My husband came home from church today and said that the sunday school teacher and his wife are spliting up. When I asked how he found out this news he said the bishop made an announcement in Elders Quorum that the SS teacher and his wife are having marital problems and are separating and most likely divorcing. Luckily this person nor his wife happen to not be there at church today. I was shocked that the Bishop would have the nerve to make a public announcement of someone elses marrital troubles. It really isn't anyone's business. I have to wonder if the Bishop also announced to everyone in Elder's quorum that I had left the church. When we came out and told the bishop that I was not going to continue attending the news spread like wildfire and I was getting a ton of phone calls and visits at my door. The gossip is really out of control!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2012 12:33AM by turnonthelights.

If anything else, attending church was a highlight if only for juicy gossip. I was announced to be lesbian with two other girls...wasn't true, but I look back at it now and wish to hell and back I had fluttered my lashes flirtatiously at my young women daaarlings.

Unbelievable. Very low and unclassy move.

Clearly this man doesn't think about his actions.

He just follows The Spirit, wherever it takes him ...

At church meetings and functions, I have many times heard bishops sharing personal problems of members (mostly financial) to others. For this reason, I never shared anything if I could help it.

The bish knows nothing about respecting peoples privacy. He's probably been announcing every little detail of every interview to anyone who will listen.

I'm so sick of Mormons and their lack of respect for others privacy. They think they can run their mouths an God will shine down on them for it. It's disgusting.

For most that care about appearances, however, it would be a kind of warning - don't do this or else receive the same treatment...

My Bishop told the ward (announced in sacrament) that I was involved with fraud and was leaving the ward because of it.

Truth was I was his accountant and found he was involved in tax evasion, so when I confronted him about it, acting as if I didn't understand something and wanted to clear it up because he of course was a "good man". The next week after that is when everyone shunned me (I missed his announcement because of illness), and I later found out from a good friend who "couldn't believe what the bishop was saying."

However, after calling the police on him, I found out his office and business both were shut down and he found himself in trouble, much to my joy.

What gets me is that there are people that still believe because he was bishop that he must have been framed and the evidence I gave the police on his illegal activities must have been fabricated. Sounds like typical TBMs though, I mean, I was only EQP, how could I possibly be righter than him?

Sorry, I guess that went off topic.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2012 05:31AM by notsurewhattothink.

Was your Ward reputation ever restored, or having been singled out by a Man of God, were you ever after a pariah?

Wow, that poor couple probably came to him for "counseling" to help their marriage and this is how he treats them?

When I was an RS counselor, the bishop always kept us in the loop about who was having marital problems and likely separating, but I'm pretty sure he'd chop one of our heads off if we spread that info to anyone!

Perhaps they asked him to announce it so they wouldn't have to answer so many questions from the ward busybodies.

Nah.

Heresy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Perhaps they asked him to announce it so they
> wouldn't have to answer so many questions from the
> ward busybodies.
>
> Nah.


That actually happened in my ward once. It was still the wrong thing to do, but at least it wasn't a case of the Bishop overstepping.

The right thing would have been to remind the couple that there was no need for ANYONE to explain their personal lives to the ward.

In a small town like Alpine, UT that was pretty tough. Also, there were seven kids involved. We ended up having to move. Our stuff was probably worse than most but nothing of an illegal or otherwise public nature. The gossip started as true but grew to epic proportions. Thanks bish.

A trained councilor will keep things strictly private, not telling ANYONE AT ALL. Bishops are actually obligated to discuss these issues with others, such as their SP. Each person that knows is a potential blabber, so it usually gets out. It's a bad system and I'd never confide in a bishop for that reason.

We had a bishop who was a transplant from UT. He had black hair except for a noticeable white streak that went down the back of his hair in a skunk like pattern. How fitting for him. He was the nastiest, most gossipy, pessimistic jerk I have ever witnessed in my life - in or out of the church. Like the OP bishop, whenever someone was having marital problems in the ward - this idiot would make a talk about it. One time, everyone knew that a particular couple were having problems. This bishop spoke the entire sac meeting, scolding the husband for the things that he had done wrong in the marriage. We all knew who he was talking about. He gave details, w/o saying their names directly. The husband sat near to me, and I watched his face. He walked out the door and never came back. He was the EQ prez too - a great guy. This bishop also gave a guilt ridden negative "state of the ward" address every six months, that left everyone in a state of depression after ward. Sick POS.

I ask Bish to tell people when ex and I separated because every time I tried to talk about it I started crying. Ex immediately went inactive so he wasn't around to tell people. It's unacceptable to announce it if he hasn't been asked to though.

There is no clergy-penitent privilege in the LDS church.

Makes me wonder how much of my personal business was blabbed all over the church for years.

;o)

In my experience (what I've witnessed)...
if it's not the bishop, it's the bishoph's wife.

That's horrifying. So many Mormons are so gossipy, and when they get put into leadership positions they can do unbelievable damage.

told her about someone we knew fairly well had gotten a divorce as he had been cheating. Kinda welcomed the info though as the guy always appeared as a upstanding mormon, EQ teacher type. I haven't gone to church for years, so it's fun to get "caught up" on all the hoopla. Haha.

The church continues to be populated with a$$holes....I'd love to have email addresses for some of these cretins....I'd email them a call them out....

Ron Burr

Why do they do this in the first place?!?

My name has gone through the gossip/slander mill a few times in the Mormon community I live in and it's ridiculous. I wonder if they talk this way to hide their own sh*t.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2012 09:11PM by liminal state.

Mormons would simply shrug their shoulders and say, "the church is perfect, the members or not."

But this is just evidence that God doesn't really choose these people to be Bishops.

In my experience, EVERYTHING is public: people's marital relationships, youth problems, finances -- even the state of people's homes (dirty dishes, unfinished floors, etc). It's disgusting!

Just another shining example of the HIVE mentality of mormonism.