*The Dreaded Asterisk*

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Hagoth
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*The Dreaded Asterisk*

Post by Hagoth » Thu Sep 22, 2022 4:11 pm

A young LDS friend recently told me he was outed as gay to the bishop by a supposed friend. He learned through the grapevine that there were a series of meetings held about him between the bishopric, the stake presidency, and his parents, and God only knows who else. He was NOT invited to attend any of the meetings, nor was he informed about of their content or outcome. One thing he is pretty sure of is that there is now an asterisk on his membership record.

An asterisk means that he is considered a danger to children and will never be able to serve in a calling that involves children, despite the fact that he is entirely celibate and has never even dated or shared any kind of physical affection with another man - let alone a child.

Meanwhile, it seems like at least once a week on the news I see stories of un-asterisked Melchizedek priesthood holders repeatedly committing sexual assault and repeatedly being given access to children.
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“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

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moksha
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Re: *The Dreaded Asterisk*

Post by moksha » Thu Sep 22, 2022 9:06 pm

How did he learn about it?
Good faith does not require evidence, but it also does not turn a blind eye to that evidence. Otherwise, it becomes misplaced faith.
-- Moksha

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Hagoth
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Re: *The Dreaded Asterisk*

Post by Hagoth » Fri Sep 23, 2022 9:04 am

moksha wrote:
Thu Sep 22, 2022 9:06 pm
How did he learn about it?
There are a lot of details that I don't feel I'm at liberty to discuss, but he had multiple confirmations that all of this was going on, including from people attending those meetings.

But, what I'm trying to focus on is the emotional brutality of a culture that feels the need to transform someone like this truly awesome, loving, brilliant, wonderful kid (who has never once expressed his homosexuality in any way, mind you, except to come out to a supposedly-trusted friend who who immediately ran to the bishop and his social circle with the news) into a stain, a nasty secret, and a problem that needs to be dealt with behind closed doors. And, insult to injury, the need to label him a danger to children.

...in contrast to...

The heterosexual priesthood holders who actually did abuse children and were protected and defended by the church, sometimes in direct legal opposition to the abused children, and in some cases been allowed continued access to children once once they confessed to another priesthood leader and "repented."
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

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blazerb
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Re: *The Dreaded Asterisk*

Post by blazerb » Fri Sep 23, 2022 10:46 am

Does anyone know if this happens to women, also? A woman who I know recently came out to me. We are not sure what would happen if she were outed to the church.

I feel like the church leaders need to feel like they are doing something to protect children even as they put them in horrible situations. That asterisk is their "solution." Gordon Jump could have told them it would not work after his "very special episode" of Diff'rent Strokes. That one still sticks in my head.

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Linked
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Re: *The Dreaded Asterisk*

Post by Linked » Mon Sep 26, 2022 2:13 pm

When looked at from that angle, it's just insane. And cruel. They are helping the evil and hurting the innocent, including your friend.

But most all-in TBMs are incapable of seeing it. They think their god agrees that this is the way, so anything that disagrees is clearly wrong.
"I would write about life. Every person would be exactly as important as any other. All facts would also be given equal weightiness. Nothing would be left out. Let others bring order to chaos. I would bring chaos to order" - Kurt Vonnegut

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deacon blues
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Re: *The Dreaded Asterisk*

Post by deacon blues » Mon Sep 26, 2022 5:06 pm

Linked wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 2:13 pm
When looked at from that angle, it's just insane. And cruel. They are helping the evil and hurting the innocent, including your friend.

But most all-in TBMs are incapable of seeing it. They think their god agrees that this is the way, so anything that disagrees is clearly wrong.
For 99.9% of intents and purposes, the Church IS the god of TBM's. Maybe 98% for a few of them.
God is Love. God is Truth. The greatest problem with organized religion is that the organization becomes god, rather than a means of serving God.

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Just This Guy
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Re: *The Dreaded Asterisk*

Post by Just This Guy » Tue Sep 27, 2022 7:17 am

Hagoth wrote:
Fri Sep 23, 2022 9:04 am
The heterosexual priesthood holders who actually did abuse children and were protected and defended by the church, sometimes in direct legal opposition to the abused children, and in some cases been allowed continued access to children once once they confessed to another priesthood leader and "repented."
It is worse than that.

LDSInc. will actively work to protect and enable abusers.


[*] Leaders will work to help "reform" the guilty by encouraging them to be in a position where they can choose not to abuse people, and the potential victims are not warned about this ahead of time.
[*] They will tell leaders not to report abuse, even when it is required by local law.
[*] They will fail to inform anyone of the history of known abusers.
[*] They will actively deny that abuse occurs when it make leader/LDSinc. look bad.
[*] They will guild and shame people who do report abuse when it makes them look bad.
[*] They will use their vast financial resources to stop/delay/reduce court action including many actions that are publicly unethical.
[*] They will buy off judges and politicians if it helps them.
[*] They will push for reduced sentencing of known abusers who are connected to the business.

The Michal Jensen case in WV is simply horrifying what lengths the church will go to to protect one of their own at the expense of anyone who isn't in the club.
"The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." -- Douglas Adams

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Hagoth
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Re: *The Dreaded Asterisk*

Post by Hagoth » Tue Sep 27, 2022 1:41 pm

Just This Guy wrote:
Tue Sep 27, 2022 7:17 am
[*] Leaders will work to help "reform" the guilty by encouraging them to be in a position where they can choose not to abuse people, and the potential victims are not warned about this ahead of time.
[*] They will tell leaders not to report abuse, even when it is required by local law.
[*] They will fail to inform anyone of the history of known abusers.
[*] They will actively deny that abuse occurs when it make leader/LDSinc. look bad.
[*] They will guild and shame people who do report abuse when it makes them look bad.
[*] They will use their vast financial resources to stop/delay/reduce court action including many actions that are publicly unethical.
[*] They will buy off judges and politicians if it helps them.
[*] They will push for reduced sentencing of known abusers who are connected to the business.
I'm reading a book that talks about the horrible things the Catholic church has done regarding pedophilia. In every case I thought, yup, that's exactly what the Mormon church does too. I'm getting a little bit fuzzy on the correct definition of Great and Abominable.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

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