"But you CHOSE this to 'Happen To' you!"

I read a while back about a little boy whose parent locked him in a box each night. It wasn't until he started school that somebody found out and got his parents arrested. When asked why he never told anybody sooner, he said "I thought all little boys slept in a box at night."

That little boy was me. Sort of. While I wasn't literally locked into an actual, physical box, I was imprisoned by invisible bars created by several of my Mormon relatives. It took me years and years to realize they were there because I thought all little boys were locked up that way.

Now I understand, and I need to help others escape. They may not even be aware they are locked in a box, just like I was. That is part of why this problem is so horrible and cruel.

While I always sensed there was something wrong, it is only within the last month that I understood the problem. Several of my Mormon relatives were very cruel in their insistence that I "Chose" all the horrible things that "Happened To" me. It would be more accurate to describe them as things that were done to me, but my abusive relatives had a ready-made rebuttal for that: "Nobody can "Do It" to you! You Choose everything that happens to you!" This is a great excuse for an abusive person to throw in their victim's face.

I believe in Free Will, and in personal responsibility. My Mormon relatives have a very twisted version of this, were they claim they are not responsible for the consequences of their own actions. They do this by insisting

Mormon Church's "Gold Standard" of Reporting Child Abuse

When I started researching for my book, something amazing fell into my lap. Looking closer, it was just the tip of the iceberg. On February 1, 2016 several bloggers wrote about about a press release on a website for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, MormonNewsroom.org, "The official resource for news media, opinion leaders and the public."

The article, titled Effectiveness of Church Approach to Preventing Child Abuse, made the following claim:
"The Church has long had a highly effective approach for preventing and responding to abuse. In fact, no religious organization has done more. Although no one system is perfect and no single program will work with every organization, the Church’s approach is the gold standard." [emphasis mine]

Several bloggers took great offense to this press release, which was later amended with a disclaimer stating it had been originally released in 2010, but a "technical error" on the website created a newer date of publication. Notwithstanding the actual release date of this article, several bloggers, and dozens of people commenting on these blogs, took great offense at the claim that the Mormon Church represents the "gold standard" of reporting incidents of child abuse. In fact, several individuals bore testimony that the opposite is true; several insisted that Church leaders not only turned a blind eye to victim's claims of sexual abuse, but sometimes even blamed the victims themselves.

As an award-winning Journalist with a hard-earned reputation for accurate and objective reporting, I decided to ask the Mormon Church and Mormon psychologists about this "golden standard." I asked "Do Mormon clergy and psychologists report child abuse 100% of the time?" One would expect such a soft-ball question to be answered with "Of course!" Instead, I now have a fascinating story to tell.

At first, the "News Media Representative" of the Mormon News Room website simply did not respond to my email. So I sent a second email to newsmedia@ldschurch.org a few days later on February 18. I acknowledged that I was aware that this Press release was originally from 2010. Karlie Brand, Media Relations Associate/Public Affairs sent back this reply:
"Thank you for reaching out. At this time we don’t have anything to add to the article you reference on child abuse. That will be your best resource for your story. We would also point out the disclaimer posted at the top of that article:
(The following article was published in 2010. Some bloggers have written that the Church “re-released” this article on February 1, 2016. The article was not intended to be re-released. Because of a technical error on the website, some past articles have been showing up with the current date. Because of that issue, some understandably saw this as a current release from the Church.)" [all emphasis in original]

I wrote back to Karlie Brand asking again for answers to my questions, which were very clearly NOT answered in the article. I pointed out that an un-credited article on the Mormon News Room website was essentially a "Press Release" and underlining the word "article" was not only condescending, but a deflection as well.
I also pointed out that the cut-and-paste disclaimer was also condescending, since I had not only acknowledge that I was aware of the "technical error" but I had also asked if there was a newer Press Release on the topic. For her to respond by saying "We don't have anything to add to the article," then point out the disclaimer is not only condescending, but also unprofessional. That would be a reasonable response from, say, the janitor but not from a Media Relations Associate.
In fact, I had even asked that my questions be forwarded to somebody who could answer them. Instead, they were forwarded to somebody who deflected and obfuscated. I replied to Karlie Brand's non-response and asked her, again, to answer my questions but have received no reply. This made me wonder, Why?

One of my other questions was about the Elder Pace Memorandum, which concluded that there was a group of "Satanic" child abusers camouflaging themselves within the Mormon Church. I asked what steps the Mormon Church had taken to protect children after the release of that Memorandum. Karlie Brand replied that all my answers would be found in the mis-dated "article," but they very clearly are not.
I also asked about the Mormon Church's position on whether "Evil Spirits" cause mental illness. I referenced an article on that subject published by AMCAP [Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists]. This question was not answered in the "article" Karlie Brand referred me back to, despite her claims.
My personal feelings were not hurt by Karlie Brand's deflections, which border on Passive-Aggressive. But as a Journalist, this total non-response from the official News Media Relations department is not only professionally insulting, but has drawn my attention to whatever they are trying to conceal. I will continue asking until they answer my questions.

I had a similar experience with AMCAP, and several other Mormon therapists, who refused to answer my questions about whether Child Abuse is reported 100% of the time. One would imagine it would be easy for them to say, "Yes, of course we report Child Abuse 100% of the time, just like the Law requires!" While that would be the easy, expected response, that is not what I was told. But that is the subject for another article.