Catholics, Mormons & Private Parts

For context of this post, see here: https://invisiblescubit.wordpress.com/2018/09/07/the-samaritans-night/

I asked my friend, who is an active, practicing Catholic, how the local congregation has handled the recent news of over 1000 Pennsylvania children being abused by over 300 priests, some of whom had been priests in our town.  She told me this, paraphrased:

"The priests knew ahead of time about the news release of the abused. They warned the church that it would be released, and invited them to let them know if there were any further individuals who had suffered abuse. They advocated prayers for the victims, and justice for the accused."

Less than two weeks after that news broke, I learned that Sam Young received a letter for a LDS disciplinary council, due to his efforts to change the LDS bishop's interviews for children and youth.  Sam has a website (www.invisiblescubit.wordpress.com) where he has published accounts of many who have dealt with the consequences of closed-door, private interviews where sexually explicit questions have been asked of minors.  Some have been molested.  Some raped.  I have only been able to stomach reading a few accounts due to the extreme graphic nature of so many of them.  He has stated that he has received over 3000 accounts to date, though he has not published nearly that many.

The news of his trial reminded me so poignantly of Denver Snuffer, who five years ago and also this weekend, was excommunicated for "apostasy".

[What was his apostate sin worthy of getting the ax? Addressing some of the uglier history of the Church in a book called Passing the Heavenly Gift. Because he wouldn't break contract for publication, he was ex'ed without even being present at his hearing.]

We'll see what happens with Sam - I'm pretty sure it'll be the same for him, and it's likely already decided, just as it was clearly done with Denver. This is not how LDS scripture indicates that these councils are supposed to work. The whole thing IS a kangaroo court, once again. They are becoming all too familiar.

I support Sam Young in his efforts. Because I support him, and the headquarters deems him an apostate, I am technically in open opposition to the LDS Church, which also, in their interpretation, means I'm apostate. That word used to be a very huge insult to me, but seeing the persecution of faithful believers dampens the blow for me, personally.  I think this issue begs all churchgoers address a larger doctrine though, which is this:

These men are not God and do not represent God. They don't speak for God, unless of course, they actually have something to relay that is actually FROM God. I don't care what church you participate in. Confessing your "sins" to a man pretending to represent God is not necessary, and to continue to regurgitate the saying that "God is at the head of this C/church" is a reckless teaching.  Be careful how you say that, church.  Scripture indicates we are to confess to God and in some instances the church body, but not a pseudo-god. If as a society of those who BELIEVE in God - Catholic, Christian, Mormon, whatever - we don't openly speak against this practice collectively, we will CONTINUE to see abuses of power and the pedophiles will have a playground of ladders to climb to claim religious notoriety and safety under their given Church umbrella. Because the church body - particularly the Mormon one - is not allowed to criticize the church head, who is so frequently equated with God Himself.  This is the case with the Catholics, and this is especially the case with the Mormons.

I saw in one Facebook group this week where a woman stated (paraphrased): "I believe President Nelson is looking younger every day!  I truly believe he is in the process of being translated."  Really?  The man who had a direct hand in excommunicating SO many believers is being translated?

God may be at the head of the church (little c), but he is certainly not at the head of any of these Churches (big Corp C). That is certainly not to say that God has no influence with them, but to rather say that we make idols of men. It's not fair to them and it's certainly not fair to us as disciples.

And yes, as a 12 year old child I too was routinely asked if I masturbated. I didn't think anything of it, because it was part of the list of questions and the process was approved, stamped, and supported by God, so I thought. I can't even say the "m" word in front of my kids.  Gross.  

Tearing Down

I just dropped by my blogroll a bit ago to see if any of the blogs I follow had anything interesting to say.  I found a feature on "Shameless Popery" quite interesting.  The three soon-to-be priests took less than a day after a very unifying holiday to post some interesting work on why Latter-day Saints are misdirected in not praying to Jesus.  If you'd like to read the whole post, you can find it here.  In upcoming days, I might just describe how their assessment, while somewhat well-researched, is not accurate, according to scripture.

