Protect LDS Children

Protests, Marches, Petitions, Hunger Strikes, and other efforts have all focused on one cause; Protect LDS Children. It’s likely that many of my readers are already familiar with the current issue, but as a quick summary, the movement is trying to stop sexually explicit religious interviews with children. The current official policy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints allows untrained and unqualified adult men to privately interview children, one on one, about sexually explicit issues including masturbation, pornography, sexual orientation, and physically intimate relationships. Last time I checked there were 22,843 rational people who find obvious problems with the church’s policy and have signed a petition in support. If you haven’t already, you can add your name to the petition right now - https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/protect-the-children-stop-mormon-masturbation-interviews.html .

It’s extremely peculiar to me that this even became an issue in the first place. When the problem was first realized why didn’t the church immediately respond with positive change? But rather there was resistance and side stepping in attempts to avoid a revision. Instead they responded by saying, “Our hearts and prayers go out to all who are affected by this serious problem,” or in other words “We’re going to think about those who are affected, but not actually do anything to resolve this serious problem”. After a fair amount of effort, the church finally revised the policy to allow the option of having another adult present during the interview. At a minimum that needs to be a requirement and not just an option. But the better revision would be to remove all sexual harassment from interviews.

Apologists have argued that these adolescent confessions of sexual sin can alleviate guilt and overall improve the lives of Mormon youth. My rebuttal is that Mormon youth shouldn’t have been shamed for non-moral actions in the first place. The problem is that Mormon doctrine often and mistakenly interchanges words like sin, immorality, righteousness, morality, wickedness, chaste, iniquity, purity, and so on. Sin and Righteousness are subjective and differs from one religion to the next. Only in some cases does morality and religious commandments actually crossover. If I privately worship a golden calf I’m not committing an immoral action, but according to some religions I would be committing a sin. Masturbation, non-heterosexual orientation, and physically intimate relationships are all non-moral actions. Not sins or righteous acts, but neutral unimportant non-issues.

Masturbation is a healthy and natural part of young sexual development. Just as normal as eating and pooping no one should be shamed for being a warm blooded human exploring their inborn sexuality. There is zero verifiable evidence to support the claim that god considers homosexual intimacy as a sin. “What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence” - Hitchens. So, I’ll dismiss the “gay sin” claim immediately. As for any intimacy with others, the essential factor is informed consent. A successful parent needs to include teaching their own children about all the curious details of sexual intercourse and safe contraceptives. A parent may wish to promote premarital abstinence, but they still need to cover all the information for the just in case chance. To get back more on topic of Bishop interviews, the problem is confessions of some simple first level intimacy. Anything beyond a short hug, hand hold, or a peck-kiss is a sin according Mormon doctrine. That doesn’t even count as First Base. So, when a couple of young lovers get a little too frisky, they are guilted into confessing their “sins” to a non-professional, non-therapist, adult man, alone in a room.

There is harm in incorrectly defining non-moral actions as sins. The Mormon church’s method of personal interrogation with children about their sexuality is wrong and it is harassment. The legal protection of religious freedom has created a loophole for this crime of abuse to continue unchecked. “It’s ok because they believe their god told them to do it” is a sad and pathetic excuse to avoid legal justice. Teach your children about sexual morality. Be sexual. Be guiltless. Be skeptical.