I belong to the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Recently, some women decided to wear pants to church as a statement against the gender
inequalities they see. I did not wear pants to my church on December
16th for two reasons. One being, I don't go to church to make
statements, to protest, or anything other than to worship my God,
remember His Son, my Savior Jesus Christ, renew my covenants that I
have made with my God, and to learn ways to be better, more like my
Savior.
My other reason is: Why,
on earth, would I want to protest or make some equality statement in
my church where they know and teach the importance of women. My
church understands the effect a righteous woman can have on society
and the effect they have on their and others
children. They understand that we make or break society. Our
Prophet Thomas S. Monson has quoted William R. Wallace and said “The hand that rocks the cradle rules
the world.” President Spencer W. Kimball Prophet of the church from 1973 to 1985 has many great quotes speaking of
women's roles and responsibilities, the best one being “To
be a righteous woman during the winding up scenes on this earth,
before the second coming of our Savior, is an especially noble
calling. The righteous woman’s strength and influence today can be
tenfold what it might be in more tranquil times. She has been placed
here to help to enrich, to protect, and to guard the home—which is
society’s basic and most noble institution. Other institutions in
society may falter and even fail, but the righteous woman can help to
save the home, which may be the last and only sanctuary some mortals
know in the midst of storm and strife."
No, the only statements
or protests that need to made, need to be done in the world, outside
of my church, especially in Hollywood. Nothing offends me more than
when I hear, in TV shows or in movies, women referred to as things.
Men talk of women as an object to be used, abused, and after they've
have their fun, to be discarded and tossed aside. This infuriates
me. I hate the saying “hit that.” Even though this refers to a
sexual conquest, hitting is an abusive term, and “that”, women
aren't even referred to as people. This is what we have reduced to,
daughters of God and mothers to future generations, have become objects. If we want more respect, better
treatment, this is where we need to start, not in a church who loves
and respects women and understands their important role in society in
raising the next generation. The world has made many women come to
resent and hate this role.
There is no other role
that is more important than raising the next generation. All that
our young women are learning from the world and women of the world are that they are objects for men to ogle, make degrading comments to, and use, and then if the those aren't bad enough, many teach that there is no real difference between men and women. The facts are, we are not objects, we are people and important members of society and there is a difference between us and men. We are not like
men, Thank Heavens. We are different with different qualities that
when joined together through marriage make one complete, beautiful,
companionship. Men and women complete each other. We shouldn't be
fighting against this but embrace it, celebrate it. We should enjoy
our differences and help each other as we raise and help our children
and serve and help our neighbors.
What a glorious blessing
it is to have the knowledge that gender is eternal. We were girls or
boys before this life and we will be after this life and we all have
important responsibilities to perform. We all can have salvation and
live with our loving Father in Heaven again and have an inheritance
in His kingdom. But, not alone, together, as an eternal
companionship, a husband and wife can receive a full inheritance. Many, because of circumstances out of their control do not marry in this life or have children. While these trials are very difficult, if endured well, all of these blessings can be theirs in the life after this one. God's love and Christ's Atoning sacrifice will make up for all these missed blessings in this life. Hang in there, remember God loves you and has many blessings in store for all his children who miss out on these blessings because of circumstances out of their control. God does not love His sons more or His daughters more, he loves all
His children and desires them to love and serve Him and choose to
live with Him again. We are all special in His eyes. Special enough
to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die for all of us that
we may return to Him and live with Him forever. Please, beautiful,
special, and important women, don't lose sight of what is really
important because worldly views are clouding and confusing our eternal view. Embrace
your gifts, your uniqueness and lets work to make a better, stronger
society for the future by investing our time in our children. Let's
not protest or make statements in the only institution that
understands just how special and important you are. In the name of
Jesus Christ Amen.
