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I live in the midwest. The total LDS membership in our area compared to the total population is very small. Recently, I have seen advertisements on the television for a class action lawsuit (I’m assuming). It is titled: abuse by mormonism.
It came as a total surprise. Has anyone else heard of it?
I’m sure there are forms of abuse occurring within the Church. Especially in the more heavily populated areas of the country.
I’m just curious.
Can’t say that I have. I live in the northeast US where the church population is less than 1% of the total population. I Googled it though, and it appears to be about suing the church for covering up sexual abuse. It was only a matter of time before this happened, and I’m pretty sure the church is ready. I like to think, and hope, that hidden abuse in the church is not on the same scale as the Catholic Church or Boy Scouts. Statistically it’s pretty likely to be on a smaller scale. I echo what DJ said. I haven’t heard of it. I live in the US pacific NW. I am an above average consumer of Mormon happenings.
I am aware of instances of sexual abuse in various contexts relating to the LDS church. It would not surprise me if there had been instances to cover certain instances up or make them go away quietly. Even lawsuit settlements with NDA’s are an attempt to keep things quiet.
I likewise assume that whatever might have happened was not on the same scale as the catholic or boy scouts situations.
Nope. Not where I live. This is the website they used in their advertisement. https://abusedinmormonism.com/ The total LDS population in our area is .4% of the total population. I didn’t see this kind of advertising when the Catholic church was
at the height of their sex scandal. They comprise about 25% of the population. It just seems strange to me.
I live in a area full of Mormons (like 90% in our county) Never heard of this.
I have heard of it. I would 100% agree that this isn’t the same issue as within the catholic church. That seems to be much more about the church knowing priests were sexually abusing kids and they just move the priest to cover it up. The issues I have heard about are much more like the issues within the Jehovah’s Witnesses. More of being worried about the good name of the church over helping victims and instead doing more to help to try and just keep the story quiet.
I do think there have been improvements in the church, both from society affecting members and some small steps from the church. But like was mentioned, to some extent it was just a matter of time as more people are feeling embolden to not stay quiet about past abuses. This isn’t just about the church, it is about this issue in society at large.
LookingHard wrote:
I do think there have been improvements in the church, both from society affecting members and some small steps from the church.And I do think that’s an important point. Last year’s change of having two adults in a classroom or activity and the recent child abuse training are a couple examples of how the church has recognized some possible pitfalls and made adjustments. Clearer guidelines and allowing another adult in bishop’s youth interviews is another. Some could say these are less pro-active and more protective in that the church could see the lawsuits coming but does that really matter as long as the changes are being made before things get to the scale of the Catholic Church or BSA?
The only thing I can come up with is either: 1. This is really a problem in our “corner of the kingdom” & they are sincerely looking for victims to come forward. Or,
2. This is a fishing expedition.
With the church in our area being so small, we are a relatively close knit organization.
IMO, if there were a real problem there would be a lot of gossip going around & there is absolutely nothing that
I can detect socially. I’m not always in the loop. Time will tell.
California just changed the law removing the statute of limitation on reporting child molestation. There have been many lawyer commercials on TV advertising their services. They don’t mention any particular organization, but you get the idea that BSA and the Catholic church are who they are after. After further review, this is a national effort for a class action lawsuit. It is not just the midwest. The law firm is located in California. It would be interesting to know how extensive a problem this is within the church.
Sheldon wrote:
California just changed the law removing the statute of limitation on reporting child molestation. There have been many lawyer commercials on TV advertising their services. They don’t mention any particular organization, but you get the idea that BSA and the Catholic church are who they are after.
Those do seem to be the 2 biggest targets. I do kind of wonder if LDS and JW’s get dragged into any of these. Of course the BSA and the LDS church have been somewhat intertwined. It could be that some suits go after the BSA, but the troop was LDS and this might come up as the story is told – either in court or just to the public such as documentaries.Sheldon wrote:
California just changed the law removing the statute of limitation on reporting child molestation. There have been many lawyer commercials on TV advertising their services. They don’t mention any particular organization, but you get the idea that BSA and the Catholic church are who they are after.
NY temporarily removed some of the statute of limitations for a 1 year period. If I’m understanding correctly, the statute itself hasn’t been changed, but the ability of the victims to sue the alleged perpetrators has been given a temporary unlimited time, meaning even if the alleged offense occurred way past the statute of limitations they can still sue. But they can only do that during this year time frame, and then things are back to normal limitations. I suspect this could also figure in to this picture, although again I haven’t seen those ads here. Immediately after the temporary window opened there were many news stories about victims suing individuals and organizations (such as BSA) for things that happened as long ago as the 1960s. It should be noted that Mormons currently make up less than half of 1% of NY’s population and that’s now – I’m sure it was less in the 60s and 70s, so the likelihood of the offense occurring then was also less.
This is ultra-American. You’d never see this around here. We do have ads for people involved in accidents, but the litigation culture isn’t so prevalent. I’m not a fan of ambulance chasers to be honest, they do more harm than good. If the abuse happened forty plus years ago, most of those involved will be old or dead, and also retired. Also how is anyone supposed to remember what happened that long ago? I struggle to remember a month ago, and if someone asked me what I was doing a month ago at this exact time I would struggle to tell you.
DarkJedi wrote:
Can’t say that I have. I live in the northeast US where the church population is less than 1% of the total population. I Googled it though, and it appears to be about suing the church for covering up sexual abuse. It was only a matter of time before this happened, and I’m pretty sure the church is ready. I like to think, and hope, that hidden abuse in the church is not on the same scale as the Catholic Church or Boy Scouts. Statistically it’s pretty likely to be on a smaller scale.
I think while the church has it’s fair share of faults, I do think they would NEVER allow this sort of thing to be swept under the rug on the same scale as the Catholic church. I sure hope this is the case. That would be incredibly embarrassing. I do recall the church has changed their policy when reporting abuse as well. I could be wrong, but I think there is a hotline that was set up for leaders to report this. Not to mention, aren’t religious leaders mandatory reporters?
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