DiscussMormonism.com

Mormon bishop charged with failing to report abuse

Clearly, Mormon leaders are inspired guys, huh? And obviously, this shows the church makes for a better life...

*sigh*

An incident does not equate to a pattern.

If there were a pattern of bishops not reporting abuse, then I'd agree with you.

I'm not sure it's fair to cast a negative light on the entire LDS church because of the actions of one rogue bishop.

Scottie wrote:An incident does not equate to a pattern.

If there were a pattern of bishops not reporting abuse, then I'd agree with you.

I'm not sure it's fair to cast a negative light on the entire LDS church because of the actions of one rogue bishop.

I'm not sure it is either.

But this isn't the first time I've heard of this sort of thing. The idea of a church handling the transgressions of their members or keeping things "in-house" is not new.

The problem here is that religious thinking often regards itself as above the law (after all, it's god's law, not man's) and not subject to it. Would we have the problem with the RCC and child abuse were it not for this phenomenon?

I know not all bishops would behave this way. It's the fact that even one would under religious pretense that makes this problematic.

And all of this is leaving aside the dubious nature of young girls confiding in middle-aged men things about their sex lives in the first place.

The sad thing is that this sort of thing can be quickly and easily corrected: Have one of the FP/Q12 stand up in general conference and state that if one has been abused, then one needs to go to the police, not to one's bishop.

Scottie wrote:An incident does not equate to a pattern.

If there were a pattern of bishops not reporting abuse, then I'd agree with you.

I'm not sure it's fair to cast a negative light on the entire LDS church because of the actions of one rogue bishop.

Two words:

Glenn Pace.

Here's a link to an article on this topic. It's a legal analysis, not social analysis. However, the author does predict a trajectory similar to what the Catholic church has gone through in the last couple of decades.

http://mormonmatters.org/2009/09/23/the ... e-scandal/

Dr. Shades wrote:The sad thing is that this sort of thing can be quickly and easily corrected: Have one of the FP/Q12 stand up in general conference and state that if one has been abused, then one needs to go to the police, not to one's bishop.

Amen, Shades!

Investigators say that about a month ago the girl disclosed the assault to Moon, who counseled her not to report the incident to police, Duchesne County sheriff's Det. Dan Bruso said.
The victim's parents, who had encouraged their daughter to seek support from her church leader, then contacted police, Bruso said.

The way it is written makes it sound like the parents sent the child to the bishop to get the bishop to report the assault. That's kind of messed up, if that's the case.