I was born and raised in the Mormon Church along with my older sister and older brother. The brainwashing began for me at a very early age. Monthly testimony meetings and being led to believe that the bishop had a direct line of communication with the Lord molded my brain to believe that the Bishop…
First, I want to thank Sam Young for doing what I could not: stand up in front of LDS leadership and put the focus on this horrible practice. When I, like so many others, are completely saddled down by the detrimental shame and self-loathing that come from childhood trauma followed by prying worthiness interviews and…
Though I did not encounter such terrible experiences as are here described, I did have one that was a bit humorous. During my first priesthood interview at age twelve, the Bishop asked if was masturbating. I thought he’d asked if I was “Master Bain.” Trying to make sense of this, in the back of my…
In interviews leading up to my mission, I confessed (in general terms) to “heavy petting.” The bishop and stake president were fairly low-key about things, and I was allowed to go on a mission (these were the days before “raising the bar.” However, in the MTC I remember listening to a talk where they said…