This month, the Church has an activity for the youth that involves physically binding the youth men and women. Now to me, this activity just doesn’t sound right to me. Read over the lesson linked at the bottom and tell me what you think.
The instructions tell the youth to:
“Choose one person (or more if your group is large) to be bound. Cover their eyes and gently bind their wrists, elbows, knees, and feet. Only the truth will set them free!”
Keep in mind this is for young men and women.
The youth are to help their bound friend complete a series of tasks. After each completed task, one bond is removed until the friend is free. The tasks include singing a Primary song, reciting a scripture from memory, naming three commandments, and finding a scripture to use when a friend is feeling sad.
Afterward, the youth are to discuss how it felt to be freed from their bonds. The lesson asks them to compare that experience with the freedom to the “truths” of the Mormon gospel.
What troubles me most is the possibility that this activity could bring up painful memories for a young woman who has experienced abuse. That concern is why the exercise strikes me as sick, dark, and twisted. I struggle to see how binding someone belongs in a lesson about Jesus and freedom. It reminds me of the call in Ephesians to speak against what we believe is wrong:
“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Eph. 5:11)
The Church may see this as an innocent activity, but I find the degree of physical control over the young person deeply troubling. I also question the message. The introduction says, “Only the truth will set them free!” What truth does the lesson mean? In John 8:31–32, Jesus says:
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Jesus to be speaking about salvation through Him alone—the salvation only He can offer. In my view, Mormonism does not reflect that truth.
As I close, I want to add one more verse: John 8:36 reads:
“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”
My hope is that Mormons will recognize the truth I believe Jesus is teaching here, accept it, and turn to Him in repentance. I pray they find true freedom in the real gospel of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus has the power to set them free from the bondage of sin and death.
In Christ,
Melissa Grimes
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