The Future of Ordain Women?

Fwiw….

OW had never been my issue or fight, until now. Jwald and I both plan on posting a profile when we get home from our travels.

I see it as an act of support for civil rights, as well as a protest against a large corporation that has been less than honest through this whole process.

Just my opinion.

True, we are not active and have no influence, but we are still members and I feel I have every right to voice my opinion. I gave 40 years of my time, talent and money to this church.

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I suppose it depends. If the mission of OW is to push for change in the LDS church – how does that help if most of the members become excommunicated.

They can still attend church, still have fellow ship with the saints, still blog and attract supporters, and now they are free to do so. They are also free to publish now without consequences, and can interview with the press etcetera, and even proselyte.

it’s kind of like after you give up your TR, as some of us have done. No longer does the church have anything to hang over your head regarding accepting unwanted callings, tithing, or other things — they no longer have any strings to pull. Excommunicated members — excommunicated for the cause they are fighting for, have the same freedom but on a larger scale — nothing to lose and can act even more freely than before. That’s dangerous on a large scale, from a church perspective. Excommunicate a ton of them for their agitation, and you end up with a group that has its own identify and will seek comfort in banding together.

I also think sacrifice breeds commitment. So, if I was Kate, I’d feel even more committed to my cause given the sacrifices I made — but only so long as I had the support of people I am leading, and those numbers grow over time. I would need something to sustain that commitment over time, and I’m not sure what that will be for Kate, but in the short term, I’d be more committed than I was before.

You could continue the fight to the benefit of those members that remain and have at least tacitly rejected you or to the benefit of future generations of LDS women still unborn.

Agreed. Some might take that stance and might find it motivating.

I added my profile on the day KK was exed, it has not been added yet. I heard that she stepped down as top leader maybe because she will be out of the country. The new leaders should just continue to respectfully go about their work. There might be a lot more support now that the whole world knows about it. The Brethren should have just let them go to the priesthood session.

SD: The stats in those polls are slightly misleading in that if you worded the question “Would you support female ordination if the prophet stated that it was time?” you’d get nearly unanimous support. What does that say about the poll? That Mormons, unlike other denominations, are far more authoritarian and obedient, looking to leaders to tell us what to do.

I’m tired of talking about OW and Kate. The church needs to engage thoughtfully with women and hasn’t done much of that up to now. OW achieved its aim in that it expanded the Overton window. The church is now on record as saying that these questions are OK. I think the church’s primary objections were partly strawman arguments: 1) that OW proselyted followers by creating six discussions (and yet the content of those discussions wasn’t false doctrine – they mostly pointed out cultural assumptions), and 2) that the wording of the OW mission statement indicated that the group was at odds with church leadership and making unwavering demands for ordination, that nothing less would suffice. If that was their intent, it wasn’t clear to those of us listening to them because they continually stated that ordination was the clearest way to achieve equality (although I’m still not convinced that it is). But the wording of the mission statement was needlessly inflammatory and easily misunderstood. There are some in OW leadership who had already left the church, and I wondered if their aims were more inflammatory than the faithful in the group. Such it is with any activist movements.

I was surprised by the Pew poll that indicated about 90% of LDS women and 84% of LDS men are in favor of women NOT holding the priesthood.

I wonder how many men would ask for ordination if it was optional. I don’t think I would have.

If I didn’t know what it really involved (like when I was a new convert), I’d probably want it. Knowing what i know now, I’m not so sure.