In response to the Petition, ‘Protect The Children,’ the LDS Church recently released a statement. In it, bishops’ interviews with children are called “sacred opportunities.”

A sacred opportunity?

Taking a child behind closed doors, all alone, with an older untrained man? This is a sacred opportunity?

Then, talking to the child about masturbation, all alone, behind that closed door? Really? You have the audacity to call this sacred?

Every church in America has outlawed this egregious behavior….except one….the LDS Church, my church.

Calling this dangerous and disgusting practice sacred befouls the very meaning of the word sacred. Policies are NOT sacred. Practices are NOT sacred. Especially NOT this one.

Then What is Sacred?

CHILDREN!!

CHILDREN….are….sacred.

And….Adults have a sacred obligation…to protect our sacred children.

Five Stones

David, in preparing for his epic clash with Goliath, “chose five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag.”

For our epic clash with Goliath, we will also need five smooth stones. The first stone is now securely nestled in the bag…10,000 signatures of responsible adults.

It’s time to gather up our second stone…1,000 stories of inappropriate youth interviews and their harmful consequences.

Here’s what I’m asking of you…share your story.

Go to the new site protectldschildren.org Click on “Share Your Story.” Record your story of inappropriate interview questions and the harm done. It can be as simple as, “The bishop asked inappropriate sexual questions which caused self-loathing during my teen years.” Share this blog post and encourage others to record their stories. But, only if it’s safe.

This little stone of 1,000 stories will be very important going forward. Please help us put it in our shepherd’s bag.

Until a week ago, we had no real plan…except for completing the current step. That’s changed. We now have a battle plan. I’ll outline it all soon. In the meantime, let’s get those 1,000 stories. WE made the 10,000 happen. WE can make these 1,000 happen, too.

Thanks for enthusiastically embracing our sacred duty to protect the children.

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