tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4172451149432147710.post8975344698423806859..comments2023-05-10T10:41:32.689-04:00Comments on Against the Greater Light: Sam Young and Common CoercionAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14724409661360473452noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4172451149432147710.post-85599502345839498442018-09-02T15:30:22.989-04:002018-09-02T15:30:22.989-04:00Postponing a temple wedding because someone is a v...Postponing a temple wedding because someone is a victim of rape...? Were they seriously claiming that she wasn't worthy because of something someone else had done to her? I have no firsthand experience with rape, but I would assume that being told you're not worthy to enter the temple after something like that would only exacerbate the psychological fallout and compound the trauma. Whatever Kimball-reading priesthood leader mandated that delay was behaving in just about as far from a Christlike manner as anyone can get.<br /><br />I think you're right that many of the local leaders are good men trying their best, and I think that the story you told about the high councilor plays out over and over again in every stake in the church. I think good Mormons who want to do right are regularly railroaded into acting against their consciences in large and small ways because they've been taught to trust the organization more than their gut. And I think knowing that Sam Young comes from that kind of environment makes what he's doing that much more impressive. Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14724409661360473452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4172451149432147710.post-46943384369411035762018-09-02T12:56:44.377-04:002018-09-02T12:56:44.377-04:00Beautifully written.
The "vote" in the...Beautifully written. <br /><br />The "vote" in the church is solely to show allegiance to and obedience to the leaders. It's the Mormon (yes "Mormon") version of bowing before a king. I know a guy who voted no on a vote for a relief society president. It was because he thinks she's not a nice person. She's judgmental and vindictive and shows no compassion for people. These are very legitimate concerns for which he said he could not sustain her in that position. He got called into the SP office and ended up getting chewed out and basically told to tow the line.<br /><br />Sexual abuse in the church is not at all taken seriously. it is precisely the reason my wife, children, and I no longer attend. As a child, I was asked inappropriate questions like if I masturbate (age 11), if I had sex with animals (age 18 in mission interview), and many more inappropriate questions during my marriage interviews. We even had to postpone our temple wedding for 2 months, because my soon to be wife had been raped by a previous boyfriend. I could go on and on...I often wonder how we stayed active as long as we did. I have little respect for Church leadership and their lack of discernment and do not sustain them. I understand that many of the local leaders are good men trying their best, but they actually believe that their feelings are god talking to them. Totally messed up.<br /><br />I believe Sam Young is sincere. What he's doing is heroic in my mind. He wants to stay, but if his SP wants him out, the high council will sustain the opinion of the SP to ex. That's how it works. At the end of the testimony and deliberations, the SP will come back with his opinion on the matter and the others will vote to go along with him. They wouldn't dare do otherwise. I heard 1st hand from a high councilor who voted yes to agree with his SP, even though he thought the man who had had sex with several dozen different women he met online should have been exed. The SP only wanted disfellowshipment. Had the high councilor voted against the decision, he most likely would've been called into the SPs office and removed from the high council for not sustaining church leadership. He was sick about it. I think it would've been worth it. What a messed up system. In Sam's case, if the SP decides to do nothing, he will probably be quickly replaced by another man willing to do the bidding of the corrupt, narcissists leading the church. I'll be following this case closely.<br />NearKolobitenoreply@blogger.com