Friday, April 4, 2014

Ordain Women... or not. LDS.

I'm really proud of this picture I took of the SLC temple. 
So, if you look through my blog, the last time I posted was a year ago. I don't feel like I'm a good enough writer to eloquently write my thoughts, so I try to limit myself. And I especially don't really like writing about politics or controversial things...  but, two weeks ago, I was studying for one of my tests, and I got really distracted looking at blogs and posts about this whole, "Ordain Women" movement.

I'm no expert, but basically, in the church I belong to, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we believe that the priesthood, the power of God, is given to males. If you don't know what the priesthood is, or don't know why we have the priesthood today, I encourage you to click on the link and search it and learn more about it. Anyyyyyway, the women (and men) in this ordain women movement believe that this power should be given to women as well as males.

Basically to sum it up simply, they believe that within our church there is gender inequality and that women aren't treated as equals to males. They believe that they should be treated the "same" as men.

When I first started reading about it, I got really upset. This kind of stuff annoys me a lot. Whyyy do these women think they know better than God? God gave men the priesthood for a reason. In our church, Women and Men are absolutely equal, but we have different roles and gifts. Second, I'veee never felt like I was inferior to a man. ever. I've been a part of this church my whole life, and if anything, the principles we learn make women superior to men if anything. Third, men can't use the priesthood for themselves... and women can have the same power as them through faith. Personally, I think a woman's prayer for her sick child is just as powerful as a priesthood blessing. Lastly, and this is me being lazy, but having the priesthood is a huge responsibility, so...... yeah.

As I was on my rant and about to start picking fights with anyone I could find on the matter (not really, but in my mind I was)... I texted Stacy to vent about how annoying it was. She gave me some advice that I would like to share:


I seriously couldn't have said it better myself. 

One more thought, is as I was talking to Joram about it, and as I was going off about how annoying it was, he reminded me that we shouldn't put our thoughts and energy in things that don't better us. With conference coming up this weekend, there are going to be people protesting outside of temple square, and maybe even some negative comments... it is a good reminder that we need to remember that they are children of God as well. They understand things differently than we do, and negative thoughts and actions usually do more harm than good. So don't let your thoughts and actions go against what we learn from our Savior Jesus Christ, to love one another. 

I tried to keep this blog post short, and to the point. Those are just my thoughts on the whole issue that I wanted to share. If you disagree with me, that's your prerogative, and I'll still love you. 

With that said, I hope everyone has a fabulous conference weekend. If you have never watched conference before, or don't know what it is, check it out! Saturday 10am and 2pm, and Sunday at 10 am and 2pm as well. You can watch it online at lds.org. Conference is one of my most favorite times of the year. How amazing is it that we can listen to revelation directly from God for us for right NOW. You can bet I'll be watching it. And if I go, I'll be wearing a dress, not pants (not that it matters what you go in ;))