Posted by:
lucyk
(
)
Date: January 17, 2014 11:15AM
So here's a story I heard. Not sure if it's true or not, but I wondered what y'all would think about it.
Joey, is a true believer Mormon. He is 15. He has a close non-believer friend, Jane who is also 15. She has a huge crush on him because he's good looking and nice.
Jane and Joey's relationship deepens, and one night, Jane decides she wants to have sex with him. She asks him, and he reluctantly agrees because he is curious.
The next day, Joey is wracked with guilt. He repents and vows to sin no more. He also has sex again with Jane that night. The process repeats. Joey realizes that under Mormon doctrine, he can't repent of his sin because he is not forsaking it.
Joey falls into despair. He realizes his will is too weak to forsake his sin. He and Jane discuss not having sex and Jane is okay with that...but as good looking teenagers they keep doing so and one thing always leads to another.
He falls into a spiral of shame and rage, and Jane gets increasingly worried about him. She tries to comfort him one night and things take a turn for the worse. In rage, he hits her, and impulsively decides "If I can't forsake my sin on my own, if I rape Jane she will go away." So he does. She begs him not to, but he does.
As Joey planned, Jane no longer has any interest in him. She is traumatized and never feels the same way again. But like many rape victims, she doesn't report, especially because they are both still 15.
After completing the process of repentance. Joey feels gets off the hook. Joey prays to be forgiven of raping Jane, and all is well, no more sex. He feels he is bound for heaven again. Jesus forgives all. Raping Jane wasn't nice...but, well...anything to help him obtain salvation. And he's asked for forgiveness for his impulsive action. He feels sure that Christ will forgive all sins.
A decade later, he realizes everything he was taught in Church was nonsense, and that his sin isn't justifiable under any kind of actual moral system. He is wracked with guilt, and feels like if it wasn't for the Mormon doctrine, he would have loved Jane the way she loved him.
So here are my questions:
1. Under Mormon doctrine, is Joey justified in raping Jane if it will make him stop sinning?
2. Is Joey's sin forgivable under Mormon standards?
3. When Joey grows up, how should he handle what he did as a child?
4. Is there anything Jane can do to feel like she is acting to prevent the same sort of situation from repeating itself?