‘Do you masturbate?’ and other questions Mormon bishops urged to stop asking children

Protesters hold banners demanding that the practice be halted
during a march in Salt Lake City in March

The Mormon Church is facing growing pressure to end a
practice that has allowed adult male bishops to ask children
explicit questions about sex and masturbation.

All practising members of the Church –
officially known as the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints (LDS) – are required to attend an
annual “worthiness interview”, in which they are quizzed on their
adherence to the tenets of the faith. These interviews are expected
to have commenced by the age of 12, but sometimes begin as young as
eight.

Sample questions include “Do you have faith in
and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ,
and the Holy Ghost?” and “Are you honest in your dealings with your
fellow men?”

Believers are also asked about their sexual
behaviour – a practice that campaigners, including both current and
former Mormons, argue is inappropriate and damaging for child
participants.

David Sheppard, from London, told the BBC that during an interview in his late teens, he
confessed to having sexual relations with girlfriends, in conflict
with the Church’s prohibition of extramarital sex.

“I decided to confess to what I had been doing
and it resulted in six hours of interrogation,” said Sheppard, who
is no longer a Mormon.

“They asked questions like, ‘Did you touch her?’
and ‘Did you make her orgasm?’”

Other past and current members of the Church have
shared disturbing accounts of worthiness interviews in posts on the
website of campaign group Protect LDS
Children, established by practising Mormon Sam Young in
2017.

One man writes that, as a 12-year-old, “my
bishop proceeded to explain to me, in detail, what masturbation
was”, while another respondent describes feeling “terrible shame”
after confessing that she had been molested at the age of
nine.

Many say that these feelings of shame, guilt and
disgust surrounding sexuality have left permanent psychological
scars, including depression, self-loathing and intimacy
problems.

In March, Church leaders responded to the
growing internal pressure by amending guidelines to allow a parent
or other adult to accompany children to worthiness interviews, and
advising that questions regarding chastity should not be excessive
or explicit.

However, campaigners are demanding that the
Church go further and bar bishops from asking under-18s any
questions of a sexual nature.