LDS church to reveal total net worth?

[All-American]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

It isn't necessarily garbage.

The legal theory is as follows:

The LDS church is respected by its members. The church leaders assign the members home teachers. The members are asked to let the home teachers into the house. The home teachers are set up by the church as being moral and helpful to the families they teach.

One of the home teachers then used the church position to sexually abuse a child in the home. Without the church position, the home teacher would not have had the access to the child or the trust of the family that he did have which enabled him to abuse the child.

It isn't all that strange if you think about it.

What is strange in this case, at least, is that the home teacher was a friend of the family long before he became a home teacher. The abuse allegedly occurred 2 times a week for years (which would be a lot of home teaching visits). Even if the home teaching played a part in this case, I have to think it was a small part and the abuse would have occurred even if the guy wasn't their home teacher.

Okay, I see it now. Negligence on the part of the church created a potentially dangerous situation.

[Mormon Red Death]

Originally Posted by All-American

Okay, I see it now. Negligence on the part of the church created a potentially dangerous situation.

could this mean that the home teacher program would have to be stopped?


<please let it be true>

[All-American]

Originally Posted by Mormon Red Death

could this mean that the home teacher program would have to be stopped?


<please let it be true>

Don't tease me like that.

[Indy Coug]

Do you believe that the eradication of home teching would be an overall positive thing for the church?

[YOhio]

Originally Posted by Indy Coug

Do you believe that the eradication of home teching would be an overall positive thing for the church?

Boo yah! No more forced friendships!

[Mormon Red Death]

Originally Posted by Indy Coug

Do you believe that the eradication of home teching would be an overall positive thing for the church?

it would be for me

[Sleeping in EQ]

Originally Posted by Mormon Red Death

could this mean that the home teacher program would have to be stopped?


<please let it be true>

That might not be an outlandish possibility. HT could at least be in for some restructuring, and specifically in the area of not making Aaronic Priesthood boys the junior companions of men other than their dads. We're propping primary doors open and discouraging men from teaching primary by themselves. HT is a logical place for such thinking to go next.

[creekster]

Originally Posted by Mormon Red Death

could this mean that the home teacher program would have to be stopped?


<please let it be true>

It would probabyl just mean more oversight, reporting and PPIs. Be careful what you wish for.

[MikeWaters]

problem is that 1) a lot of dads don't hometeach or are inactive so you lose the mentoring aspect.

[Tex]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

It isn't so much negligence (though that could be part of the claim) as it is that the person was an agent of the church. As an agent of the church, the church is ultimately responsible for his actions when he is acting on behalf of the church (as a home teacher).

I think the "agent of the church" claim is quite a stretch. From an ecclesiastical perspective, a home teacher carries no special assignment. You don't get set apart as a home teacher (it's considered part of the ordination to the priesthood) and you don't carry any special keys or responsibilities beyond any other priesthood holder (or member for that matter).

You're just, for lack of a better word, an assigned friend. If this were a Bishop, I could see more of a case, but home teachers carry almost no authority it all as an "agent" of the church.