Hello again, everyone! As I have mentioned in previous posts and comments on this blog, one of the signs leading up to the Second Coming of the Savior is that both good and evil would be spoken of about both the Church and its' leaders, and that some of that might involve at times Church leaders being accused of misconduct that is unverified by investigations. We saw that several years ago, when former Church member Tom Phillips filed a lawsuit in a British court against President Thomas S. Monson, alleging fraudulent conduct. That lawsuit was later dismissed as groundless.
Well, apparently, it is happening again. An unnamed party has filed a lawsuit against a "John and Jane Doe", who have been identified by their attorney as one of current Church President Nelson's daughter and son-in-law, in which allegations of child abuse dating back from the 1980s resurfaced, along with an allegation that the leaders of the Church both interfered with the investigation of those allegations and attempted to cover them up.
The Deseret News has shared the details of those allegations, what was done to investigate them, and how those involved in the process of investigating the claims have categorically denied that Church leaders did anything to interfere with or cover up the allegations. In the meantime, since the media asked the Church to comment on this issue, the Church released an official statement earlier today.
But there are several real problems I have with this issue: it appears that the therapist who counseled the children involved in the alleged abuse has been verified to be someone who has previously planted "false memories" in the minds of those she counseled. Additionally, a polygraph test was done on all those who were accused of such conduct, with the result that all were telling the truth about their innocence in the matter.
And the real kicker is that the unnamed party making these allegations is represented by the same attorney who has been representing McKenna Denson, who has gained notoriety for her allegations against her former MTC president, Joseph Bishop, and who, not being content to let the legal or religious investigations into her allegations take its' course, went so far as to confront Bishop's local congregation with her allegations, and to accuse his local leaders of assaulting her when they tried to assert that this was neither the time, place, or way to handle this.
All of this convinces me that in this era where the "#MeToo" movement is gaining momentum, there will naturally and sadly be false, unfounded accusations against people for whom such behavior is truly contrary to their nature, and against whom such accusations may be raised so their alleged victims can have a moment of publicity, and can smear the good name and reputation of genuinely good people.
Let me be clear: I am not trying to minimize or trivialize the trauma that many have experienced at the hands of those who have abused them, or to in any way condone such behavior. As a Church member, I ascribe to the views expressed by our Church leaders that abuse of any kind is highly reprehensible, and that, when proven, those responsible should be held accountable to the fullest legal and religious extent possible.
That said, false accusations are not all that uncommon, particularly against those who are in positions of power (in worldly terms) or authority (in religious terms), and that was true before the "#MeToo" movement ever started. Particularly in relation to these allegations, they seem to have no basis in fact, and the odds that this alleged abuse actually occurred seem to be slim to none.
I had hoped to include some temple updates in this post, but since my analysis in this post was more in-depth than I intended it to be, I will need to do a separate post highlighting those. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Church Releases Official Statement on Decades-Old Abuse Allegations
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
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There will be an enormous amount of sniping at Church leaders following General Conference for sure, some will start during it depending on what is done. There is something coming with the Christmas missionary campaign, one we will all do near the end of it, that has those in music calling s unsure about some things, andf there has been sniping over that already.
ReplyDeleteWe will have more details when bishops are sent materials and instructions about it.
Hello, James Anderson, and thanks for commenting. The sniping at general Church leaders has gone on for a while now. Some people continue to come to the Conference Center every six months to vocally express their opposition to sustaining Church leadership, rather than taking up the discussion of their concerns as invited to do so.
ReplyDeleteAs we saw last April, during the Saturday Afternoon Session in which other Church officers were sustained, a woman was heard shouting "Stop protecting sexual predators!" repeatedly.
And although many people seemed to appreciate the calling of apostles from two minority groups, and the announcements about the restructuring of Melchizedek Priesthood Quorums and about ministering, there were almost an equal number of complaints and a public backlash about each of those issues as well.
Some people just won't be pleased unless and until their way of thinking is adopted by Church leaders, and since that will never happen, they will not be satisfied or content.
And again, this is a case where it has been categorically proven that there is not any truth to the accusations, but in the "#MeToo" era, people are suddenly coming out of the woodwork with such accusations, and not all of them have genuine or honorable intentions or truth on their side, which has been determined by legal and religious due process. It is a sad sign of both the state of the word as we know it and that the Second Coming of the Savior is drawing near.
