On Women in the Priesthood...

I know when I get too much time on my hands, because this blog starts to get a little ranty (is that a word?). However, I feel strongly about this and I've decided to make my sentiments known, mostly for my own benefit and to sort out my feelings in my head. Feel free to peruse on if you wish.

I listened to the broadcast on KUER with Ally Isom, a spokeswoman for the church, in response to the media explosion in the wake of Kate Kelly possibly receiving church punishment for her propagation of "Ordain Women". You can find the interview here. It's lengthy, and gets a bit contentious at times, but I think it's worth the listen if you have questions about excommunication and/or the role of women in the church.

I had some opinions jogging in my head as I was listening, and I figure this is as good a place as any to express them. First off, it raises the question in my mind: What is Kate Kelly still doing as a member of the church? If you're part of an organization that does not support your ideals, don't you find a new one? There are many churches who support women receiving the priesthood; why doesn't she join one of them?

Second, and most importantly, the purpose of this life is to return to Heavenly Father. It's at the center of everything we do in the Church. I would submit that it would be difficult to get through a 3-hour church block without hearing those words, likely verbatim. With that being the purpose and design of our existence, the Lord has determined that women do not need the priesthood in order to gain exaltation. It doesn't have to go any further than that. Start the wrap party, folks! That's it.

It was repeated numerous times in that interview, that the church encourages questions because righteously doing so promotes faith. The entire restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ started with a question. The danger in asking questions, which wasn't said but what I wholeheartedly believe, is that Satan works his way in to the process and tries to steer you away from the truth. That is what has happened in the case of Kate Kelly, and so many others in the church. An honest inquiry has been turned in to a crusade which has put a black mark on the name of the Church. If you have such an inquiry, the place to go is to your Judges in Israel, your bishop and stake president. Don't go pounding on the door of the Church office building and then express outrage when you're not admitted, because those aren't the people the Lord has appointed to help you.

Even if the answer to a righteous inquiry is sought in the right way, the answer may still not be clear. That is when you may have to trust that "My thought are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways" (Isaiah 55:8). The doctrine of the church is not a buffet. You either choose to accept all of it, or none of it. I personally choose to accept all of it, even the parts that my mortal mind cannot make sense of right now.