First the Good News
A new message from a friend. The following happened in a Mormon chapel.
Recently, a family member’s daughter went in for a bishop’s interview. She told the boy who was waiting to go in, that he could go first because she was waiting for her Mom to go in with her. He said, “Don’t worry, I’m waiting here for my Mom too.” The culture is changing and you had a lot to do with that. What a great mark to leave.
On the front lines there are good parents whose eyes are being opened. They are not waiting for the Church. Instead they are taking the safety of their children into their own hands and not allowing one-on-one interviews.
By the way, this is no longer MY mark. This is a mark that WE are leaving.
***Trigger Warning***
***Graphic Sexual Question***
***Psychological Sex Abuse of a Child***
Depravity
Today I spoke with a delightful couple in their early 30’s. Both had left the Church in the past year. When the husband heard about Protect LDS Children he was immediately interested in our cause. His childhood bishop interviews still haunt him.
In his first interview this bishop asked if he masturbated. The boy didn’t know what it meant. The bishop described it in lurid detail. In subsequent meetings the questions about masturbation became increasingly explicit.
And then he shared the coup de gras. At some point the bishop probed with the following query:
Have you ever tasted your own ejaculate?
WHAT THE HELL!!!! Mormons, can’t you see how horrendous this is? The question itself is shame inducing and way beyond the extreme boundary of propriety . What do you suppose a child is thinking, all alone behind a closed door with an older man? And then to be asked…HAVE YOU EVER TASTED YOUR EJACULATE???
Yes I’M SHOUTING. THIS.IS.CHILD.ABUSE. And yet, it’s totally acceptable in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You, my Mormon friends, should be ashamed that the so called apostles of Jesus Christ allow pornographic probing of children. It does all kinds of damage. At this point, I’m glad to have been excommunicated. I am ashamed of what your Church permits to be done to its young ones.
This depraved question has been added to the 29 Questions permissible in the Mormon Church and yet are revolting to the rest of the world.
Protect Every Child
We’re moving forward, putting things in place for big actions this summer.
- We have pivoted to protecting all children regardless of religious affiliation.
- The NEW petition is up. Please sign and share. This is very important.
- The NEW website has just been published. I’ll post an article soon discussing it in more detail. Although several pages are still under construction, it contains valuable information.
- Flags are now available for purchase. I hope you are planning to plant a banner on a mountain peak, a hill top or at the end of a driveway. Of course, homemade flags are totally acceptable.
- Soon we’ll start reaching out to other youth serving organizations for support and endorsement.
- We will also be inviting therapists, psychologists, and other professionals to endorse and join our movement.
For a fuller discussion of Protect Every Child click HERE.
Tocubit Is Invisible's Cubit 
Never give up Sam!! we’re counting on you!!we mourn with those that mourn.
LikeLiked by 2 people
What are you doing is good. Making parents aware and responsible is the most important thing. However, you have opened the door for people to say anything they want to and not be able to test their honesty. This latest letter is a prime example. It is , in my humble opinion, a crock of crap. People can say or make up anything for shock value. This was one of those posts. And people write this crap to you knowing that no one can verify its truthfulness. And you, being so devout in your protection of the children, believe that this abuse is happening all the time and is a major problem. You believe it all and I know that people make things up for shock value. I am not saying it has never happened, but it hasn’t happened to the exception you seem to accept.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So what would you have me do? This story did not come to me in written form. I personally met with this couple for 2 hours last night.
There are bishops who have raped children and went to prison. There are stake presidents who have molested children and went to prison. Last December, a sitting bishop was arrested for fondling boys in his ward. In February, a sitting bishop was arrested in a human trafficking sting. Knowing all that, is it so hard to believe that there could be a voyeuristic bishop perverted enough to ask disgusting questions like this?
Should I have looked this man in the eye and said, “You’re a liar. Bishops have been arrested for much worse. But no way would one ever ask a question like that.”
You realize that the church has set NO boundaries in questions bishops can ask. I believe this couple. However, even if they are not telling the truth, I am going to shout from the tops of the mountains that the very possibility must be eliminated. If bishops take children behind closed doors with no restrictions on their interrogations, I’m going to believe the child EVERY time. If the bishop wants to be believed over the child, then he should protect himself by having a parent in the room. The solution is so simple: No one-on-one interviews. No sexual questions.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My friend,
You have no idea if it’s a load of crap or not! That’s just your opinion. I have personal experience with some of the most outrageous immoral questions a bishop could ask, so I don’t doubt the young man’s story. Too many people have experienced sexual abuse, just like this young man discribes, to doubt he’s telling the truth. It’s time to stop the abuse!
LikeLiked by 2 people
You claim to be for protecting all children but continue to make claims against one Church. What about the thousands that recently came out from the Catholic church? What about recent charges against high school teachers? You continue to show the true color of your cause. You have alienated almost all of the active members that were in support at the beginning.
And then there is the time you used children as metaphors for adult misbehavior on redditt…
LikeLike
The post is about a devastating and pornographic question posed to a child. Yet you show no concern. You point the finger outwards and disregard what is happening in your own church.
LikeLike
A herbologist is a trained scientist, trained most generally first as a biologist during finals under head, however when publishing focuses almost exclusively in that which deals with plant.
Sam advocating for the children of the Mormon cult does not de facto make him blind to the faults of others, nor does it mean he feels less passionate about the crimes committed by other evil beings.