That is why it will be ever more important for all of us to pay attention to and bring ourselves in harmony with what is said in General Conference, and to daily and weekly religious practices as a Church, as families, and as individuals. As President Nelson recently said, "We have much work to do to bring ourselves in harmony with [the Lord's] will." That is true in so many respects, and also in light of what President Eyring recently said about how we need to be prepared for times when the guidance, counsel, and decisions that will be shared by Church leadership do not agree with the attitude of the world in general. I for one am anxious to embrace whatever comes from Church leadership, and I know that they will not lead us astray and that we will be blessed as we follow their counsel. Thanks, James Anderson, for taking time to comment.
Sorry. A sentence in the first paragraph of my comment above should have read: "Some people continue to come to the Conference Center every six months to vocally express their opposition to sustaining Church leadership, rather than taking up the discussion of their concerns with their local leaders as invited to do so. I apologize for the unintentional error.
ReplyDeleteThose have always been an issue the last few years, but much this time may be because of the rumor mill. The most rampant is Sunday meetings moving to a two-hour block. For several major reasons, one just found today, that is highly unlikely if at all.
ReplyDelete1. The new Sunday Schol curriculum is being distributed in hard copy, go to the store site and look for the annual curriculum items and you will see you can get a copy and some have received theirs and the lessons are even dated so they will be taught the same Sunday or within one wek of it due to local things like stake conferences.
2. One Twitter account has even said he had it 'on good authority' (apparently sounds like 'I know something that most don't know', a rather dangerous assumption, that sacrament meeting willl be just the sacrament. Most sacrament meetings have the ward business and sacrament, plus two hymns take at least 30 minutes. Sustainings, although not called that in the scriptures, are called for so those acting can be 'known by' the membership as being in that calling. And
3. This is what came in today, apparently there is going to be a coordinated event, instructions to be mailed to leaders soon, which will take place later this year during a specific week's sacrament meeting and will have a missionary focus.
It seems, thus, that some of the more gullible ones will end up disappointed and disafected and be sifted out. Jesus Christ had that happen, 'And they followed no more after Him'.
Thank you, James Anderson, for this additional comment. The rumor mill surely does run over, especially around General Conference time. That said, to address what you said:
ReplyDelete1a.. Given the increased emphasis on Church-wide unity (which is not surprising), it makes sense that the general Church leadership wants the same lessons to be taught on or around the same date in every Church congregation.
1b. I mentioned the "increased emphasis on unity" above because leaders have previously made efforts towards wanting the Church to be more united as a whole, although when then-Elder Eyring was the presiding General Authority at a Stake Conference while I was a youth, his message underscored the importancy of unity in our stake, so it is not surprising that Church leaderhsip as a whole want the entire Church to be more on the same page.
2. Given that, as you say, that assumption is a dangerous one, I would in turn assume it is unlikely to occur, especially since senior Church leaders have recently increased emphasis on the idea that Sacrament Meeting is important because it is the one part of the 3-hour block in which the entire family can be together, and since the Church has emphasized the importance of the family as the basic Church unit, the only scenarios in which I see Sacrament Meeting being shortened is if there are more than 3 wards meeting in a single building or when Christmas occurs on a Sunday, in which case the Church would only have a brief Sacrament Meeting (and no other meetings). Until proven or verified, that may just be the opinion of someone wanting to imply special knowledge for the purpose of either drawing attention to themselves or to get people buzzing about that so-called "special knowledge".
3. It would not surprise me in any way if the Church suggested a Church-wide focus on or around a specific Sunday on a specific topic (whether that is missionary work or anything else), as that would be an extension of the intent to unify the Church and focus on why both member missionary work and full- and part-time missionary opportunities are important.
As for what you said about those who will be "sifted out", it is another sad sign of the time that so many will be "disappointed and disaffected" and "will also go away." But perhaps the worst part of that fact is that so many may leave the Church, but will not be content to leave it alone, and will continue efforts to undermine the faith of and disaffect other members with their misguided thoughts and expressions. And the real tragedy is that those who are not prepared for that to happen may have their own faith affected by the disaffection of others.
Thank you, James Anderson, for this additional comment. Again, I always appreciate hearing your insights.