I think that the whole current system of the Bishop being solely responsible for hearing/dealing with serious infractions needs to change. I’ve watched many a good man get beaten down by the calling by the time they are finally released. I think the whole Bishopric needs in-depth training on specific issues they will face, along with allowing the 1st and 2nd counselors to be in the circle of trust so the Bishop actually has people to council him. Right now, the counselors only give advice on paint colors, callings and who to ask to speak for Mother’s Day.

“I realize that bishops are caught in a catch-22 situation. They’re lay leaders, with no real training, and the handbook is ambiguous. Our church is a patriarchy (and rightly so, in my opinion), but that leads to abuses and (again, in my opinion) an attraction for misogynists.”

To say there’s no training is mistaken, IMO. Additionally, Bishop’s are hammered with the fact that if they are made aware of a case of abuse, that they are to call “the hotline” for guidance and assistance. The Church has made it as simple as possible for the Bishops. That’s not to say that these instances won’t still happen, but I think the Church has taken major steps to insure that they are rare.

#1 dallske & 2 LIZ: I totally agree

#3 Devyn Thanks :)

#4 Tim, I disagree……..I’ve called that hotline. It’s worthless.

#5 Yeah, pretty sure. Probably it does what Tim says…call the hotline….and you get a simpering moron who tells you to pray about it.

I’ve learned from hard experience to never ever tell a bishop about my private life ever again. They are not trained to actually handle that well.

and yes, this is a step in the right direction.

There’s a pretty lengthy section in Handbook 1 on dealing with abuse. A small section:

“In the United States and Canada, the Church has established a help line to assist stake presidents and bishops in cases of abuse (1-801-xxx-xxxx or 1-800-xxx-xxxx, extension x-xxxx). These leaders should call the help line if they:

1. Become aware of physical or sexual abuse involving Church members.
2. Believe that a person may have been abused or is at risk of being abused.
3. Become aware of the viewing, purchasing, or distributing of child pornography.

When calling the help line, leaders will be able to consult with professional counselors and legal specialists who can help answer questions and formulate steps to take. A bishop should also notify his stake president of instances of abuse.”

um….yeah, I did call them. They noted what you said about being for the bishops. I asked them how they handled these cases and honestly, I don’t remember what they said. I do remember being told to pray and forgive. There’s nowhere members can report these cases in the church. Except to your bishop.

How do you know they’re not told to pray about it?

“How do you know they’re not told to pray about it?”

They’re given counseling and legal advice on how to proceed. Like arJ said, it’s likely that this Bishop in question did not call the hotline.

From Handbook 1 (an excerpt from a much larger section):

“In the United States and Canada, the Church has established a help line to assist stake presidents and bishops in cases of abuse (1-801-xxx-xxxx or 1-800-xxx-xxxx, extension x-xxxx). These leaders should call the help line if they:

1. Become aware of physical or sexual abuse involving Church members.
2. Believe that a person may have been abused or is at risk of being abused.
3. Become aware of the viewing, purchasing, or distributing of child pornography.

When calling the help line, leaders will be able to consult with professional counselors and legal specialists who can help answer questions and formulate steps to take. A bishop should also notify his stake president of instances of abuse.”

I think I’ve got a comment or two in moderation.

You know, I think I might have gotten that phone number through blogging. Because I did have it and I did call it. However I got it, I wasn’t told it was for bishops only. At any rate, they softly told me to forgive and pray.

“become aware”………….Newlyhousewife (I checked out your blog, a really funny post about Twitter) and arj are right. What’s wrong with people that they don’t take these things to the police? But I tell you, our church doesn’t care if these people go to jail. Oh, wait, I have an answer to my own question.

Our faith is about righteousness. If someone is THAT unrighteousness, it’s a natural inclination to “tell”—the spiritual leaders. People who’ve never experienced the lack of spine present in leaders who deal with serious sexual sin think they have a moral obligation to report these things to the bishop. Most are let down.

It can be really damaging to one’s faith, too. My experiences didn’t shake my faith in the truthfulness of the gospel, but I sure thought my bishop was a putz.

New favorite word of the week: Putz.

No Marta! Schmuck is the rude Yiddish slang for penis. I know this because an English professor told me and I looked it up in Webster’s dictionary. I laughed myself sick over it. Now we have two awesome words to use. Life is good.

I want to see the rest of the case against the Bishop before I wade in here. Often there is another side to the story.

I also do not know why people tell bishops about clearly criminal matters rather then just calling the police.

There are two major causes of concern here.

1. We can complain about bishops making “judgment calls”, but there is absolutely no room for a judgment call here. If he is informed about a possible abuse/assault (and this would be one), he is supposed to call for guidance. He’s not supposed to make any decision. ***EVEN IF IT’S ULTIMATELY a HE/SHE SAID***, he’s supposed to call and remove the “what do I do?”. His first mistake was in (apparently) not calling.

2. He’s on a school board. Even if you remove the bishop aspect of this, what are his duties if a student (presumably in his district) comes with an allegation of assault? In this case, he decided to defer to Church authority (him) rather than civil authority.

If the facts as presented are true, then he arrogantly decided that his Church calling trumped his other responsibilities, and then in that process, decided to disregard the instructions.

And, annegb, while you may have called that hotline, I’m going to go with whatever bishops tell me about it. I can’t imagine a non-bishop is getting much useful information out of it. Remember, the new handbook is pretty new.

Sometimes, people’s lives and service exists to serve as a warning and caution to others. That seems where Bishop Moon is heading.

How much training as a bishop do you need to follow instructions to call an 800 number?

And again, he’s not just a bishop, he’s a school board member. Anyone know his responsibilities there?

I would like to say that anyone who wants to be a bishop is crazy.

This bishop clearly blew it in a big way. You shouldn’t need training to follow simple instructions. I’m wondering if the perpetrator in this case was his close friend or something. It’s hard to explain his actions otherwise.

E,

If you get any training at all it is that you have to call the hotline. My understanding is that if you get a smidge more training you learn you are a required reporter. You HAVE to report the abuse, there is no discretion. In his position with the school district he is likely a required reporter as well.

This is why this guy is in trouble. The law and the church have some clear simple rules and it seems that he didn’t follow them.

I’ll reiterate: being a bishop is a terrible thing. You have to deal with the worst things that happen to a couple hundred people. Those people are your neighbors if you live in the Mormon Corridor. If you accept the calling you owe it to yourself and your congregation to know and follow the basic rules. There is a handbook for a reason.

Let’s please avoid blaming the victim. I don’t see any evidence that she is a drama queen, and it is repiorted that he told her not to contact the police. That is very, very bad and has nothing to do with her being a drama queen.

From a Utah Department of Health website: “Sexual assault is any unwanted sexual contact or attention resulting from force, threats, bribes, manipulation, pressure, or violence.”

Kris,

Obviously the police don’t think she’s being a drama queen or they wouldn’t be investigating two crimes now.

#41 – Ha! And that’s why I love you. I’m sure the prophet would *heart* you too, if his security guards let you near him.

I wish we would say in church classes about legal matters like this that to go to the Police then the Church. I have known one too many cases of “oh, that can’t be true, I played golf with him yestarday” syndrome

I’m nominating Living in Zion’s “I give up.”

I thought so

Nothing in the tribune since August 25th.

I’m very grateful to the Jews for making Yiddish. So many good words that don’t sound like cussing.