LDS Church not Right Wing

[_badseed]

So I guess I object to the right wing label. Joseph Smith was in many ways quite radical, liberally, and some of that has survived to this day in the temple ceremonies.

The LDS Church is Joseph Smith's Church less and less every year (I doubt that he himself would last 6 months in the Church today) and I don't think that this happening without the approval and direction of Bros. Sure the Church tries to maintain some sort of connection it's 19th century founder but only by re-packaging Brother Joseph as something more a current General Authority.

Other than that, what krose said about covers it:

Their stances on issues such as the ERA, abortion, and marriage equality have nothing to do with it. Their embarrassingly slow change in finally recognizing blacks as full members, Ezra's rants about communists hiding under every bed, the speeches in the MoCon about a woman's place being in the home, the concept that any husband is the official head of household, the temple ceremony where women promised to obey their husbands -- those have nothing to do with it.

Politically no doubt the LDS Church skews right wing. I think the latest pols (Pew etc) have the membership leaning Republican at something like 75%-78%.

[_son of Ishmael]

Heck girls can't even go to camp without a priesthood holder to preside over the outing 24/7.

Chasity is important. When youth are gathered there are chaperones to watch over the festivities. For after all it is coed.

Yeah you don't want any of those cup cakes to get licked or wear two sets of ear rings

[_madeleine]

If the parish priest is absent, and there is not another one available, a person of either gender can lead a service at which the readings for the day are delivered, and the pre-blessed Sacrament can be distributed [by either gender]

I stand corrected. So basically women in the Roman Catholic Church have the authority of LDS deacons (who pass the sacrament), but not the authority of LDS priests (who bless the sacrament).

Also put in there the priesthood of all believers. All the baptized share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Mothers blessing their children is normal. Catholics blessing each other is also normal.

The sacramental responsibilities of clergy are understood to be acting in persona Christi, in the person of Christ. Jesus was male, which, I don't have any resentment for anyone being male or female. Having an all-male priesthood makes sense to me, in this context.

There remains in Catholicism a sense of hierarchal order, that favors men over women. It has changed dramatically at a parish level. To the point where people who do not like these changes accuse women of running the parish AND its priest(s). There is less of this change at the diocese level and even less at the Vatican level.

It will take time. The Catholic Church changes very, very slowly. Decisions have been known to take a couple of centuries.

[_KevinSim]

I repeat: An extraordinary minister of the Eucharist must also be a person whose lifestyle is in conformity with the teachings of the Church.

Those to become extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist are blessed for that purpose. If you will accept the analogy, it is a lesser priesthood. And those people do this on a regular basis, nearly at every Mass. Just too many people for the priest to do it himself.

So Catholic women hold what you have called a "lesser priesthood." I would never call what LDS women in the LDS temples hold a "lesser priesthood"; suffice it to say it's somewhere between a lesser priesthood and the priesthood that men hold, both in LDS temples and in everyday life. So far we are equals.

[_KevinSim]

Their embarrassingly slow change in finally recognizing blacks as full members

The LDS Church is slow, I'll grant you that. What's embarrassing about how slow it is?

[_KevinSim]

The LDS church is not consistently pro-life. Being opposed to abortion, but supporting the death penalty and the unrestricted right to bear arms is hypocritical.

MCB, how can you even compare the right of innocent fetuses to be born with the alleged right of convicted murderers to escape the death penalty? The fetuses never killed anybody.

[_KevinSim]

So long as you don't object to the Conservative label.

I do object to the Conservative label. In most recent elections I've always preferred the more moderate candidates to the more conservative ones. I even say without apology that I voted for Paul Tsongas in the Democratic caucuses back in 1992. The nation really missed out on a good leader when Bill Clinton beat him and became the Democratic Party's nominee.

(I'm kind of pulling your chain here. I did eventually decide to concentrate on Republican candidates only a few years later, though as I said I have always favored moderate Republicans to conservative ones.)

[_KevinSim]

What church are you talking about? LDS girls camp is not coed. We keep telling you to go to church and learn things, but you never do.

DarkHelmet, I'm pretty sure Why Me was talking about youth conference, not girl's camp.

[_cafe crema]

What church are you talking about? LDS girls camp is not coed. We keep telling you to go to church and learn things, but you never do.

DarkHelmet, I'm pretty sure Why Me was talking about youth conference, not girl's camp.

No he was talking about girls camp.

[_cafe crema]

I repeat: An extraordinary minister of the Eucharist must also be a person whose lifestyle is in conformity with the teachings of the Church.

Those to become extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist are blessed for that purpose. If you will accept the analogy, it is a lesser priesthood. And those people do this on a regular basis, nearly at every Mass. Just too many people for the priest to do it himself.

So Catholic women hold what you have called a "lesser priesthood." I would never call what LDS women in the LDS temples hold a "lesser priesthood"; suffice it to say it's somewhere between a lesser priesthood and the priesthood that men hold, both in LDS temples and in everyday life. So far we are equals.

Well one big difference is that the vast majority of Catholic men hold the same "lesser priesthood" that women do, so over all men and women are on more equal footing in the Catholic church.