I haven't written here for a while because nothing has changed in the citation cartel of what passes for LDS scholarship. They still refuse to even inform LDS people that there are alternatives to the Mesoamerican theory of Book of Mormon geography, other than to criticize them.
While LDS scholars and educators do great work in their fields of specialty, when it comes to Church-related matters, they are no better or worse than "ordinary" members of the Church. If you're a member of the Church who studies the scriptures and the words of the modern prophets and apostles, there is no reason to defer to these scholars and educators.
In many cases, LDS scholars and educators seem more motivated to justify their long-held positions than to re-evaluate them. I hope that will change in the future. In the meantime, read what they say, write, and teach with a open, but skeptical, mind.
There's a lot to think about here: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/01/13/george-will-academia-may-now-be-beyond-satire/
