Posted by:
ThinkingOutLoud
(
)
Date: April 08, 2011 05:12AM
The LDS church lobbied to change the law in Idaho, to add the words 'lay leader', ie: untrained Mormon church members functioning as clergy, to the existing law which allowed the clergy exception. That change they wanted, is now law in Idaho.
The change occured after scandals rocking the LDS church and the Catholic church occured in the early to mid 1990s. How convenient!
In the confessional in the Catholic church, it is similar. If the confessor admits wrongdoing and the confessee (priest or church leader) believes someone's life is in immediate danger, the priest has a legal duty to warn or act.
Otherwise, usually, no. They cannot and will not tell, and the law allows that exemption from what most of us would see as a moral duty to tell.
They are allowed to circumvent the law with the clergy exception, claiming that if every time someone confessed a sin to them, the priest ran and told a policeman about it, no one would ever confess.
Then, their members would never come to church, receive absolution for their sins/do penance, and then would not go to their graves in a state of grace.
They argue that policemen and women (and lawyers) are not spiritual advisors and have no business getting in the way of their congregants' personal relationship with their chosen God.
In other words, the rights of the church or the religious sect in question, usually take precedence over the right of the victim and the rules of law which govern the victim and the rest of us.
Protection is afforded to the perpetrator in a way it is not allowed for his/her victims. Exemption from a duty to report abuse is given to an LDS Elder, or Catholic priest, in a way it is not extended to a dentist or daycare provider, or teacher.
The priest or church leader can ask the confessor to turn himself in, or ask that the perpetrator apologize to the victim/make amends, and demand that they never commit this sin again.
The priest can counsel them to get help by confessing to a family member, or ask them to tell a professional (doctor, counselor, teacher, etc) outside the church.
But, in most circumstances, a priest or other church leader--- with the law the way it is now----does not have the legal right to go to the police or other legal authority and turn the perpetrator in. Not unless the perpetrator says it is ok for them to go tell.
And usually, unless certain circumstances apply, they are not allowed to break the seal of the confessional to even go ask the victim if they are ok, or offer the victim medical or mental health help.
Generally, their oath to protect is entirely with the original confessor. They are bound to keep his/her secret (unless certain conditions apply).
Priests usually will not even tell other priests about such a confession, or ask for help from them about it, for fear that the second priest may feel that the confessional seal has been broken and therefore there is now a duty to act.
But the LDS church is different. The LDS church seems to be practicing a form of arbitration or peer mediation, not confession. They call it confidential but it is not. Too many people are discussing it, investigating it, etc.
And if they are doing these other things, rather than confession, where both parties are questioned, and sometimes witnesses to events that occured are asked questions, too, then the confessional seal is already broken, isn't it?
So, why is it not treated that way? And why is the crime then not legally required to be reported?
If I tell my lawyer I killed someone, he doesn't have to report that to police or tell it in court; in fact, without my express permission to do so, he is prohibited from telling.
But, if I tell some stranger on a bus that I killed someone, or my lawyer and I discuss it in a diner where the waitress overhears us, either the stranger or the waitress can tell whoever they want, including a policeman, without penalty.
Once an LDS bishop, or whoever the perpetrator originally confessed to, tells another church member about the crime--no matter the other church member's rank--why doesn't the law make it mandatory that this second church member act?
Because LDS church members claim that all men in the church are leaders--and therefore all are clergy, and therefore all are required to protect the confessor. And LDS church leaders asked for the law to be changed, so that the wording now says "lay leader" not "clergy", to cover themselves and their untrained lay leadership, to be sure they can't get in trouble for these things.
Obviously, I am not a lawyer. But I am a former Catholic.
We need to work to change this stupid law. The exemptions need to go away.
Let them not tell when it's a minor sin, but make it mandatory to report all violent or predatory crimes.