Close Topic Options

Interrogator, Psychologist, & Mormon Bishop

Interrogator, Psychologist, & Bishop

An Interrogator, Psychologist, & Bishop are gathered in a room in which a Member is accused by another of committing a s-xual crime against a child. It is serious so the truth must be known. Who in your mind is more likely to come to the truth as to whether the act was committed by the Member?

Bishop Mormon and Psychologist Interrogator

Interesting question. First of all, I think the interrogator may know the right questions but if he is faced with a master lier he won't be able to detect certain expressions, body language, etc in order to find out the truth.

The Bishop by the other hand acting as such, will probably try to ask some questions, judge the member's past and present history, talk with his/her family and encourage the person to confess. He may be able to find out the truth like the interrogator as well but I think the more likely is the psychologist. He would be able to evaluate the person's mental state, be able to study their body language, expressions, be able to analyze whatever evidence of the crime committed, etc.

Interrogator, Psychologist, & Mormon Bishop Studies Doctrine Mormon

Well, you are adding to it. They are not going on an investigation, it is a simple room / office where the accused is one on one. They may only have an hour to do the interview, so given the restriction and time who will get the truth?

Bishop Mormon and Psychologist Interrogator

Probably the interrogator, he/she will put such a pressure on the individual that if is the real abuser they will break and confess. If they're truly not, they will stick to their story.

Bishop Mormon and Psychologist Interrogator

So you are saying that as the Judge in Israel the Bishop does not have 'skills' necessary to find out faster or in other words skill overrides calling?

Interrogator, Psychologist, & Mormon Bishop

Before answering this question, I ensured we were in the Mature Section.

It is not a matter of "skills" but whether the Bishop (if he is acting as such) has the spirit of discernment to accomplish the task. Yes, that's what I said. It all depends on the person and every case is different. Many are called, few are chosen.

You asked which one would find the truth the FASTEST, and I think is the interrogator.

Interrogator Psychologist & Mormon Bishop

So then the probability of your Bishop gaining the truth or I should say working by truth is based on who happens to be 'chosen'? If so, doesn't that put Memberships in a precarious positioning of wondering if their Bishop acts by Truth or not?

Interrogator Psychologist & Mormon Bishop Mormon Doctrine Studies

I might have a different angle on this.

The Bishop's responsibility (in this particular case) is not necessarily to discern the person's guilt or innocence (especially cases where illegal activities are present).

He should immediately withdraw himself from this situation and report the accusation to the authorities(Children's Protective Service, Police, etc.). I work in the Health Care field as a Manager for Caregiver's who are responsible for the care of the Elderly. I have some knowledge (though limited) of the laws concerning reporting abuse.

One thing I do know is that Child abuse and Abuse of vulnerable adults should not be worked out in a religious setting, until after it has been worked out in the legal realm. That is what happened to the Catholics and all of their issues with child abuse

In this case, if I was a Bishop, and an accusation came to me of an illegal activity, my responsibility, as a Bishop, would end and my responsibility as a Mandated reporter would begin(By law someone who has knowledge of abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult must report this information, including ecclesiastical leaders). If I as a bishop tried to first be an ecclesiastical leader, then I have opened myself up to jail time or fines.

The Bishop is not all knowing, so it is my opinion, members should not be basing their faith on his ability to discern a confession out of an individual. The Bishop is a mediator and does not forgive sins. He is only a tool to allow the repentant (focus on repentant) individual to become right with God. If someone lies to the Bishop, the sin is on the person doing so, not the Bishop. He is not their to spiritually beat a confession out of someone. The individual only receives the blessings of forgiveness with the proper confession either to God, or the bishop in some cases.

So this is not a matter of the skills of the Bishop. Discernment can be given to the Bishop, but I believe, may not be given in all cases regardless of the righteousness of the Bishop. This allows the unrepentant sinner to face the full consequences of him lying to God as well as God's representative on Earth. This may seem that the Bishop does not have the power of discernment, but I am more inclined to believe that God sometimes withholds this information, in order to bring condemnation on the head of dishonest sinner. Other times God may give the Bishop complete discernment to help him with his Job. I liken this to the power of healing. Sometimes God will fully heal those that a righteous priesthood holder blesses. But their may be other times, when the prayers and the blessing of the righteous are seemingly ignored. Is this because the people are not faithful who are praying for the recover of a loved one? Not necessarily so. God's will is sometimes is in opposition to the most faithful of Saint's. It is sometimes God's will to take a child out of this world, or bring a faithful Elder or sister home for some unseen purpose on the other side. It is not always a question of the faithfulness of the individuals asking for the blessings, but rather a purpose not known to us now.

Back to the question.
The interrogator (I am assuming it is a detective), is the proper person who should be determining the guilt or innocence of the individual based on empirical evidence and witness statements. The Bishop's discernment abilities have no bearing on this case, as it is not his responsibility to find out if the individual is doing something illegal.

As to the Psychologist, if he can trick the person into confessing, let him do so.