It wasn’t until I was 40 that I realized the damage Mormon bishop interviews had played a part in my life. By all accounts I am a successful and happy man. But behind the scenes I have led a life of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Not all of this can be blamed on Mormonism…
Aside from the invasive interview questions. I was asked such questions out of the interview senario (casual talk questions). I remember I was about 13 and I was waiting for the cultural hall to be opened for an activity. And our current bishop at that time was also outside waiting. And out of nowhere he’d…
I was 15 years old when my biological father raped and sodomized me over 130 times for a period which lasted nine long months. I had been kicked out of my home by my stepfather, and ignored by the mother who would rather please the priesthood holder in the home, than stand up for her…
I remember having so much anxiety about meeting with the bishop that I would throw up before I met with the bishop. In my mission interview my stake president asked if I had sex with animals. I remember hating myself for years due to inappropriate questions. Later in college I was talking to my bishop…
I was asked multiple times if I masturbated and then he explained how bad it is and the addictive nature of it. I denied it but felt guilty for years until I attempted to take my life 2 seperate times. Finally I admitted to my bishop that I masturbated and what he said didn’t make…
Summary of the following story: I was groomed by my church leaders all growing up to be deceived by a pervert (another Bishop) and I thought all that happened to me was completely normal. I have decided to leave the church for any reason just pick one. I do know that I am not the…
When I was 13-14 I came in for my annual interview with one of the counselors in my bishopric. The counselor was probably in his 60s and he was not a person who had been particularly kind to me in the past. I was a good kid and loved the church dearly. When the question…
I was born and raised in your standard LDS home. To give some background, I’d been through the standard public education sex-ed class and had been taught a little about sex and puberty by my mother when I was ten. I’d been taught nothing of masturbation but had already inadvertently discovered it, though I didn’t…
I was the most innocent teenager growing up in the mission field in an orthodox family. I was best friends with the Bishop’s daughter who was boy crazy. I wasn’t, mostly because at that age the boys had not caught up to my height or emotional maturity. One night the bishop’s daughter wanted to sneak…
My youth leader took a different route. One day in Deacon’s quorum he asked all of us “Do you know what jacking off is?” He sort of made a hand motion to kind of give us the idea. When no one really replied, he said, “Well, don’t do that”. Seems maybe harmless? But we got…