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Mormon Witness To Something Bad - Page 2

Yes, you have become a witness to the transgression but I think we should encourage the transgressor to confess, after all, confession is part to the road of Repentance. It may help him/her to do it by her own than somebody else going by their back and telling the Bishop about it. We should reason with our brother or sister, and encourage them to confess, now if they do not, then yes of course the proper channel should be to speak with the Branch President. The 'chat' with the transgressor is not to confirm whether he did the wrong thing or not but to encourage to seek help and guidance from the Bishop. Even though the transgressor may have committ a serious sin, we as brothers and sisters should be concern about our brother's soul and that's why we should talk to them before talking to the Branch President. We should not become mere Taddel tellers, but real brothers who care about our fellowmen.

Bad To Witness Mormon

While I was in the Air Force, this type of situation would frequently come up in various briefings and classes. In legal matters, if you know that a crime has been committed, and you approach the perpetrator and urge them to turn themselves in, you can be considered an accessory to the crime. That is, you knew about it, you knew about the perpetrator, and didn't report the crime.

So, I guess that that is where I am coming from. You are right that we should give the person the opportunity to confess. But that confession can come AFTER being reported, and still be valid, depending on the person's motivation and humility. However, what happens most of the time (in my limited experience) is that the perpetrator attempts to rationalize and excuse the behavior, and would keep putting you off with reasons why they wouldn't approach their authorities.

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If those caught in the transgression are wealthy, you can always blackmail them. "Well, Sister Smith, I see you are having an affair with Bro. Jones. Pay me $10,000 and I will keep quiet". Which brings up the next question, Do you have to pay tithing on extortion money?

OK, seriously, I think I would speak to the parties involved and give them the opportunity to go to the Bishop themselves rather than me being a tattletale.

Another thought.....What if you are aware of a serious transgression and the Bishop lets the transgressors off without punishment? Do you accept his decision or do you persue it further?

Page 2 Bad To Witness Mormon

That is a good question... I can give you two perspectives. When I was in the District Presidency I would often meet these kinds of cases... the Branch President would just pardon the person with a few words when instead the offender needed disciplinary action. We never let those things go by, we often opened the CHI and taught the reasons for disciplinary action and then we arranged for one of us to be in attendance - presiding to make sure it was done correctly.

From the point of view of a member (I am the EQ President now) I can say that these kinds of things do crop up, so what I do is pull the presiding authority to one side and say something like... 'Are you aware of...' and if he is, then I leave it be, if he is not then I fill him in so they have all the info to work with.

Bad To Witness Mormon

Oh gosh, I have seen this many times. I know myself, I would definetly go further and speak with the District/Stake President until the Prophet himself I would take the matter if everyone is doing the 'blind eye' to the situation. The reason I would do this is because I would feel they are trying to mock the Lord and disrespecting him and I would be very upset about it. But happens, I have seen this many times.

Mormon Witness To Something Bad

While I believe the correct thing to do is go to the offender and let them know I was aware of their behavior, encourage them to confess, and tell them if they don't go to the bishop, I will. However, in reality, I am more of a coward than that. SO, I would either go to the bishop or in my case more likely the Relief Society President, and ask them if they were aware of what was going on. If they weren't, I would tell them.

Now, if it was a close friend, I would be more likely to counsel the friend directly and less likely to report to the biship or RS president.

Mormon Witness To Bad - Page 2

What about if your very good friend says he/she will not go to talk with the Branch President and he wants you to keep it as a 'secret', would you?. Further more, you know this very good friend will never speak to you again, what would you do?

Mormon Witness To Bad Mormon Doctrine Studies - Page 2

You do like to ask the tough questions, don't you. I am not sure what I would do, to be perfectly honest.

I believe the correct thing to do would to be loving but firm and explain to them why I couldn't allow them to continue to do what they were doing and continue to serve in there church callings and attend the Temple, etc. That they must confess or I would have to report what I knew because I couldn't be a party to them mocking sacred things.

In reality, it would probably depend upon exactly what their church activities were. For example, if they are attending sacrament, but their calling is the activities committee or finding meals for the missionaries, or librarian or geneologist, my decision might be different than if they were in a leadership position or a position where they were teaching others. It shouldn't matter, but it might make a difference in my ability to rationalize my behavior.

Now, this is what I think I would do. However, I absolutely believe I would pray fervently and earnestly to the Lord for assistance in how to handle the situation. I believe, based upon my past behaviors, that if I became convinced that the Lord was answering my prayers with the instruction that I needed to report this behavior, I would. So, in the end, I think I would pray for guidance and do what the Spirit led me to do. At least, I hope I would since his is how I try to live my life always.