If you happen to watch or listen to any of the ten hours of LDS general conference this weekend, here’s an idea for an activity you can do.

Look at the men speaking (eight of the ten hours may have women speaking here and there, but this activity is not about them — although they can hold leadership positions over other women, they are never counted among the authorities).

Think of what you know about these men.

If you’ve spent a lot of time involved in the LDS church, you probably know some things about the top 15 or so general authorities. You might be able to tell me which of them was a heart surgeon, which ones were university presidents, which were lawyers. Can you point out the former car salesman? How about the airplane pilot? He’s certainly mentioned that a few times, but only when it comes up organically.

You might even know a thing or two about some of the members of the quorums of the seventy, the presiding bishopric, and the auxiliary presidencies. But there are so many of them, and more of them tend to come from outside the US and the English-speaking world in general. Still, maybe you got to know a few of them particularly well during a full-time mission for the LDS church. Maybe some of them have given talks in the past that touched you and made you look up more about them and their lives.

However much you know about however many of the men who will speak during this general conference, put that knowledge to the side for a moment. Because this activity is about asking questions.

Do you know which of them have asked children sexually explicit questions, one-on-one, in a soundproof office?

Do you know which of them have covered up cases of abuse in their local congregations?

Do you know which of them have given orders to their subordinates to keep things quiet after crimes perpetrated by local leaders?

Do you know which of these men looked survivors of abuse in the eye and said, “I don’t believe you.” Or which of them have counseled survivors of abuse to forgive their abusers, to not press charges, even to stay in the abusive situation?

And not only those who contributed to a cover-up, took the side of the abuser, committed ecclesiastical negligence…

…how many of these men were…

…or are abusers?

Whether verbal, psychological, spiritual, physical, sexual. Abusers.

You want to say, NONE! Of course!

And so do I. I desperately wish I could.

But the numbers are surely far from zero.

Most prominent in the news of the last week has been the developing story of how Joseph Bishop, while he was the president of the Missionary Training Center, set up a secret basement rape room where he took sister missionaries he had identified as being vulnerable, victims of past abuse, easiest to victimize again. (See also: this timeline of the Bishop case as far as it was known on 26 March.)

And the story continues: we now know that as one of the survivors of Bishop’s abuse sought help from other LDS leaders, they did nothing about it; they didn’t believe her. The LDS leaders who knew what Bishop was accused of, in whole or in part, continued to support him, call him to more positions of power, publish and endorse his deeply hypocritical books, cover up his actions, and attack the victim who dared to speak up.

Following the leaked audio in which Bishop confessed to one of his victims, the LDS church’s legal team (Kirton McConkie) and PR representatives have worked feverishly to spin, obfuscate, and do everything in their power to discredit the brave victim of Bishop’s abuse.

This is not an aberration. It is systemic. The LDS church’s structure, policy, and teachings enable abusers and silence survivors of that abuse.

Here’s another recent story of a cover-up that has made it into the light of day.

And here’s a document with details of 316 cases of abuse.

And there are surely more. There is no spirit of discernment. The tree is rotten from roots to branches, and its fruits are poison. How many of those men who will speak from the pulpit today and tomorrow have been involved? Any number higher than zero is too many.