The atrocities committed by Catholic priests are all over the news. However, abuse by religious leaders occurs in all denominations. In a video that was shared on the Ex-Mormon subreddit, we see a very sad example of a man bravely advocating for the safety of children at a Mormon church. However, before he can finish his story, he was asked to leave.

The speaker begins talking about how he is visiting the church with his children. And how he knows how Bishops interacting with youth can be very positive sometimes. However, he recalls a story of how Bishop Johnson was inappropriate to his wife when she was a teenager.



Here are a few excerpts from the video where he shares some detail before being cut off:

From the ages of 15 to 17, my wife was regularly followed into his office for one on one interviews. These interviews made a big, long lasting impact on her life that continues even today. As a teenager myself, I became an Eagle Scout. And in scouting I was taught the importance of a principle called Two Deep Leadership. Its purpose is to protect the child and to protect the leader. Two Deep Leadership is not currently practiced in Bishopric interviews. Because of this, the big, long lasting impact Bishop Johnson had on my wife, in their private one on one interviews that was caused by invasive, explicit, inappropriate interviews. This traumatized and shamed her. Never allow your child to be alone during a Bishop’s interview no matter how much you trust them. It’s not a risk worth taking.

At this point, two men come up to the man speaking and put their hands on him and say “We’re going to ask that you please dismiss yourself.”

The speaker complies with their request and leaves.

This is awful on a few different levels. What the man’s wife went through clearly was terrible. And the man comes back to the church and offers some very good advice on improving the church by making sure children are safe. Instead of listening to the man, they ask him to leave!!

It’s really just amazing the leaders who asked him to leave thought this would be better than having him finish. The man speaking was sharing the story as respectful as possible and it just looks so bad to cut him off as he is advocating for child safety.

But this is just a microcosm of the problems we see in the church today. The church cares more about defending its image than protecting its members. Thankfully, more people are standing up against the systemic abuse.

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