This story is not about me but about a close friend. This friend suffered from anorexia for their entire life, after many years of fighting this battle, they finally turned to help. They were a devout member of the LDS church and first went to their bishop, for guidance on such a horrible and difficult challenge that they felt they needed the help of God to overcome. When this person went to the bishop, and admitted to having an eating disorder, the bishop looked at her smugly and said, “Oh , over-eating?” How heart breaking, that the person who you believe is Gods mouthpiece to you would say something like that. Would say that to someone who is struggling with their self image so much that they turn to such extreme measures.
Bishops are not trained professionals and we need to stop treating them as such. They are people who have their own personal opinions and bigotry’s (and sometimes even disgusting motives) that have next to no training on how to actually help these people children and adults alike. We need better training for bishops. We need to stop one on one interviews. We need to protect LDS people. Especially children.