What Mormon Women Want

[xchrom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/04/what-mormon-women-want/360533/

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Kate Kelly, founder of the group Ordain Women, speaks to the media before leading the march into Temple Square. (Natalie Dicou)

A women’s movement, and a sturdy one at that, is beginning to ruffle the steadfastly patriarchal Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Over the last weekend, some 400 Ordain Women supporters, marched together to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City to request tickets to Saturday night’s twice-a-year, all-male priesthood meeting held at the 21,000-seat LDS Conference Center.

They didn’t carry placards or chant slogans. Instead, these polite Mormon women, wearing their Sunday Best pantyhose, formed a line, and one by one, summoned the courage to ask for admittance. Each woman was rejected in turn.

Kate Kelly—the D.C.-based human-rights attorney and devout Mormon who in 2013 founded Ordain Women—led a similar action six months ago at the October priesthood meeting with a group less than half the size. Men in suits and ties were on rejection duty that first go-round. Media photographers shot the episode as women approached the doors, only to be rebuffed. One photo captured what appeared to be a condescending finger-pointing gesture from a man blocking a woman’s path. PR-wise, it wasn’t a shining moment for the Church, so on Saturday, a woman was tasked with refusing her fellow women. And the Church had already announced that media would not be welcome to capture the scene.

Realistically, priesthood for women might be generations away. The Church is led by great-grandfathers—prophet Thomas S. Monson turns 87 this summer, and the next in line is 89—and the religion has a natural aversion to change. Until 1978, black people weren’t allowed to be ordained as priests, serve as missionaries, or be sealed for eternity in the temple And while the Church presently endorses monogamy, it still teaches that men will be able to have multiple wives in heaven and that plural marriage could be reinstated on earth if the prophet gets a revelation from God giving the go-ahead.

[skepticscott]

1. Not sure how anyone can look themselves in the mirror

while being both a "devout Mormon" and a human rights attorney. Has she not heard of Prop 8?

[rug]

2. Ask her.

http://rfkcenter.org:8080/kate-kelly

[trotsky]

3. Great question.

I guess when you restrict what you mean by "human rights," you can.

[skepticscott]

4. Or maybe she's just rationalized it

by telling herself that all of the people in California that she helped deprive of their human rights weren't her clients, so it didn't count. Still, you'd think a "human rights lawyer" would have a bit more of principle about them. That's what "faith" does to people.

[MellowDem]

6. Lots of cognitive dissonance...

Intellectual dishonesty and compartmentalization. And many well-wishing progressives will tell them there is no conflict, because, ya know, ya don't want to mess with a person's delusions when they're on your side, I guess?

[struggle4progress]

5. They should learn some version of this: