Posts

Showing posts from March, 2014

I'm a Mormon Feminist Profile

I submitted a profile to "I'm a Mormon Feminist". Check it out!

We Are Seeing an Exodus of the Faithful

"If you are one that says that the egalitarians or liberals who do not like the status quo should just leave, please stop it. This is not a game. This is about the very future of our faith community and faith tradition. They are leaving. If you are glad to see them leave, you do not see them as Christ sees them." Read the rest HERE

Trib Talk: Mormon women and the priesthood

http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile3/57708999-219/women-mormon-priesthood-church.html.csp This is an interview of Kate Kelly who is the founder of OW, Neylan McBaine of the Mormon Women Project and blogger Julie Smith discussing OW and Mormon Feminsm. 

"Why aren't the women included in this?"

I really like this post talking about Sister Cheiko Okazaki, the former 1st counselor in the RS presidency. It was amazingly validating to hear a member of the General RS share the frustrations of so many faithful LDS women regarding how valued and visible their role is in the church. The most insightful and surprising quote for me was,  “I have to say that, in my sixty-four years in the Church, I sometimes see a little bit of a change that the women themselves prompt, but most of the time, I haven’t seen women who would make that change possible. Wherever I go, I think that they already know their place.” … “When women get the message that their job is to be supportive and just agree with the decisions of the bishop, they become clams.” So moral of the story is that we need to speak up! As Ghandi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." If you want strong, vocal, intelligent female leaders in the church, then be one! And offer suggestions to your leadershi

A Gift Given, A Gift Taken Away

I recently heard this podcast   that I found quite amazing. You can also read the PDF here   if you prefer. It is a history of the practice of women giving blessings of healing and washings and anointings of the sick. Women were allowed to do this until the 1940s and it was not only done to members of the woman's family as I had previously believed.  I am so saddened that fear and apparently jealousy put an end to this beautiful practice. I pray that I will live to see these privileges reinstated to the worthy women of this church.

Voices of Utah Women

This is a cool mini documentary about the Utah "Women's Movement" and the ERA. I didn't know some of this history and thought it was pretty interesting.  http://video.kued.org/video/2339261708/

A Kingdom of Priests: A Support for Female Ordination | Difficult Run

Image
Update: Just to clarify, while I enjoyed this post and the points he makes, I don't agree with everything he says, and I don't necessarily advocate for ordaining women to the priesthood the same way that men are in this life, although I'd accept that revelation if it came. What I liked about his post is that it lays out a scriptural record indicating that there is a precedent for women to have greater scope to their spiritual leadership opportunities, in whatever form they might be. http://difficultrun.nathanielgivens.com/2013/11/15/a-kingdom-of-priests-a-support-for-female-ordination/?relatedposts_exclude=4115 Loved this post, especially what he says about people telling feminists to leave the church. " I have nowhere else to go but this Church. This is where I have found peace, this is where I have found Christ, and this is where I have found a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother who speak to me and listen to me and understand me, despite my imperfectio

Photos of Mormon women leaders in Conference Center

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsfaithblog/57702450-180/leaders-women-church-center.html.csp Check this out! My favorite part: "Conversations about giving more visibility to women have been going on for some years," LDS spokeswomen Jessica Moody said in a statement. "The decision to have the sister leaders of the church be more visible in the Conference Center is just one outcome of those conversations." Woohoo!

Re: I Don't Want the Priesthood

I actually couldn't sleep because this topic was so much on my mind, so I thought I'd just put it out here. Not that anyone actually reads this, but at least I can sleep better tonight. I've been reading a lot of blog posts by LDS women proudly stating how they don't want the priesthood and they feel so fulfilled and respected etc., etc. Ok. Awesome. Quick Sunday School question for all of you: What is the priesthood? Answer: The power of God. The authority to act in His name, but also, the power by which He works. Question #2: What is the point of this life? Answer: To become like God... I'm gonna go ahead and assume that that includes at some point down the road receiving His power. So... shouldn't all members of the church who nominally want to become like God at some point desire to receive His power? I'm totally fine with you saying you are supportive of the church leadership saying that for some unknown reason women aren't supposed to exe

Our Feminist Foremothers

I recently read THIS   recent post on youngmormonfeminists.org about feminists from early church history. I thought it was so cool to read their stories, but also sort of sad as a lot of the privileges that they enjoyed ended shortly after their life. I think these women would look on many current church practices and policies (such as women no longer being able to give blessings of healing and the reorganization of the Relief Society into an auxiliary organization beneath the Priesthood leadership) as a step backward. It seems that back in the late 1800s and early 1900s the church was more egalitarian in some aspects than it is today. But it is also encouraging to learn about their examples of strength, faith and accomplishment and be able to say that as modern LDS feminists we are only following in the footsteps of our forebears.

Radio West The Evolving Role of LDS Women

KUER recently did an interview   of Jodi Kantor and Laurie Goodstein who recently did a New York Times article on the evolving role of LDS women. It was very even handed and well done. Pretty cool. Check it out.

Oh, Tad... Sigh.

Tad Callister's devotional address given at BYU-Idaho entitled "The Lord's Standard of Morality" was recently published in this month's issue of the Ensign. I honestly enjoyed the article and agreed with almost everything he said, until I got to the section on Immodest Dress: "The dress of a woman has a powerful impact upon the minds and passions of men. If it is too low or too high or too tight, it may prompt improper thoughts, even in the mind of a young man who is striving to be pure. Men and women can look sharp and be fashionable, yet they can also be modest. Women particularly can dress modestly and in the process contribute to their own self-respect and to the moral purity of men. In the end, most women get the type of man they dress for ." And then I wanted to scream.  This is so wrong on so many levels, beginning with the fact that it perpetuates rape culture. If you are unfamiliar with this term, it can mean a lot of different things,

Becoming Like God(dess)

I was recently very excited to learn that LDS.org posted a link to the BYU study "A Mother There." Under Topics, there is a section entitled " Becoming Like God " and they speak briefly about the doctrine of MIH, but they link to the BYU study that I shared on here earlier. This study is the most comprehensive list to date of all the quotes made by general authorities about MIH. This study clarifies what little doctrine we do have on MIH and refutes the longstanding social stigma that we are not supposed to discuss Her in public. How exciting that such an LDS culturally groundbreaking study would be referenced on LDS.org!