We write about what we know. To champion Aides does not infer the shunning of other autoimmune disorders. Blaming the Mormon priesthood does not absolve or minimize any other group. The fact that you feel Sam championing one specific cause speaks volumes, not to his failings, but to the lengths you’re willing to go to defend the deviant for the sake of your own personal opinion.
I’ve yet to read a single post by Sam claiming the innocence of any know abuser, singular or lone, so don’t try to paint him as a vindictive zealot when it is you who is justifying the abuse of many.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sam, if someone is so deviant as to ask the sort of questions you have brought up, what makes you think that those questions will stop when the leadership says they can’t ask sexual questions. People young and old are going to lie. They aren’t going to stop just because the leadership hasn’t told them not. We have to start using common sense and parents are going to have to stop allowing the Church to raise their children . The remedy for this is simple. And those who have had their children violated in a physical way, need to start naming names, giving dates, and giving the names of those Church and law enforcement leaders they have talked to. To those who this happened to years ago, and that perpetrator is still alive, people should know. There are plenty of media outlets that would gladly print their names. By remaking quiet , these Bishops are being given permission to do it to others. When I found out that my two daughters had been asked inappropriate questions, I emailed that former Bishop and told him that I knew what happened and would notify his new Stake President and if he was ever put in a position of authority again, I would let them know.wasnt it Joseph Smith who said we need not be commanded in all things. We need to, as parents and the victims, speak up.
LikeLike
Good job. Speak up? That’s exactly what I’m doing. Until 2 years ago, I had no idea any of this was going on. I’m speaking loudly so that other parents are warned and can take appropriate action to protect their children within the walls of their own ward buildings.
LikeLike
Let’s be honest Sam. You started this crusade by attacking the church leadership. It was a good 6 months to a year before you brought up parental responsibility and speaking up. You were asking for examples of deviant behavior so that you could present it to the Church leadership that you were accusing of child abuse for not making the changes you thought were necessary. When the policy was changed to include parental inclusion in interviews and telling Bishops to stick to the temple worthy questions, you changed your crusade to exclude all interviews. There needs to be some interview process for attendance in the Temple. The youth do a vital job in the Temple baptistery and need to be worthy to be there.
LikeLike
Let’s be honest. Where have I changed my crusade to include ALL interviews? Let’s be honest, my crusade has been to establish protection policies regarding CHILDREN’S WORTHINESS interviews in the Mormon Church.
I have expanded the crusade to protect every child regardless of religion. Fortunately, other churches do not have the unsafe and unhealthy institutional practice of taking children behind closed doors and probing them about sex. But, they have other problems that are also extant in the Mormon Church.
Let’s me honest, I am not calling for end of interviews with children. Just the end of one-on-one interviews and the end of sex questions.
The church has pulled a fast one on you and it worked. Shocking that of all people you are so gullible:
“When the policy was changed to include parental inclusion in interviews.”
You are wrong. The policy was only changed to allow the CHILD to ask for a second person in the room. There is NO REQUIREMENT that the parents even be notified the interview is going to happen.
“Telling Bishops to stick to the temple worthy questions.” You are wrong. They were specifically told to ask about chastity (which is a sex question). Then told that they could use the pamphlet ‘For the Strength of Youth’ as a guide to further probe the child regarding sex. This is no change whatsoever from existing practice or policy.
In effect there has been no change made to eliminate one-on-one or any explicit sex questions. They both continue to happen all over the place.
If you want to be honest, look at the actual policy change that the church has made. The actual wording. You will find that it would not have prevented the questions that either my or your children were asked all alone behind closed doors.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not sure why you continue to follow Sam’s blog as for the most part you disagree with his efforts. There is so much more the church can do pertaining to child interviews. You stand behind the minimal effort the church made last year to allow parents to participate in interviews. You ignore the fact that it’s only if the child asks for the parent to be present, and fail to acknowledge it should be REQUIRED. You stand behind the idea that it doesn’t happen all the time. So in your mind, it’s ok that it happens as long as it’s not frequent. If it were your child, would one time be too many, or would you accept that the law of averages did not work in your favor? If temple worthiness requires such an extensive interview, lets propose the age for youth baptisms be raised to 18 so children (we’re talking 11 yrs old now) don’t have to be subjected to interviews. If children are going to participate, the only question should be do you feel worthy to go to the temple (with a parent present). If the answer is No, the bishop should instruct the parent to work with the child to find out why. You don’t seem to comprehend the shame that comes with being asked questions of a sexual nature by a stranger, or family friend. The child is put in the position of feeling shame for telling the truth of any indiscretion; or not tell the truth and feel guilt for not being honest. It’s a no win situation. There is not a time limit on repentance, so if a sin needs to be confessed, it can wait till the child is 18 and more mature. Even then, it should come as a desire of the individual to repent, and not from probing questions by an authority figure trying to dig up details. Would Jesus have asked for details about one’s sins, or did he not say to go and sin no more? This should be the approach taken by the church. I’m in my 50’s and I can personally tell you that I carried a lot of shame and guilt for far too long because of interview questions that started in my teens, and were still asked of me in my 50’s. The church needs to stop with it’s obsession with questions of a sexual nature whether young, old, single, married, gay, or other.
LikeLiked by 2 people