In March 1842 Joseph Smith wrote to the Relief Society, [ref]Eliza Snow was apparently not aware of the exact contents of the letter until months after March 1842. She copied the contents of the letter into the 1842 Relief Society Minute Book after September 28, 1842, see http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/nauvoo-relief-society-minute-book/83. A possible reason for her exclusion from the reading of the letter could be the fact that she was unmarried and a close neighbor of Dr. Bennett, clearly one of the chief “iniquitous characters.”[/ref] asking the women to “be trusted with some important matters that ought actually to belong to them to see to, which men have been under the necessity of seeing to…”
Joseph and the others who signed the letter wished the women’s help to “prevent iniquitous characters from carrying their iniquity into effect…”
There were men claiming to “have authority from Joseph, or the First Presidency, or any other Presidency of the Church; and thus, with a lie in their mouth, deceive and debauch the innocent,…”
Joseph maintained that “no such authority ever has, ever can, or ever will be given to any man, and if any man has been guilty of any such thing, let him be treated with utter contempt, and let the curse of God fall on his head, and let him be turned out of Society as unworthy of a place among men, & denounced as the blackest & the most unprincipled wretch; and finally let him be damned!”
“you are authoriz’d on the very first intimation of the kind, to denounce them as such, & shun them as the flying fiery serpent, whether they are prophets, Seers, or revelators; Patriarchs, twelve Apostles, Elders, Priests, Mayers, Generals, City Councillors, Aldermen, Marshalls, Police, Lord Mayors or the Devil, are alike culpable & shall be damned for such evil practices; and if you yourselves adhere to anything of the kind, you also shall be damned.”
The Case of the MTC President
In recent days a recording has emerged in which a woman who had been ill-treated posed as a reporter to interview Joseph L. Bishop, President of the Provo Missionary Training Center from 1983-1986. Since I live in a dark pit of not paying attention to the news, I would not normally have known this occurred. However Saturday someone else who was in the MTC in 1984 sent me a link to a UK Daily Mail article about the MTC President. And Sunday/Monday I was video-chatting with a daughter who was complaining about the story.
In case you have also been living in a dark pit of not knowing, the MTC President reportedly asked the woman in 1984 to expose her chest for his viewing, then attempted to further remove clothing. The woman did bare her chest, but resisted further liberties.
Here’s what I wish. I wish it had been me that Joseph L. Bishop had invited to do inappropriate things. Because he would not have remained President of the MTC if he had tried that on me. A sister missionary in those days had to be within spitting distance of 21 to be in the MTC to begin with, and by 21 I certainly knew how to tell a creepy man how to keep his hands and eyes away from me.
It might have helped that at age 21 I wasn’t entirely sure I believed in the LDS Church, much though I adore it today. So at that point I would not have been in the least bit cowed by anyone in authority. And I had connections that would have been able to help me expose Joseph L. Bishop’s inappropriate requests or actions, had I been the one with whom he had tried inappropriate things.
I served my mission in Italy, where I encountered Italian men of the day. Many were charming. But I was propositioned on several occasions. Most of these were moderately friendly interactions and I merely informed the men that I was not interested in having sex with them.
But there was the fellow who decided to feel me up on a bus. I grabbed his hands, dragged him from the bus, then yelled at him on the sidewalk.
There was the other fellow who decided he wanted to have sex on the boat we would both be boarding en route to Sardinia. When I declined, he suggested we make out, moving in to embrace me and running his hands up and down my sides. I informed him that any moment two tall missionaries would be arriving, and he’d better be gone before they saw what he was doing. He left before I had to start getting violent (and before the two tall missionaries ever knew they might have to do something).
Later in life I had a fellow ask me to have sex with him when he was holding a knife. My answer was no.
It appears the young woman who did inappropriate things at the request of Joseph L. Bishop may have attempted to approach the police, but may not have been believed. And I get that. When I called the police and told them my first husband had beaten me, they failed to do anything about it. Later I went to a local magistrate and found out the police had been wrong to ignore my complaint.
So here I am, a woman who was the same age as the woman complaining about Joseph L. Bishop. I too was in the Provo MTC in 1984. Though I never had any reason to remember Joseph L. Bishop, I have also been ignored by police. I have been asked to do inappropriate things I did not wish to do. I have been touched in ways I did not wish to be touched.
So while I am not the woman to whom this incident reportedly occurred, I feel I have some standing to speak about this matter.
What I Did
I said “NO!!!”
I responded with physical action and verbal chastisement.
When I didn’t get satisfaction from the police, I kept talking, and eventually got the ear of someone who could take action, had that been a priority for me by that point (it wasn’t).
I’ve moved on.
What I wish
I wish the woman who has been scarred by this incident to find appropriate healing.
I wish Joseph L. Bishop an opportunity to make such recompense as is appropriate.
I wish current Church practices and policies to align with best practices for preventing abuse, which would include denying abusers a chance to be in a position of power over their target victims.
Most of all, I wish all involved would look to the saving power of Christ. And it might help to be reminded of the damnation in store for any who don’t take such things seriously. As the #metoo stuff illustrates, damnation and hellfire need not wait until a divine being gets around to meting out justice.
For Those Who Think Joseph Smith was a Creep
Sometimes people who don’t know me and my research will read a blog post I’ve written. If they don’t know me, they will try to tell me how messed up Joseph Smith was, bedding teenage girls and marrying other men’s wives.
I have very good reason for disagreeing with any of you who find Joseph Smith to be a moral degenerate.
Like I did with the man on the bus, I’m liable to grab your virtual hands, drag you out, and give you chapter and verse about why you are incorrect to be so certain of your disdain. If you catch me in a bad mood, I may add why I find you to be ignorant of math, science, and history for being so gullible.
I would utter a corollary threat to any who might try to tell my why Joseph’s example justifies their creepiness. But I don’t think any fundamentalists have been [insert adjective] enough to comment on what I am saying. That said, any who were to be so stupid as to comment on why their creepiness is justified will deserve an appropriate response.