I am distressed yet again, this time with MormonLeaks’ official statement on their decision to publish the audio recording of the conversation between Joseph L. Bishop and an anonymous woman who confronted him about his past abuses–without the woman’s consent.

I have been vocal about the harm I have seen in institutional structures that permit and perpetuate abuse in the Mormon church for a long time. I am a strong supporter of the Protect LDS Children movement and have long spoken up against worthiness interviews and other policies within the church that provide cover for abusers, such as a lack of pastoral training and background checks, a mostly-male leadership, and opaque systems with little to no checks or transparency.

These things are egregious and must be changed. Bishop’s admitted abuses are not an isolated incident, they are endemic to a system that protects the powerful and silences the exploited.

But justice cannot be had at the expense of victims/survivors. Justice can only be had when victims/survivors are considered first. Justice is concerned with restoration and healing–not with the wielding of personal, painful stories by outsiders seeking to advance their cause, however righteous that cause may be. The ends do not justify the means.

It is not justice if it is pursued by violating the vulnerable.

This woman has the right to control her own narrative. She has the right to share what is disclosed and when. She should have been offered the opportunity to consent before the leak went live–and if her answer was no, it should never have been published.

Bishop’s admitted abuses are horrific, but the release of the tape in against this woman’s will is also a devastating violation of her agency–a re-traumatization of her painful past, another example of men choosing to advance their agendas at her expense.

None of this excuses Bishop, the church’s culpability in creating systems where this kind of thing can happen, the institutional inaction after learning of the abuse, or the church’s callous PR response yesterday.

But neither does this excuse MormonLeaks’ decision to treat this woman like a pawn.

I want to see systemic changes that prevent abuse in the LDS church as much as anyone. I speak up about it, work for it, pray for it.

But we must approach this work with love, solidarity, grace, justice, faith, and the kind of moral clarity we do not see from our counterparts in the Church Office Building–otherwise, we become the very thing we seek to dismantle.

We must do better, be better. We must repent. God, help us to repent.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

ETA: On March 24, MormonLeaks published a statement on behalf of the victim/survivor on the tape. She expresses that she does not feel revictimized by the publication of the tape and is grateful for MormonLeaks’ support. I appreciate that she has weighed in, and this has mitigated many of my concerns on this issue, though I maintain that it would have been more appropriate for them to get the green light from her in advance.