KevinSim wrote:Harmony,
I've been involved in talking with critics of the LDS Church for a very long time. In 1999 it started taking a toll on me; I started wondering what I would do if I should in fact discover that God hadn't inspired the LDS Church. I certainly wouldn't leave the LDS Church and join an existing group; I was reasonably certain no such group existed that I would find more acceptable than the LDS Church. So I started thinking about what an acceptable group would look like. I came up with an idea for a group that would have fully diverse leadership; both women and men would be involved in all levels of leadership; heck, gays and lesbians would be involved in all levels of leadership.
1999 also, it turned out, was a time when I found myself unemployed for a pretty significant stretch. I couldn't find a job no matter where I looked. It became more and more clear to me that my faith group was a very real possibility of something I could use to earn a living. I was seriously thinking of starting it up.
I told my wife what I was thinking, and she was vehemently opposed. After begging me to stop considering it I ended up promising her I wouldn't start up this faith group. I'd find some other way to earn a living.
2003 was another year without a job. Once again I started seriously thinking about using my faith group idea as a way to earn money. Once again I told my wife what I was thinking. She reminded me that I had promised her back in 1999 that I wouldn't pursue this idea, and asked me how many of the other promises I had made to her that I wasn't planning on keeping. Perhaps needless to say, in 2003 I promised her again that I wasn't going to do the faith group thing.harmony wrote:What if your wife really thinks she should have the priesthood too? Thinks she should be able to be the mouthpiece when you bless your baby in front of the ward? Thinks she should be able to pursue a career while you stay home, tending to what is now considered "women's work"? Thinks she wouldn't turn down the calling of "bishop" of your ward?
When we sustain the first female bishop, I'll say you get it. Until then, well... remember that you'll never be the target of an old prophet's remark about cows.
First "female bishop"? Look, Harmony, I can spearhead things a lot better than I can lead them. If I were to start up my faith group, of necessity I'd have to be the first overall leader, but that would last about what, six months? Then the overall leader would be chosen by a democratic election, and I would just as soon vote for a woman as I would for a man. Bishop in the LDS Church is a local leader; I would gladly sustain a woman who was democratically elected to take over the non-elected global position I had held for those six months.
What if my "wife really thinks she should have the priesthood too," if she thinks "she should be able to be the mouthpiece when" she blesses our "baby in front of the ward," if she thinks "she wouldn't turn down the calling of 'bishop' of" our ward? Then I'd remind her of the faith group I told her about back in 1999 and then again in 2003, and I'd ask her if she was still opposed to me forming that faith group.
I get it, Harmony. I'm ready to sustain the first female bishop, the first female stake president, the first female area president, all the way up the line to the first female prophet. Just get my wife to release me from the promise I made her, and you'll see all four of those female leaders.
I too will welcome the day that women are allowed to once again lead in the LDS Church (since the early days of the Church) and publicly use the priesthood they hold. Today this is only allowed in the temple due to man-made policies.