Equal Access to Blessings of Priesthood

[Anonymous]

While I like Jim and appreciate the interview, I don’t condone his comments. It was interesting to me to see how much more conservative his views were on female ordination were than even the LDS Church. With his church being in Missouri, it made me wonder how many other conservative evangelicals hold similar views on female ordination. I don’t think he’s isolated in his views, even if I disagree with his characterizations.

[Anonymous]

DancingCarrot wrote:

… it seems like other people are able to get a testimony of it.

There are a lot of things other people seem to get a testimony of that I haven’t (yet?), one of which is simple: Daily scripture study. I don’t see the point of doing it every day. I don’t feel much of anything from repeating the same study over and over. I don’t feel all that different when I forget a day. I don’t get why it would have any effect on my testimony if I just stopped reading for a month. And yet, I’ve been doing it (albeit inconsistently) for, I dunno, 12 years or so? The cynic in me even wonders if its purpose is just to keep yourself properly brainwashed.

Frankly, I don’t expect a testimony of anything. What testimony I do have is, in itself, a blessing. I’m lucky enough that it happens to be the core ideas that I can stick to and fall back on- God is real, he loves us, and he gave us a Savior to atone for our sins and help us to overcome the worst in ourselves. There will probably always be things in the church that bother me, but I know I can still stick to my guns. It’s not the most satisfying thing in the world, I’ll admit, but I can work with it. I think this is what Uchtdorf means (or at least what I take it to mean) when he says to doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. Or maybe better, goes along with Holland when he says not to pretend to faith that you do not have and instead focus on the faith you do have.

And if other people can get a testimony of it (which I assume means they’re satisfied with their answer), great. It’s their testimony. It works for them. It’s not what you need or want and that’s okay. Not everyone likes apple pie.

And with that said, I will excuse myself from the direct issue.

[Anonymous]

Roy wrote:

During the OW movement I had several conversations with fairly moderate and open women on this subject. I heard again and some variation of “I personally do not want the priesthood, I have enough to do without adding that to my plate of responsibilities.” I responded that I respect that position but think it is instructive to “turn the tables”. What if I, as a male Mormon, were to say, “I personally do not want the priesthood, I have enough to do without adding that to my plate of responsibilities”? I would probably be viewed as a lazy shirker, or unfaithful, some might even question my masculinity.

How we view men and the priesthood deeply reinforces male privilege in our culture.

P.S. To be fair, I also recognize that priesthood also gives young men a sense of purpose, the sense of being needed and useful with a role to fulfill in our communities, and structure that can help them adjust to adulthood. There are differences of opinion whether giving the priesthood equally to YW would diminish the “specialness”/effectiveness of priesthood in the lives of the young men.

The above is actually an area where I interpret the women to do the shirking of responsibilities, but since we aren’t ordained at a young age and it isn’t ingrained into our church identities, we are allowed to say “I personally don’t want the priesthood.” So in this scenario I think a point for privilege actually goes to the women, as the men are seen are less than if they take the view of not wanting the priesthood. I hadn’t thought of it that way before, though, so I appreciate you flipping the script. Priesthood burnout is another reason to expand ordination, just sayin’.

Yes, I’ve heard that the priesthood is also a tool to help YM feel wanted and utilized in the ward. I just don’t see the same concern happening for women. No one frets that YW will become bored or disaffected because they don’t have enough priesthood summer activities or tasks to do on Sundays. Sorry, those multiple summer outings really got my goat while I was in YW. I got SUPER tired of making centerpieces for my future household. :crazy: However, that line of thinking, that YM need the priesthood to feel included, just reinforces the concept of male identity in the church. It also doesn’t allow for other expressions of identity for men, which I think is unfortunate.

GT, I understand that you don’t condone his comments. Like you, I wonder how many others are like him. I would hope that not many are, but I have no idea.

Beefster, I understand what you’re trying to say. I’m mostly saying is that it’s hard to not have a testimony of something incredibly fundamental to the church (priesthood authority/keys/offices) and try to talk about it in church without feeling like I’m being pandered to instead. I agree with you in that perhaps it isn’t necessary for everyone to have a testimony of everything. Maybe I need to make peace with the aspect of myself that actually believes that instead of trying to force something that isn’t there.

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