There is no irony or sarcasm in this statement.

My bishop, who was also my physician, was the kindest, most empathic and understanding man I have ever known.

As my doctor he got me through an anxiety disorder, broken bones, pneumonia, and a lot more. He had delivered 5000 babies, when GPs
did this and awards from the local medical association.

When I was growing up with many issues with the church, this saintly man caused me great confusion. I have never known anyone like him.

I finally came to the conclusion that he would have been a saint if he were Muslim, Catholic, Buddhist or atheist.

Has anyone else had this experience?

you're going to have to explain to me this Atheist sainthood thing.

Dave,

What I'm trying to say is that he was a genuinely good man regardless of belief system or lack of one. This is my supposition, of course.

Your old bishop sounds like a decent person. My old bishops were cretins, though each possessed a few unique admirable qualities that I respect. I hang onto the good memories and sometimes find myself daydreaming revenge fantasies about the bad ones.

We lived next door to my first bishop in Las Vegas. Our homes were about 30 feet apart. So from age 8 to 14, I saw him and his family like no others did, or could have. He was also a saint, as was a wife. They lost two children, one before we got there and one when I was ten. Long after I'd stopped believing, his oldest son contacted me to ask for a letter to be read upon the occasion of his parents retiring as the Las Vegas Temple President and Matron, Sam & Marva Davis. I was happy to praise the shit out of them, which is how I titled it. (that's a joke...)

My second bishop was also a good man. I talked a lot more with him, one and one, than I had with Bishop Davis, cuz he was my bishop during my teens and into the mission field. Never said a word to him after my mission. Bishop Worthen was the one who called a fireside for the priests and laurels that first Sunday night the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan, and he let us watch it.

A bishop in Utah, in 1969, called me to be an EQP. I don't remember his name or even what he looked like. Obviously a fool, so why waste the mental energy?

It was clear to me that the only testimony I really had was that some very excellent people had testimonies about the mormon church being true. Very nice people, but they were wrong. But they had nice lives and probably died happy, just like I will.

But none of them played for the New Orleans Saints... You were lucky!!

There are good people who belong to no church.

The mormons are in the church of later day saints which means all mormons claim to be saints.

i think most people (over 50%) are nice, or have the capacity to be nice; mormon, Muslim, or Atheist, Syrian, American or Mexican.

maybe it's just my pollyanna complex.

Some of my Bishops would be regarded as 'nice' people by anyone.
some of them would not be considered as 'nice' by anyone outside of the mormon sphere... more likely they would be described as A'Holes.

I tend to think that, over time, the church drives people to become A'Holes, especially those who are responsible for judgement n the realms of finance and welfare.

I am glad you had one of the good guys

I really liked the bishop of the only LDS Church I attended.

Although before I was baptized (at age 31 or 32), I asked him if there was anything evil about the LDS Church (I had SERIOUS doubts about joining). He assured me that there was not.

He may have been nice, but he was severely misguided.

Also, his wife was a bit of a b*tch.

Good, kind people would be good and kind whether or not they were in a church or religion.
His goodness and kindness certainly didn't come from mormonism, which is really the point. He didn't need mormonism to be good and kind -- it's a shame he stayed with it.

Access to health care and a good bishop. Sounds like you lucked out.

I like our current bishop a lot--very humble, always of good cheer, thus far not intrusive in the least. His predecessor was also a really nice guy, who helped us navigate a tricky social situation in the ward.

It's huge when these guys don't let their job descriptions get in the way of their basic humanity.

Yes. I had a bishop that was one of the kindest people you would ever want to meet. Like you, I think he was like this regardless of his religion.

I've had great bishops, except one while at Rick's college (BYU Idaho) who I am certain got some kind sexual or authoritarian kick out of the type of questions he would ask. The details he would pry out of my confession about messing around with a girl seemed to go well beyond the act in question...like he was trying to relive the experience for his own pleasure. Really disturbing

was anything close to a saint. It seemed to me that if you put someone in as bishop, he became an asshole. One of my very, very good friends became a bishop and he became an asshole.

Some of the bishops in this ward are extremely good people. This ward is different than any ward I ever lived in.

But I did work with a bunch of men at Thiokol years ago. Most of the mormon men were wonderful people and I still also would consider them saints. One of them got me back together with my boyfriend (we dated back in the 1970s while working with this man). My boyfriend is a nonmormon and my mormon male co-workers couldn't figure out why I wouldn't marry him. They were exceptional people. Working for them was the best job I ever had.

The most dooshiest bishops I'be ever had were at BYU.

Dooshie and dishonest.

Sounds like a reversal of the old the old mormon cliche`...."he's a mormon, but still a good person."

My mission president and his wife were definitely saints. They were the best example of unconditional love I've ever come across. And I remained close to them after my mission. My mission president knew that I left the church and that did nothing to change our relationship. A few years later I came out as gay to him, and that still changed nothing. I'd told him I was afraid he'd think differently of me after knowing I'm gay. His comment was, "Well why in the world should that make any difference???"

I have lots of resentments and bad memories of the Mormon church, but surprisingly my mission isn't one of them. Because of the mission president and his wife I had a great experience.

Can u elaborate on the situation including the outcome?