Mormon leader: Ignore ‘sexual purity’ mocking
SALT LAKE CITY – A high-ranking leader from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints urged members Saturday to adhere to the faith’s law of chastity that forbids premarital sex despite mocking by others on social media.
During a speech at a twice-annual church conference in Salt Lake City, D. Todd Christofferson bemoaned that “we live in a hedonistic age when many question the importance of the Lord’s commandments or simply ignore them.”
He didn’t mention the church’s prohibition of samesex relationships in his speech, but fellow church leaders have recently reaffirmed the religion’s opposition to the practice. Christofferson is a member of a top church governing board called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“This is a day of sometimes merciless attacks in social media and in person against those who seek to uphold the Lord’s standard in dress, entertainment and sexual purity,” Christofferson said. “It is often the youth and young adults among the saints, as well as women and mothers, who bear this cross of mocking and persecution. It is not easy to rise above such abuse, but remember the words of Peter: ‘If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.’” Several blocks away from the conference, hundreds of people that included many ex-members of the faith gathered to call on the church and other religions to implement stronger rules to prevent child abuse and make sure young Latter-day Saints aren’t asked inappropriate questions about their adherence to the faith’s rules for sexual behavior.
The “Protect Every Child” group is led by Sam Young, who was kicked out of the religion last year after his public opposition to closed-door, one-on-one interviews of youth where he and his followers said inappropriate sexual questions lead to shame and guilt.
Former church member Stuart Shellenberger, 41, held a sign that read, “Protect every child. No sexual questions.” The father of five from Show Low, Arizona, said he was asked inappropriate sexual questions when he was a youth, and wants the faith to ban those questions in the interviews.
Church leaders have defended the so-called “worthiness” interviews as an important way for bishops to get to know youth better and determine their religious habits and obedience to God. The church changed its policy last year to allow children to bring a parent or adult with them and published the list of questions that are asked.
Lisa Thredgold, who left the faith two years ago, said the changes were a good step but said it would better to scrap the interviews all together.
“In my eyes, all children are worthy,” said Thredgold, 42, of Salt Lake City. “There’s no reason to interview them for their worthiness. In God’s eyes, they’re worthy.”
The two-day conference comes during a period of heightened anticipation and excitement about what church President Russell M. Nelson might do next following a dizzying number of policy changes he has made during his first two years at the helm of the faith.