Question for past and/or present Bishops/Stake presidents

[Javajot]

Current Church policy is that if an individual has been promiscuous with one or several partners for an extended period of time outside of marriage they are ineligible for missionary service . Is this a recent change (last 10-15 years)?

[Vort]

I am not a past or present leader, so I'm not who you asked your question to. Still...

When I went on my mission in the early 1980s, I was told that missionary service was prohibited for young men who:

• Had engaged in homosexual activity
• Had impregnated a woman, regardless of the outcome of the pregnancy
• Had been involved in procuring an elective abortion for someone
• Had engaged in extensive promiscuous behavior, especially with multiple women but also long-term with the same woman

How true is this? Don't know. Guess I'm just adding gossip to your question.

[Guest saintish]

My understanding (according to the 2006 CHI) is that anyone who:

Has been married

been involved in homosexual activity after during there last three teenage (must get an HIV test from a professional)

a women who has been pregnant or a man who has fathered a child

someone who has fornicated many times with one parter or with multiple parters

Should not be recommended for a mission and should only ask for 1st presidency exceptions in rare instances (in other words it will likely be turned down.)

Edited June 28, 2011 by saintish
misquote

[pam]

anyone infected with HIV

If true I hope this isn't just a blanket disqualification. Many are infected without the sharing of needles or sex.

I would hope even serving closer to home would be an option for anyone with this.

[Guest saintish]

i'm sorry that is a misquote, i suppose i should have read it before quoting from memory.

Actually its anyone who has engaged in homosexual activity must get an HIV test

Glad you caught that pam, again sorry for any confusion.

[dahlia]

If true I hope this isn't just a blanket disqualification. Many are infected without the sharing of needles or sex.

I would hope even serving closer to home would be an option for anyone with this.

I had several women clients who had been infected by their husbands. Bad news on many levels.

[sixpacktr]

It all gets down to intent and frequency. A YM/YW that has messed up just once and then came forward, or at least stopped, tried to make things right, and then came forward will be treated better than those that have a long-term sexual relationship with one partner or with multiple partners. That type of behavior implies more than being out late one night and being stupid, it implies a level of rebelliousness that is hard to overlook. That doesn't mean that they cannot be forgiven, and indeed can and will be if they come forward and repent, but since they must go out and teach the law of chastity to those seeking baptism, as well as obedience to the words of the prophets, it may be hard for them to do so.

As for the homosexual activity, the same standard applies, except if any activity occurred in the late teen years, then there is a different issue altogether, and putting the person in a situation where they have to be around their companion 100% of the time just seems a tad unfair if they are struggling with SSA.

[Vort]

As for the homosexual activity, the same standard applies, except if any activity occurred in the late teen years, then there is a different issue altogether, and putting the person in a situation where they have to be around their companion 100% of the time just seems a tad unfair if they are struggling with SSA.

Suppose you have two young men, both of whom have felt SSA during their adolescence. One has succumbed to temptation, though has repented and qualified himself for a mission. The other has remained chaste. How wise is it to put such men together as companions? How fair is it to the one who has kept himself chaste, though he may have been sorely tempted?

Contrary to popular pro-homosexual assumptions, I suspect that many young men who experience SSA in their youth actually outgrow those feelings. Though I have no direct experience with the issue of SSA, I have certainly felt other things during my childhood that I have since outgrown. I see no reason why SSA would be fundamentally different. But that doesn't mean a man has completely outgrown those ideas by the time he turns 20. Seems like discretion is very often the better part of valor.