The state has a God-ordained duty, too

The Arizona Supreme Court sided with the Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) church late this summer in the case known as Doe vs The President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The case involved “several issues concerning a clergy member’s duty under Arizona statutory law to report abuse of a minor when a member of a religious congregation admits such abuse to the clergy member.” Or, put more simply, should officials of a church be state-mandated reporters of child sexual abuse? The Arizona Supreme Court unanimously decided: “No.”

The details of the case involve an LDS couple named Paul and Leizza Adams who had six kids. In 2011, Paul confessed to having abused one of his kids, one of three unnamed children in the case, to his LDS Bishop, who subsequently convened a disciplinary counsel which resulted in Paul’s excommunication. No legal action was taken. But, in 2017, the Department of Homeland Security found a video online of Paul’s abuses of the children. Paul confessed to his abuse but committed suicide in jail before his trial.

There is legal tension here that evangelicals should be keenly aware of. Religious liberty matters and is under constant attack from progressives who disrespect the very category of religion and the ways in which it ought to bind the conscience. The First Amendment is a fundamental good: There shall be no law “prohibiting the free exercise” of religion. This ruling is a “win” for religious liberty. But is it truly a “win”?

At the same time, the protection and prioritization of children is broadly under attack by our anti-natalist culture. The desires and rights of adults are, broadly speaking, elevated at the expense of the desires and rights of children. Two romantically involved men want to be “dads” and our culture says, “Yes! Go for it,” not considering what’s best for a child. Pregnant women don’t want a child with a disability, and our culture says, “Yes! Terminate it,” not considering the right to life of unborn persons. A sexual abuser wants to confess to his bishop or priest and clings to his right of “sacramental Confession” such that his disclosure be without legal penalty, and the law now says, “Yes! That’s your religious right.” The rights of adults to express themselves or act on their desires should not supersede the rights of children to exist in a safe environment free of abuse. Them before us.

The reality is that this law will mean that confessed pedophiles will be less likely to face justice and therefore roam free with a high likelihood of reoffending.

The state bears the sword in order to be “an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” (Romans 13:4). The Church bears the keys in order to bind and loose with regards to the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 16:19).

If someone in my congregation confessed or was caught committing a crime, my role as a pastor includes encouraging that person to both be subject to the church with regards to his relationship to God and to be subject to the state with regards to criminal justice (Romans 13:1). In fact, a key indicator of genuine contrition and repentance would be that he accepts the legal consequences of his actions. Confession and repentance are related but are not the same thing.

When this ruling was first announced, my first move was to communicate with one of my co-pastors with regard to our church’s policy. We’d been compliant with mandatory reporting laws and have required all staff and volunteers to go through MinistrySafe mandatory reporting training. We will continue to do so. Here’s what we sent our team: “We expect anyone acting on behalf of the church in any capacity who learns of abuse of a child or an elderly person (regardless of the context of the conversation) to act as a mandatory reporter.

How do we handle it when “religious liberty” is at odds with the rights of children to be protected from ongoing sexual abuse? Where the state has made provision for clergy to undermine the authority of the state, we ought not make use of that loophole and should do our part to ensure criminals are rightly prosecuted.