This is a member of the Area Presidency speaking...
I asked President- if he knew the age of Sister - when she lived in his home. He said he did not know but thought she might have been around 14. She was in fact 13. I bring this up because in sometimes we find that men believe that young women 14 and older are no longer considered children and can participate in sexual relations, though that certainly is not the law.
The Area President is finding that Mormon men in his area believe that young women aged 14 can participate in sexual relations. Those 14 year old girls will be interviewed one-on-one and explicitly questioned about sexual matters by adult males.
“When we are confronted with evidence that challenges our deeply held beliefs we are more likely to reframe the evidence than we are to alter our beliefs. We simply invent new reasons, new justifications, new explanations. Sometimes we ignore the evidence altogether.” (Mathew Syed 'Black Box Thinking')
Toward the end of the email, the area president wrote that he and the first counselor were left with a “feeling of doubt that he [the accused] was being completely honest. To restate, I cannot say whether he did or did not do what was alleged, but I can state that he seemed guarded, closed, and not completely forthcoming.”
According to Uchtdorf, the Area Presidency should be first, doubting their doubts...
“When we are confronted with evidence that challenges our deeply held beliefs we are more likely to reframe the evidence than we are to alter our beliefs. We simply invent new reasons, new justifications, new explanations. Sometimes we ignore the evidence altogether.” (Mathew Syed 'Black Box Thinking')
boris wrote:In what part of the United States do men have the idea that sexual activity with a 14 year girl is ok?
clearly the problem is the culture of that redacted location.
Agreed. Culture is the problem. Religion can also be a culture. So maybe this happened in Utah where the religion has created a culture of sexual predators. You might be onto something Boris.