Celebrating Easter Like a Feminist
I am a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I read scriptures daily, participate in church on Sundays, and serve others when I can. I am a stay-at-home mother of two and a return missionary. I do not feel of lesser value than the men at church. I have an awesome husband and marriage in which I am an equal partner.
That being said, I also have questions. I get frustrated when I see preferential treatment due to gender. I don't like that the last speaker in church is typically a man. I get riled up when I hear people generalizing negatively about the sister-missionaries they served with. I get annoyed when people limit themselves because of their sex. I guess you could say I'm a feminist. Among other things.
We have a few friends involved in the movement to ordain women to the LDS priesthood. While I don't agree with them on many things (like women needing the priesthood), I do agree that there is inequality that seems central to the culture and doctrines of The Church. Temple ceremonies even seem to enforce this. And that breaks my heart. Last night while talking to my husband, I realized why many people are leaving The Church over this. I get it. I feel that frustration and that need to understand.
In the depths of my confusion and tears about this subject, one thing became very clear:
I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
I know that he loves me. My testimony of him is personal, individual. And it is based on the testimonies of Him found in The Book of Mormon. When Christ appears to those in the Americas after His resurrection, He shows the people present (a crowd of hundreds or more) the evidence of His sacrifice. The Book of Mormon records this experience.
13 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:
14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.
(3 Nephi 11:13-15, emphasis added)
The Savior in His perfect patience allowed every person to come forward and gain a testimony of His Atonement for themselves.
I have questions. I do not agree with many of the cultural traditions within The Church. But I do have a strong, personal testimony of the Savior and His atonement, which I nourish daily with scripture study and prayer. I have had a witness that The Book of Mormon is holy scripture. And I have patience.
I will wait in my imperfect knowledge for change, whether it is within The Church or within myself. I will trust that the Lord's ways and culture are not my ways and culture, and hope that they're better. I will doubt my doubts before I doubt my faith.
Because my faith is in the Savior, I'll allow my doubts to be worked out along the way.
Happy Easter.
(photos courtesy of deseretnews.com and LDS.org)
So well spoken - thank you <3
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written, Racheal. We are all stretched thin and inadequate to the task of overcoming personal and cultural bias in striving to understand and live His perfect Gospel in our attitudes toward others. Though we would like to believe otherwise, both individually and as a people our interactions within the church and outside of it still betray unfair biases based on gender, race, ethnicity, age, and, most notably, religion. I believe that the Church and its people are less subject to "preferential treatment" than at any other time in our history, but that is not to say that we are free of such biases instilled in "the traditions of our fathers," some of which have become institutionalized. There are doctrinal reasons for some distinctions between the roles and responsibilities between men and women in the Gospel, but our cultural bias still causes us to extrapolate these distinctions into dogmatic expressions of inequality. I have seen many of these diminish over the years, and hope it will continue. Discerning between doctrine and dogma is a challenge that requires equal parts courage, patience, humility, faith and obedience. Thank you for expressing these attributes so well.
ReplyDeleteUncle Ken, you're the man. That was a beautiful response and Rach and I were just talking about how poignant and perfect it was. We don't have to have all the answers in order to be full of faith.
ReplyDeleteRacheal, thank you for being so... awesome. This is perfect.
I love you for writing this and confronting this topic so directly. I have a very similar view, surprise ;o), and also feel disappointed when I hear people judge those who are a part of the Ordain movement, though I disagree there is no need to have negative feelings toward our sisters and brothers. We are a very white middle class Church--and that needs to change! Let's work on that =) I loved what the Pope said in Parade Magazine today (he is so awesome, like Dieter) "Christians are joyful; they are never gloomy. God is at our side... Jesus has shown us that the face of God is that of a loving Father. Sin and death have been defeated. Christians cannot be pessimists! They do not look like someone in constant mourning. If we are truly in love with Christ and if we sense how much he loves us, our hearts will “light up” with a joy that spreads to everyone around us."
ReplyDeleteThere is so much good. We will feed the fire of our testimonies together and alone, and I just have to say with how amazing my children have turned out, I'd rather be a Mormon than anything else. There is so much good in the help and support we have here to be our best selves, to learn from experienced mothers and fathers, to guide one another along our individual paths of discipleship. I'm so glad we are friends!
I love the quote Alice Sahim taught me ..."It's not a matter of whether it's right or wrong it's a matter of obedience....I Love You my Awesome Daughter.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Dad shares your frustration over who gets to speak first.
Lovely to read Racheal. I can agree with you on every point. I have my questions and feelings as well that seem to mirror yours. While I don't agree with everything that pertains to the social issues being discussed at large in our community, I do feel that in our questioning and seeking for Divine guidance, questions will be asked and answers made more sure. God bless you!
ReplyDeleteRacheal,
ReplyDeleteI love the patience, humility and love with which this was written. I have a FB friend who is a loud voice in the OW movement, and so many of her posts seem to be screaming, whining and complaining, that I've begun to dread her posts and feel she is only perpetuating those same complaints I heard elders speak of sisters they served with. I'm embarrassed to admit that I have in the past criticized the movement. However, when I learned that a woman had never prayed in general conference till just recently, and that that finally changed in large part to the voice of these woman, I had to step back and admit that their voice is in deed important to creating change in some cultural aspects that might otherwise continue to be overlooked (as I myself did) or unnecessarily perpetuated. The theme that stood out to me over and over again this recent General Conference was the importance of love and patience in not just the way we speak to one another, but in the way we LISTEN to one another. The older I get the more I realize "becoming one with Christ" is much more complicated than I think, because it's not just about required ordinances, but perhaps even more about true charity and empathy, of which Christ truly was the perfect example. It is never easy to speak out when you're afraid your opinions may be criticized or misunderstood. So thank you for sharing your thoughts, and reminding me to listen to other perspectives.
Love ya!
Jaime