I'm about to get personal up in here: let's talk about women and the Priesthood in the LDS Church. I have finally seen a written viewpoint that most closely (not 100%) aligns with my own opinion. The writer laid out her thoughts in these points:
- Feminist is not a dirty word.
- Equality is not "sameness."
- The Church culture sometimes (unintentionally) fosters pervasive behaviors and attitudes that discriminate against women or make them feel inferior.
- The strength of a person's testimony in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not tied to the amount of questions they ask or the amount of practices they question, and
- It's not really anyone else's place to judge another person's testimony or their fate for the experiences they've had, the questions the raise, or the desires of their heart.
And if you don't make it to the end of that blog post (which I really hope you do), at least read this sentence from the conclusion:
"Here is where I will admit that I am not a champion of the Ordain Women movement. But, I do not condemn these men and women asking for women to have the Priesthood as apostates and people without an understanding of the Gospel...Do I think that the Church will give women the Priesthood in this life? I think it's possible. I don't think the Church will do it as a direct answer to the Ordain Women movement. But I also don't think the Church would ever do it if no one asked the question."
I posted these thoughts on Facebook today, so you can join the conversation there, or have it with me here. It's something I've been thinking a lot about and feeling a lot about lately. There have been multiple comments said (or posted) about this sensitive topic that I haven't responded to in the moment, and I've regretted it. Sometimes I let my heart get too involved with what my head is hearing or thinking, and I lose trust in my abilities. Ability to be calm, to convey, to understand, to trust. So then I just turn those thoughts over and over and over in my head. I build them but I keep them. They are mine, and they are vulnerable. But if I keep them forever, they are lost. So I'm sharing them today, with full awareness that I'm constantly refining this opinionated heart and soul of mine.
So. Here is my bottom line: Conversations deserve an open mind, and people deserve love.