Perhaps I am being hypocritical, but I like to think that I support many faiths in open-mindedness.  I don't judge, or seek to tear down, despite disagreeing in details.  While God, in the end, knows ALL, I am thankful for other faiths which point to Him, despite their differing in details.  Maybe I'm wrong in this, and maybe I'm right.  But it is disappointing to me when I realize how much time is spent in many faiths, tearing down others, which could be much, much better spent assisting their membership in growing closer to God.  I hope that my previous words on this blog regarding my visits or thoughts of other faiths have not been seen as tearing down, but simply as something different, and perhaps uncomfortable for me if it was not something I preferred.

That said, I do not believe there has been one time where I have visited another church and not heard some sort of anti-Mormonism, either outright or severely alluded to.  Many times I've wondered if the person bringing me as a guest alerted the preacher/priest that I was coming.  In general, it seemed that that was not the case, but just the pattern of preaching.  I know "Mormons" have come a long way since Joseph was martyred over his beliefs, but it's still sad to see that we can unite over charity, disaster relief, and supporting marriage and life, but yet when we get down to religion, so many spend so much time tearing down.  It's disappointing.  

Forgiveness vs. Reconciliation

During the drive home this past weekend, I got to listen to a Catholic Radio Show.  I didn't catch the name of the host or the guest, but the topic was on the virtue of forgiveness.  This really piqued my interest, because there was an issue I was pondering how to forgive for.  It seems to me that some of the biggest burdens people carry, especially in terms of physical weight, is that they don't forgive.  And sometimes it's really easy to understand.

One of the callers asked the host how she should seek help from the church (the Catholic Church) when it was a priest who caused the grievance by their act(s) of molestation.  It was unclear if she had been abused, or someone she loved.  But regardless, it was clear that the question caught the guest off guard, despite his best efforts at answering it.  He seemed to be pulling at straws, trying to find a way for his Church to redeem this woman from her pain.  All the while, I'm waiting for some mention of the true Redeemer.  There was none.

This gave me pause for reflection.  What would I have said, in that instance?  Is not the purpose of life to become reconciled with Christ?  We all cause pain to someone else at some point or another.  And we all receive pain at some point too.  How do we forgive?

Tonight I was also getting caught up on some tv shows I missed.  One of the shows, Once Upon a Time, showed Snow White telling the Evil Queen for the thousandth time that she was sorry for whatever she had done that made the Queen hate her so much.  The Queen was calling for a truce, which required Snow White to eat an apple that would put her in a living coffin of sorts.  To put the burden to rest, Snow White ate the poisoned apple, trusting that the Queen would finally bury the hatchet and let everyone in the land live in peace, including Prince Charming, who Snow loved the most.

Well it didn't happen.

The Evil Queen still hasn't forgiven Snow White, and an evil curse covered the land for many, many years.  It's startling how powerful forgiveness is, and when it's not applied, the one who carries its lack bears the burden–in this case, it was carried by the Queen.

But I believe everyone carries it.  Every person involved in the story carried the burden of living under the Queen's curse.  The energy of the issue was still there for everyone to feel the effects of.

In another random story, I got an email from Dr. Laura, who is vigilant against sex offenders.  She often highlights stories and letters from children (now adults) who have been abused by another.  The bottom line is that there is no forgiveness, and she encourages this view.  I don't know what to think of this.  But as the Catholic radio show guest pointed out, "There is a difference between forgiveness and reconciliation".  I would never actively suggest someone go reconcile with their abuser.  That's up to them.  But forgiveness?  By encouraging someone to not forgive is encouraging them to continue carrying an awfully heavy burden.  Even when abuse is not involved, to hold out forgiving someone so that they feel more pain from what they did is just cruel.  Adding pain to all involved, holding grudges and withholding forgiveness is evil.  Take it from the Queen.

The bottom line?  Christs asks us to forgive, even our offenders.  It's something He can help us with, if we let Him.