Perception.

Ordainwomen.org is website/movement currently running its course among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that is petitioning the Church to ordain women to the priesthood, which members of the Church believe to be the power of God given to men to lead and perform His work on the earth. The thoughts reflected here are my personal opinion, and in no way reflect the teachings at BYU or of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

As a young professional, my mother had recently graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in accounting with honors. She would later graduate with an MBA in finance from UCLA. When she graduated, she applied for a job as an auditor with the Church. Though qualified and interviewed, she was eventually turned down for the position. The reason she was given was that the Church did not want her travelling around with another auditor who might be male, and be put in a compromising position, while also incurring extra costs for the Church (with hotel arrangements). While that was probably a valid point, my personal feeling is that part of the reason she was turned down was because she was a woman, and, in the LDS Church, men are responsible for the finances. 

In the Doctrine & Covenants, which is a compilation of scripture purportedly given to Joseph Smith through revelation, it stated that the financial affairs of the church were to be presided over by holders of the priesthood, who were men. I'll come back to my Mom at the end. 

Women can and must have an equal place in society. In the workplace and at home, I believe that every family is entitled, if not charged with the responsibility to find the best way if raising their family, whether the man or woman works, stays at home, or even both working if needed. As I read Sheryl Sandberg's book, Lean In, I am ever more convinced that women need to have their place in society and the world, equal to men, whether in a first or third world country. We must help them have their own voice and right to choice and freedom, especially in societies where their access to free speech and progress in society is oppressed. Women are the backbone of society, and as such should be given full access to educational and vocational pursuits. I think we should have more female leaders, both in corporations as well as in politics. Many of them are far more qualified and intelligent than men are. 

Having said that, the Church is not a secular institution and does not subscribe to that same notion in leadership. The responsibilities of men and women differ in the Church, not as an affront or crutch to women, but as divinely appointed positions that give each gender the ability to rise to their full potential. Who knows, maybe God doesn't give women the priesthood because He knows they'll do a better job then men, and needs us to learn instead. Aside from that thought, women contribute so much to the Church in different ways. As my friend Tal said, we don't know if women will ever have the priesthood even though there hasn't been precedent for that. Maybe it will happen one day. 

My mother has asked me before why women have the priesthood. I used to give her the line that I've always heard - the whole separate but equal thing, that men have the priesthood and women give birth to the children. She still wonders why she didn't get that job. Taking a step back, I've come to the conclusion that perhaps my go-to isn't the answer, and I offer this as my answer, however underdeveloped or unsubstantiated. There's no separate but equal, there's no the men have the priesthood and so women get this. One of my professors emailed me and made this point, which I agree with and that I believe clarifies my stance:

"The many justifications being offered in response to your post are mostly silly and some of them offensive and demeaning towards women. The notion that 'women provide the physical birth and men provide the spiritual birth' is egregious: who is supposedly responsible for raising these children at home and providing the spiritual foundation? Are fathers the only ones, or even primarily the ones, responsible for the 'spiritual birth?' Good marriages and good parenting do not pawn off one or the other aspects of a child's development to one partner or the other. It is a joint venture or nothing at all."

We don't know, and that's exactly why we do our best to understand our belief in God, find peace with it, and live our lives the best that we can. Some will call that blind faith, and I can understand where they are coming on from that. I promise you, though, that much thought has been put not just into this topic, but many other principles and doctrines of the Church. The Church will continue to grow and as it does, it will mature, line upon line and precept upon precept. 


My friend Evan made a good point about a flaw in my logic, that I am making an "argument from authority," a logical fallacy, which, in this case, would say:
1. We have to trust that the leaders of the church are called
2. Which follows from, the leaders say x
3. Which you take forward to, therefore x

This can never be conclusive evidence, Evan said, because the leaders can be wrong. It can be supporting, if the leaders publish their reasons why they have come to a decision.
So, your alternatives are 1) trust them even though they could be wrong 2) try to think about the arguments for and against, and come to your own decision.

To Evan, I say. Yes, I agree. They could be wrong, and I have to be ready for that. But, that is where the divide between faith in a spiritual sense and trust in a secular sense come to a divide. Because I have had experiences that testify (yes, a word with a religious connotation) tell me this is true , and I don't believe it's the dopamine working, then I have a different foundation than other people who cannot see things the way I do, because we are looking at the box from two different angles. She says it's white, he says it's black.

For the moment, members have to trust that the leaders of the Church are called and inspired of God and will lead His Church the way He sees fit. He does all in love and the best interests of His children. There will come a day when we will understand all that God has revealed, and all that He will reveal pertaining to His Kingdom. 

The beauty of the LDS Church is that it believes in continuous revelation, that God continues to speak to His children, that the conduit from heaven is open - it is two way communication. If I may state the point again, there may come a day when doctrine does change, that is the very foundation of the Church,  that as Emerson once said, “God is, not was; that He speaketh, not spake." 

There are many who would claim that the comments I have just made are based on an unfounded belief, that is tied only to faith. To a certain extent, I do agree. I have my doubts every single day. I doubt sometimes whether or not Joseph Smith was a prophet, or a megalomanic. I wonder if the Church I have been brought up to believe has the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, is a farce. This is a daily struggle and one that I hope that we all have as members of the Church, because that is the only way to find out if all this is true. There are so many things that yell to me in my mind that this has to be false, while at other times, the my heart whispers that it is true. If you do not doubt, you cannot believe. 

My faith, I hope, is not a blind one, but one that hinges on experiences that help me to trust that all that He does is for the best for me, as well as all those in this world. My hope, then, is that each person, member of the Church or not, but especially members, will take the time to question all they see and learn in life, because that questioning is what will allow them to ask, to answer, and then to know. 

I can only hope that I will always do the same.