Did my instructors lie to me?
They sure did.
- I recall one clumsy elder who announced at a meeting for field service that brother So-and-So had been privately reproved for drinking.
- In another instance an elder talked to another elder in another town, who was completely disconnected from the case, about a serious wrong doing by someone he knew. I overheard it too, and I was not an elder.
- One elder told me about a brother who had had sex relations with a woman he was divorced from. (The brother thought that since they were still married in God's eyes it was ok.) The elder telling me this didn't mention names, but he was so specific that I knew exactly who he was talking about; it was someone I knew and liked a lot. I was sickened by the elder's violation of his privacy.
- An elder told me about one sister, by name, that had attempted suicide.
There are other examples where elders have started rumors, without revealing names, to discredit certain individuals in the congregation. I believe it's a method they sometimes use to bring a brother or sister down, but by not giving a name the elder(s) remain blameless.
I can't wait to hear some of the really egregious examples of elders violating confidentiality.
