon have a business model of illegally publishing the material of others.

Got to run - need to check my eBay bids for an authentic copy of the 1994 secret handbook of instructions for Southern Baptist ministers. And if any of you can lend me your copy of the secret handbook of instructions for the Red Cross, Planned Parenthood, or the Barack Obama Presidential Campaign, let me know.
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