In psychology, projection is
where one "projects" their failings onto someone else. A prime
example of this comes from Matthew A. Paulson in his assessment of LDS
scholarship and "Mormonism," all of which fits rather perfectly his
failings as a researcher:
In my research, Mormon scholars have abused
the early Christian Fathers and contemporary Christian scholarship to support
their doctrines . . . Certainly, LDS scholarship has distorted Christian
history, selectively cited the Christian Church Fathers, committed numerous
logical fallacies, equivocated theological words and in some instances impugned
the character of certain Christian evangelical writers by name calling . . . There
are certain descriptions which apply to the evidence and history of Mormonism.
The reader will have to make up his or her own mind on what words are
appropriate and which ones are not. Here is a list of words that might apply to
the research of Mormon theology and history: enhancement, aggrandizement,
embellishment, clumsiness, exaggeration, redaction, distortion, defraud,
over-generalization, heresy, lie, cheat, fraud, and cult. within this range of
words lies the appropriate assessment of Mormon theology. (Matthew
A. Paulson, Breaking the Mormon Code: A
Critique of Mormon Scholarship Regarding Classic Christian Theology and the
Book of Mormon [Livermore, Calif.: WingSpan Press, 2006, 2009], 272, 273)
To see why
Paulson is engaging in projection, see:
Listing of articles responding to "Breaking the Mormon Code"
