A great refresher post for your Sunday from the fabulous nat kelly, originally written November 6, 2010.
In our pining for greater gender equality in the church, we feminists are often told that we cannot change the doctrine, that God’s will cannot bend to the whims and wishes of His children, and that our understanding is too small and dim to understand the lofty things of eternity, so we should probably just accept it on faith and move on.
And blast it, maybe those critics are all spot on.
So here, friends, are some changes that could be made with no doctrinal ramifications:
1) Equalize funds and funding sources for YW and YM programs.
2) Allow women access to all callings that do not require the Priesthood, such as ward clerk and Sunday School President, and allow women to have oversight of a ward’s finances.
3) Allow women to give opening and closing prayers in sacrament meetings everywhere, and to pray from the pulpit in General Conference.
4) Include more women’s voices in lesson materials, church publications, and General Conference addresses.
5) Find a way to incorporate the General Women’s conference as a fully recognized session of General Conference, at the same level of importance as the Priesthood Session.
6) Give women stewardship over women’s sexuality. (See Article 13.)
7) Eradicate teachings that men are incapable of controlling their own sexuality, and that women are responsible for reining in the sexual temptations of both men and women.
8 ) Allow married women in every ward to file tithing under their own name, regardless of their husband’s membership or level of activity.
9) Allow every person facing a disciplinary council, male or female, to have a representative of their choosing present with them in all meetings.
10) Make the Church Handbook of Instructions available to all members.
11) Standardize mission requirements for men and women – same length of service, and same age eligibility.
12) Use women’s honorific titles with the same regularity that we use men’s. If we insist on “President” Packer, we should insist on “President” Beck.
13) Incorporate inclusive language. Instead of singing “God will force no man to heaven,” we can sing “God will force no one to heaven.” (See Hymn #240.) Instead of talking about mankind, we can talk about humankind. Help your fellow men and women instead of just your fellow men. Easy fixes.
14) Make sure every meetinghouse has baby changing stations in all restrooms, and adequate facilities for nursing mothers.
15) Ensure that male and female leaders are present in every meeting that will affect the entire ward.
Look, I didn’t even bring up the temple or Heavenly Mother. Totally circumspect, no? I’m pretty proud of my heresy avoidance here.
For even an Orthodox member, these changes are not threatening. And neglecting these things is causing tangible harm to many men and women. What other non-threatening changes would you like to see made? Leaving doctrine (loosely defined) completely intact, what could change to improve the LDS experience for many women? What do we have to do to make this happen?