RFM on the LDS Church protecting child abusers

[Kishkumen]

https://youtu.be/WLP7ifEJFV0?si=KycFltBWHhiTQW1Z

This is something you really have to watch. When I first heard this story, it rocked me to the core. I thought of Sam Young, that good man who put his membership on the line and lost it to try to get the LDS Church to put the safety of kids first.

In my opinion, the LDS Church really does not put kids first, or families.

The LDS Church puts the LDS Church first. First in making and amassing money for itself. First in managing its vast financial empire and endless tracts of real estate. First in cutting costs to have even more money. First in trimming as much overhead, including employees, so that they save some money here and there to invest in Ensign Peak or more real estate. First in making sure that it is not held liable for contributing to the suffering of innocent children whom it could have saved.

There is nothing particularly Christian about that. At all.

The reason I do not go to church has nothing to do with not believing in the Book of Mormon or that Joseph Smith was a prophet. It has nothing to do with disbelieving that the priesthood was restored. The reason I do not go to church is that I can't square what the LDS Church does with what it claims to be.

RFM confronts us with one deeply horrific example of the kind of thing that keeps me out of the pews. I think we all need deal breakers. We all need to realize that, while the hand of Deity is active in the world, it is certainly possible for those who claim to act in Deity's name to take some catastrophically wrong turns on the highway to the heaven. Sometimes they can even turn around and go in the opposite direction.

By their fruits ye shall know them. By their billions in investments ye shall know them. By the poor who are denied financial assistance ye shall know them. By the kids who are told that their identity is a sin and are driven to despair and suicide ye shall know them. By the millions spent in cash and thousands of hours of member effort to deny others their civil rights in our republic ye shall know them. By the crackpot doomsday conspiracy theorists who kill their family members ye shall know them. By the children who suffer years of sexual abuse of the most heinous kind while church-hired lawyers stand by and counsel against reporting the perpetrators ye shall know them.

There is also a long list of good fruits that we know them by. But, here's the thing: they work really hard to make sure we don't associate all their fruits with them. Without RFM and the many other fine people talking about these things in public, those who are considering joining the LDS Church or staying therein would not know that there are bad fruits. They might even be taught that the bad fruits aren't really bad or aren't really fruits but just legal technicalities or the price of business. They might assume there is nothing to be concerned about, that all is well in Zion. Yea, Zion prospereth in stocks and real estate and righteousness.

[Res Ipsa]

Here's the AP article that RFM refers to in the podcast. https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/lo ... 522237007/

[ETA: edited to include correct link]

[Boomer57]

Without a doubt one of the most heinous miscarriages of justice I have seen. And the Church is 'pleased' - PLEASED with the result. I can't even....

[Kishkumen]

Here's the AP article that RFM refers to in the podcast. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/11 ... withdrawal

I think the link is to another article, RI.

[Res Ipsa]

Here's the AP article that RFM refers to in the podcast. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/11 ... withdrawal

I think the link is to another article, RI.

Thanks, Reverend. I've fixed it.

[Fifth Columnist]

It would be nice if RFM's podcast feed was updated soon after his YouTube content. I've noticed some things he posts on YouTube haven't appeared at all in the podcast feed (i.e., the discussion of the second bar complaint). As a podcast listener, I'm feeling like a second class citizen.

[Rivendale]

It would be nice if RFM's podcast feed was updated soon after his YouTube content. I've noticed some things he posts on YouTube haven't appeared at all in the podcast feed (i.e., the discussion of the second bar complaint). As a podcast listener, I'm feeling like a second class citizen.

Agree. I actually had to message Bill and ask him to post it. Probably pedantic since it is free.

[Kishkumen]

It would be nice if RFM's podcast feed was updated soon after his YouTube content. I've noticed some things he posts on YouTube haven't appeared at all in the podcast feed (i.e., the discussion of the second bar complaint). As a podcast listener, I'm feeling like a second class citizen.

Yeah, I confess that I went looking for this in my iOS podcast feed, and it was not there.

[MG 2.0]

Here is the timeline of events according to the LDS Church:

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.or ... abuse-case

and an article in the Deseret News:

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2022/8/17 ... Mormon-lds

The information outlined may have contributed to the Arizona court dismissing the case.

Regards,
MG

[Kishkumen]

Here is the timeline of events according to the LDS Church:

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.or ... abuse-case

and an article in the Deseret News:

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2022/8/17 ... Mormon-lds

The information outlined may have contributed to the Arizona court dismissing the case.

Regards,
MG

The question is not why the Arizona court did what it did. The question is why Kirton-McConkie allegedly told bishops not to report cases of heinous child abuse when it was in the bishops’ rights to do so. Spare the Church and destroy the child. I don’t remember that proverb, but it would seem it is in some LDS editions.