Prompted to ask my , now adult children, if any of them experienced inappropriate questions or behavior in their Bishop interviews years ago?…. This is the response from my (now adult) youngest son….
“All those questions were “normal” to me growing up inside the church- its just how things were done. Having left the church, and looking back in retrospect, it is incredibly strange and inappropriate to have significantly older male leaders asking young kids in private about anything of a sexual nature (for all the reasons listed in that website).
My entire existence was one of soul crushing guilt thru my teens and twenties as I tried to “overcome” my sexuality and live a “worthy” life inside the church. It was so freeing to leave and throw the feelings of guilt and inadequacy away. I lied a lot inside those interviews so I got to not only deal with the guilt from lying, but also the guilt that I wasn’t worthy and probably going to hell for being gay. I had A LOT of positive things going on in my life growing up so there were enough things to distract my mind and my guilt. I feel terrible for kids that don’t have positive things going on and then also have to deal with the constant guilt from the church…it is, and is well documented, a recipe for people to hurt themselves. I am pretty sure that is exactly the opposite of God’s plan”
Heart breaking for me to hear this now realizing the pain and guilt he was struggling with, as a young man and I was totally clueless back then. So many tears!!!