An article by Adam Streeter, born and raised in Happy Valley:
I grew up Mormon, and every year I endured a hair-raising interview to get my “temple recommend.” (Think of it like Mormon “security clearance.”) It was a firewalk in the guise of an annual interrogation. Everyone in my life would know if I failed. I’d be excluded from joining my family and friends in Temple rituals. Rumors would flood my neighborhood in Utah Valley. And every year, the same question threatened to consume me with shame.
“Do you touch yourself?”
Each time I lied, I plunged into a very Mormon kind of hell.
#1 by Richard Warnick on September 15, 2012 - 11:06 am
I have nothing against individual Mormons, I sympathize with them. But their culture is pretty much based on lies.
#2 by brewski on September 15, 2012 - 12:11 pm
I have a lot against some individual Mormons. You know, the ones who sneer at you if you mow your lawn on a Sunday. The ones who actively practice employment discrimination. The ones who think that that drinking coffee is bad, but somehow pride is good.
#3 by Glenden Brown on September 15, 2012 - 1:51 pm
I’m going to suggest that there is another way to read this article – namely this is a person remembering what it was like to be a teenager and believing that religious, cultural and social forces required him to lie for the sole purpose of being accepted. That compassion toward him and the situation he found himself in – and by extension the situation a great many Mormons find themselves in – is a good starting place. Many of the behaviors that non-mormons find troubling and problematic might have roots in that experience.
#4 by cav on September 16, 2012 - 8:34 am
I touch myself more than a few times EVERY DAY! It’s inescapable. Cut yourself some slack, dude. So does the ‘Bish’.
It’s hellish only when you think (wrongly) you shouldn’t.
#5 by Ken on September 17, 2012 - 8:50 am
That is a lie. That question is not asked. They do ask if you are morally clean and it is up to you and the Lord to determine that. The Bishop will not ask to elaborate and never ask a specific question such as do you masturbate. Also even if the answer was yes that alone would most likely not lead to denying of a recommend.
Questions are very general and the seeker does not have to elaborate on anything unless they choose.
#6 by anon on September 17, 2012 - 9:13 am
I have eaten dog, and liked it..am I morally clean? Worried now.