FBI taps Mormon for post

Washington Times ^ | July 11, 2001 | Jeery Seper

[hchutch]

The FBI, in the midst of a massive reorganization in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, yesterday hired the top information and communications official of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as its new chief information officer.

[habaes corpussel]

"If I understand your comment correctly, then you oppose all charitable work done by religions, schools run by religions or anything not directly related to assembling and preaching beliefs?"

Wrong! I oppose any and all charitable work done by any Church to enhance "operational" skills of law enforcement or intelligence agencies. If the Mormons or any Church wants to donate a database let them donate it to humanitarian agency or organization. Not the FBI!

[Free the USA]

Index Bump

[Grig]

What special access? You think we hid some kind of back door entrance so we can hack into the FBI later on or something? What we are talking about it giving the FBI some software we developed so they can alter it to suit their needs instead of having to start from scratch.

It will be on their computers, not ours, no data shared either way and full public disclosure of the gift. We would have no more special access than if Microsoft or Oracle donated software, and it doesn't make the church a part of the FBI or involved in their work, that is just silly.

[Grig]

"What does this have to do with religion anyway?"

http://library.lds.org/library/lpext.dll?f=id&id=tchg-pix.nfo%3Ar%3A2856&cid=tchg-pix.nfo&t=document-frame.htm&an=JD_31110.040&2.0#JD_31110.040

[Grig]

"lets not mention that this data helped the
Mormon Church to perfect a database that it uses in other endeavors."

Make up your mind, on one hand you say we have no business gathering it, then you gripe about how we put the information to religous use.

[weikel]

Good the FBI has been run by Opus Dei for too long. And yes this is not tinfoil stuff traitor Freeh and traitor Hanssen were both members of Opus Dei.

[Grig]

"That includes donating a database."

An information system is NOT a database full of data, it is an application that is designed to store and process data, it is algorithms and computer code. We have a system that can effectivly store, sort and process large volumes of data about people. The FBI will that that, alter what kind of data about people it is desined to store (I doubt that the FBI wants to track the baptismal dates of anyone), and fill it with their own information. There is no more threat to anyone's privacy than if Oracle donated it's software, or IBM, or Microsoft. NO DATA IS BEING EXCHANGED.

[Illbay]

The fact is a Church, any Church that includes the Catholic Church has no business in the law enforcement or intelligence arena's. PERIOD!

And this is based on precisely what reference in the Constitution or the U.S. Code?

[Illbay]

I have gone out of my way to be fair.

Sorry, but I don't consider a statement like "so-called religious organization" to support your contention that you're fair about this.

[Illbay]

I am not a software guy, but I do know that the later-generation software development languages/tools allow fast adaptation from one application to another with similar requirements. This used to be called Object-Oriented Programming, but I don't know enough about the lingo to know if that's current.

[CaliforniaOkie]

I have a huge problem when any religious organization starts doing something like this with any Federal Law Enforcement or Intelligence Agency.

Yes, I agree you have a huge problem.

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

Additionally the Mormon influence on Capitol Hill is also known in many regards.

As is the Catholic, Jewish, Baptist, Atheist, tree-huggers, etc.

The point is, so what?

[philman_36]

We do it for our own religious purposes, yes, but no favors have been given.
It must be a "pick and choose" thing.

1 Tim 1:4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.
Tit 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

[habaes corpussel]

I am not going to argue with you any further. It is this simple. No Church should allow any system they have designed for the collection of data on people, especially when that database was designed to extract data on people outside a specific organization no matter how good it is, to be used for or by law enforcement and or intelligence agencies for the purposes of collecting data on people. If any Church or Religious Organization does this they're religious status should be revoked. This includes the Mormons, The Catholics, The Protestants, The Jews or any other Religious Organization.

Sorry we will have to agree to disagree.

[habaes corpussel]

" The point is, so what?"

The point is that most of the other religions focus their influence just on that Religion. When was the last time someone from the USCC was apointed to the FBI Executive Branch?

[Grig]

"I am not going to argue with you any further."

Darn, it was so entertaining.

"No Church should allow any system they have designed for the collection of data on people..."

It isn't some kind of robot that goes around collecting information. It STORES information but does not collect it. The FBI will have to collect their own information their own way no matter where it is stored.

[habaes corpussel]

"And this is based on precisely what reference in the Constitution or the U.S. Code?"

Exactly your problem. Most Churches answer to a higher authority. Like the Holy Bible. They do not seek out solutions with any one Countries Constutition.

[habaes corpussel]

"It isn't some kind of robot that goes around collecting information. It STORES information but does not collect it. The FBI will have to collect their own information their own way no matter where it is stored."

It was designed to collect information on people who have nothing to do with the Mormon Religion. I have a problem with that. There are enough databases out there collecting information on all sorts of people. Keep it to yourselves or design them to sort out people who belong or wish to belong to the Mormon Church.

[philman_36]

Mr. Mueller said Mr. John brings a "demonstrated capability to achieve broad-based results in an area critical to the FBI's success, particularly at a time when the bureau is modernizing its information technologies and undergoing unprecedented change in its investigative mission and priorities."
A demonstrated capability to achieve broad-based results.
It STORES information but does not collect it.
What are "broad-based" results? Going beyond a narrowly defined base, such as tracing ancestry?

Spin wordsmithing double plus good.

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

The point is that most of the other religions focus their influence just on that Religion. When was the last time someone from the USCC was apointed to the FBI Executive Branch?

When was the last time that you heard someone high within the Mormon hierarchy make a political statement?  Jews, Baptists, and Catholic Bishops do it all the time.  Maybe they mentioned this guys religion because it is a novelty.