Motion to Dismiss Denson Lawsuit Against Bishop, Church

[_boris]

One wonders, if the lawsuit is ultimately dismissed on SOL grounds, how many friends McKenna Denson will still have among those who’ve expressed or provided support thus far. Will she continue to be emblematic of church abuse, and thus remain in the public consciousness? Or will she fall back into obscurity inasmuch as she no longer represents a direct financial or public-relations threat to the church? Call me cynical, but I think one outcome is as likely as the other.

She will likely quickly be forgotten, if her case is entirely dismissed,as she no longer can serve a purpose to the mob.

My experience is that few have taken the tine to educate themselves on the facts of her case

[_moksha]

Anti-Mormons will never admit that McKenna Denson is lying.

Would you support building a statue in honor of Joseph Bishop at the MTC, or at least consider naming that basement corridor after him?

[_Philo Sofee]

Anti-Mormons will never admit that McKenna Denson is lying.

Would you support building a statue in honor of Joseph Bishop at the MTC, or at least consider naming that basement corridor after him?

Perhaps a Joseph Bishop Go Fund me account would help so that when the next temple is built it can be named after him... That would be a great way to honor a Priesthood holder wouldn't it? Or better yet, make an actual useful building like another $1,000,000,000 mall, but this one put in one of the third world developing countries to help them out economically. Create jobs, share the wealth, help the poor, you know, something Jesus might actually be in favor of.

[_esodije]

Is that what you think friendship is based on?

No, but I've known a helluva lot of people whose desire to be my "friend" was based on what they thought they could get from me. And once that perceived benefit didn't materialize, their feigned interest in me evanesced like the proverbial f*rt in the wind. I guarantee there are those who see Denson as a means to an end, and their interest in her will disappear just as quickly if the lawsuit goes away.

[_Lemmie]

Is that what you think friendship is based on?

No, but I've known a helluva lot of people whose desire to be my "friend" was based on what they thought they could get from me. And once that perceived benefit didn't materialize, their feigned interest in me evanesced like the proverbial f*rt in the wind. I guarantee there are those who see Denson as a means to an end, and their interest in her will disappear just as quickly if the lawsuit goes away.

So she is just like you, then? You find what you are looking for. I'm sorry your friendships are founded in narcissism.

Your continuing need to beat up on a victim of sexual assault so you can protect the offender is quite telling.

[_esodije]

Your continuing need to beat up on a victim of sexual assault so you can protect the offender is quite telling.

Thank you, Sigmund Freud, for the fine ad hom! This isn’t about her—it’s about people like you whose only real interest in her is the damage or embarrassment she can cause the church.

[_Lemmie]

Your continuing need to beat up on a victim of sexual assault so you can protect the offender is quite telling.

Thank you, Sigmund Freud, for the fine ad hom! This isn’t about her—it’s about people like you whose only real interest in her is the damage or embarrassment she can cause the church.

No, this thread is about the Bishop case, the ad hominem is yours:
"ad hominem: a reaction directed against a person rather than the position they are maintaining."

You have made your position obvious by posting multiple times, attacking with innuendo or assumptions every aspect of the victim, without commenting on the case. You are projecting, it's obvious your "only real interest in her" is your fear that her case will cause damage and embarrassment to the lds church.

[_esodije]

You have made your position obvious by posting multiple times, attacking with innuendo or assumptions every aspect of the victim, without commenting on the case. You are projecting, it's obvious your "only real interest in her" is your fear that her case will cause damage and embarrassment to the LDS church.

You want to hear about the case? One, I don’t think any of the esoteric “SOL tolling” arguments is going to fly, so there won’t be a case for much longer. Two, despite my incredulity based on the sheer improbability of the allegations, I must admit there are corroborative details: (1) Denson’s knowledge of (apparently true) aspects of Bishop’s sex life with his wife; (2) confirmation that the MTC president had an auxiliary office in a weird place; (3) Bishop’s own confession to being a “sex addict” (whatever he thought that meant) and the fact that multiple other women have said they had abusive encounters with Bishop; (4) Bishop’s statement that confessed something of a personal nature to Robert E. Wells in ~1979 in Argentina, but that Bishop was not consequently released as mission president; and (5) the memory of an MTC teacher (M. Russell Ballard’s daughter, no less) that Denson was called out of class on multiple occasions (though she didn’t know by whom or for what purpose).

If you’re trying to prove a rape or a conspiracy to cover it up, however, that’s pretty thin gruel. We’ve all known church leaders who’ve committed excommunicable sins, and maybe Bishop falls in that category; if so, may he suffer appropriate consequences.

By the way, cut off that disgusting wart, will you?

[_Lemmie]

Your last sentence? Now that's an ad hominem. Sounds just like one of those St. John's boys, as my great-grandma in Snowflake would say

[_MsJack]

This isn’t about her—it’s about people like you whose only real interest in her is the damage or embarrassment she can cause the church.

I can't speak for others, but I'm not interested in seeing the LDS church damaged or embarrassed. I'd like nothing more than to see it respond to sexual abuse appropriately with empathy on a consistent basis (and I think the vast majority of churches tend to be bad at this). I read The Wartburg Watch (a blog that calls out evangelical churches for failing to respond appropriately to sexual abuse) regularly and have tracked ecclesiastical abuse cases for years with great interest. I've especially been interested these past 8 months as the #MeToo / #ChurchToo movement has been changing the game.

I've also suffered from the fallout of ecclesiastical sexual harassment / abuse in that I attended Willow Creek as a secondary church home for four years, and stopped attending this year over the Bill Hybels scandal (read Scot McKnight's mic-drop post here). They had an excellent special needs ministry and I'm very sad that I haven't been able to return to them, but it would make me a hypocrite if I tolerated sexual harassment / abuse in my own backyard while criticizing it everywhere else.

What makes the McKenna Denson case interesting is one part the sensationalism of an MTC rape room and one part the relatively high position that Joseph Bishop held in the church. As I've said from the beginning though: I fully expect the case to be dismissed.