From Mormon Women, a Flood of Requests and Questions on Their Role in the Church | NY Times
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pickledXgrandma
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I wonder how our Heavenly Mother feels about this?
to be honest with you, I'm none too pleased.
I will not debate the merits of the article as I am not LDS and won't claim to know the truth as to their policies.
However, taking the article at face value, I feel a religion has the authority to decide its beliefs just as individuals have the right to decide whether theyre willing to accept them.
I personally don't subscribe to the belief that women shouldn't play a larger role... but I won't get into the reasons.
Having said that, I do find it disturbing about women being subjected to the intimate questioning of men. I feel those issues are solely between the individual and God. Church leaders should teach about repentance, God's grace, and encourage praying to God rather than some dude handling God's business.
Sorry... I got off topic a bit. I just hate the idea that any man has authority to ridicule and/or punish another person (especially one that is deemed unworthy at birth because of gender) when we ALL.. EVERY ONE OF US have sinned and continue to do so.
I'd like to know where these men receive their ridicule for jacking off....
However, taking the article at face value, I feel a religion has the authority to decide its beliefs just as individuals have the right to decide whether theyre willing to accept them.
I personally don't subscribe to the belief that women shouldn't play a larger role... but I won't get into the reasons.
Having said that, I do find it disturbing about women being subjected to the intimate questioning of men. I feel those issues are solely between the individual and God. Church leaders should teach about repentance, God's grace, and encourage praying to God rather than some dude handling God's business.
Sorry... I got off topic a bit. I just hate the idea that any man has authority to ridicule and/or punish another person (especially one that is deemed unworthy at birth because of gender) when we ALL.. EVERY ONE OF US have sinned and continue to do so.
I'd like to know where these men receive their ridicule for jacking off....
To me there are two parts to this. The revealed doctrine and the traditions/culture of the Church. For example keeping the Sabbath Day Holy is doctrine. Wearing a white shirt and suit to Church is a traditional part of doing that. Maybe a hundred years from now something else will be traditional.
I have been to LDS services in other countries and while they are similar that are different. Cultures change and will continue to change.
As for some of the requested changes:
I can't see any reason why a woman being interviewed by a bishop couldn't ask another woman to join her. In fact I can think of circumstances where it has happened. Seems like a reasonable practice to me.
As for ordaining woman to the priesthood, I don't see it ever happening.
Maybe there will be additional female speakers in General Conference etc. in the future.
Simply put when Jesus was on earth he didn't ordain any female apostles. Nor is being ordained required for salvation.
I have been to LDS services in other countries and while they are similar that are different. Cultures change and will continue to change.
As for some of the requested changes:
I can't see any reason why a woman being interviewed by a bishop couldn't ask another woman to join her. In fact I can think of circumstances where it has happened. Seems like a reasonable practice to me.
As for ordaining woman to the priesthood, I don't see it ever happening.
Maybe there will be additional female speakers in General Conference etc. in the future.
Simply put when Jesus was on earth he didn't ordain any female apostles. Nor is being ordained required for salvation.
I am going to tread into dangerous ground and attempt to answer your questions.
The men (generally local leaders-Bishops and Stake Presidents) are charged with asking these questions as a part of the repentance process which includes confessing your sins. For most of these men this is difficult and uncomfortable position to be in. Note that repenting of most sins only requires confession to God in prayer and sinning no more. Note confession to God precedes any confession to a Bishop.
As Bishops and Stake Presidents are called of God to minister to their local flocks they can expect Divine help.
Serious sins include sexual sins and murder require full confessions.
Most of the time Bishop's are in a position to help a person.
Now for the next part. While anyone can attend Sunday services, being a member of the Church is a privilege that you have to qualify for. Sometimes Bishop's and other male leaders are required to judge if serious sins are being sincerely repented of. Some sins are enough to disqualify a person from membership. While it is possible for them to eventually regain their membership this is what the judging is about.
I believe that in the end this is merciful as member have responsibilities that require unfettered access to divine help. Sinning is a person choosing to distance themselves from that divine help.
In the end anything done on the Earth will be corrected in the Final Judgements by God.
Men are expected to meet the same requirements.
As noted in my last post- I can't think about a good reason why if a person confessing wants another person in the room that can't be the case. I guess it is assumed that the confessor doesn't want to tell more people than necessary.
When Jesus spoke with the prostitute and said go and sin no more... I wonder if he asked all women present to leave before speaking to her?
Btw.. religions have nuances.. known as indviduals. I never hold an entire religion accountable because of individual's rites and/or interpretations. Religions would do well to not act so holy so those on the outside didn't have to call BS.
Btw.. religions have nuances.. known as indviduals. I never hold an entire religion accountable because of individual's rites and/or interpretations. Religions would do well to not act so holy so those on the outside didn't have to call BS.
Thanks. I am sure this was sincere and it is appreciated.
Having said that, I honestly find the bolded as offensive to my spirit. (and that's okay, as I am not LDS)
The Bible teaches us ALL sin separates us from God and the only unpardonable sin is the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit.
I cringe at the thought of one sinful man deciding the fate (church membership or otherwise) of another sinful man based on the magnitude of the sin being greater than his own.
I'm not mad. But I have grown tired of all religions. They all try to replace the simplicity of God's love and Jesus' gift of salvation with complex man made ordinances that merely serve to create hierarchical systems that are precisely similar to those of the pharisees. (remember how simple Jesus' message was compared to those being delivered by the 'clergy' of those days?) <------------- What's the difference today? This 'reformation' is actually nothing more than regression.
Yes. And she was a prior prostitute. And she was the first to have seen the risen Jesus.. making her a sort of "apostle to the apostles."
I've read several historical books on early Christianity, where it was argued that her role was actually one of the more important early Christian leaders and she was one of the closes followers of the historical Jesus. However infighting between the followers after the Crucifixion led to records of her role erased or diminished. After all, the history (and the gospel) is written by the victors. There are no direct evidence (read - its not in the New Testament) that she was a prostitute or did anything immoral.
This is true. The fact that Mary was a prostitute is a reach. First of all, the word prostitute doesn't show in the Bible. Harlot does.. but mostly adulterer... which of course have different meanings. Some conclude that Mary was the woman in the temple that Jesus spared from being stoned for adultery but there is no evidence of that being the case.
Speaking purely from a biblical sense, we only know a few things about Mary;
- Jesus expelled 7 demons from her
- she was a devout disciple of Jesus Christ
- she was present for the crucifixion
- she was first to have seen the risen Christ