The New Mormon.org

I have recently taken the opportunity to create a profile on Mormon.org, the church's redesigned website that teaches about our church and what we believe. Cuz let's be honest... there is a LOT of crazy ish out there that people think we believe. I'm pretty sure I've heard it all ;). Anyway this new program is amazing-- it highlights the lives and beliefs of the members, with personal profiles and videos that share our testimonies and experiences. I was so delighted to have this opportunity to share my testimony and beliefs, and also to answer specific questions like: "What are Mormon women like? Do Mormons believe in equality of men and women?" What an excellent venue for members or interested, curious non-members to learn about all the varied facets of our faith, including everything from our faith in Jesus Christ to our beliefs about the equality of men and women.

I also love this new site because it highlights the unique lives and talents of our diverse and vast membership. For a long time growing up I felt like a total misfit among the other LDS young women because I had different interests and goals. I thought maybe I wasn't meeting the expectations of what a "good mormon girl" was meant to be like. This website helps dispel attitudes like that by emphasizing how important and wonderful it is that our members are unique and different! Though we are all linked by a common faith, covenants and commandments, we still manage to be incredible and special individuals. One of my favorite videos highlights the life of Cassandra, a "wife, mother, artist and Mormon." Here is a link to her video-- you'll love it!

http://mormon.org/me/18TC-eng#

Here is my favorite quote from her:

"I used to think there was thing that I was supposed to be that I didn't quite... fit. And one day I realized, I totally made that up. That God wants me to be an individual, but doing that with what I've been given."

I would encourage all LDS members to take a moment and create a profile on Mormon.org! If you'd like to see what it could be like, feel free to take a look at mine here. You can also click on the button on the side of this blog and it will take you to my profile. I've included a few of my questions and responses below as well, as a bit of a preview. Last, I would encourage my many fabulous friends that are not LDS to check out the site too-- I'm pretty confident it can answer just about any question you have about our beliefs, and if it doesn't you can ask me directly and I would be more than happy to give my best reply.

What are Mormon women like? Do Mormons believe in equality of men and women?

Mormon women are like most other women-- we work, we laugh, we cry, we have families, we learn, we do all that good stuff!

I am so grateful to belong to a church that honors the work of women as much as the work of men. Many societies and organizations see the work that many women do in the home--the work of mothers--as a waste, or replaceable. Many cultures in the world still consider women and girls to be of lower value and status than men and boys; not so in the LDS church. President Gordon B. Hinckley said it best: "God our Eternal Father ordained that men and women should be companions. That implies equality . . . There is no basis in the gospel for inferiority or superiority between the husband and wife. Do you think that God our Eternal Father loves his daughters less than he loves his sons? No man can demean or belittle his wife as a daughter of God without giving offense to her Father in Heaven."

Our church teaches that women have incredible influence and power in the home, but also that women have a very important role to play in society and the world. President Brigham Young, the second modern-day prophet of our church, said this about the importance of women obtaining an education and contributing to society: "We have sisters here who, if they had the privilege of studying, would make just as good mathematicians or accountants as any man; and we think they ought to have the privilege to study these branches of knowledge that they may develop the powers with which they are endowed. We believe that women are useful, not only to sweep houses, wash dishes, make beds, and raise babies, but that they should stand behind the counter, study law or physics, or become good book keepers and be able to do the business in any counting house, and all this to enlarge their sphere of usefulness for the benefit of society at large. In following these things they but answer the design of their creation." His statement was made during the 1800s, when the education of women was rare, and women working alongside men was generally not well accepted.

Can you see why I love being a woman in the LDS church? What other institution so clearly supports women in choosing to have an active role in society, to obtain "all the education you can" as President Gordon B. Hinckley so often admonished the Young Women of the Church, but also treasures and respects our role of "mother" and the nurturers of the next generation? In my opinion, there is no greater liberating force for women and girls than the true gospel of Christ.

Truly, I have never seen another church that emphasizes the importance of education, both spiritual and secular, with greater clarity. And when it comes to the value of learning for both men and women, our doctrine is clear: education is important for all. In fact, Elder Neal A. Maxwell said that for too long in the Church, the men have been the theologians while the women have been the Christians. To be equal partners, each should be both a theologian and a Christian. I could not agree with this more; in order to best represent our full capacity, both sexes need to become have both excellent in charity and wisdom.

President Hinckley articulated this important principle so well: "The whole gamut of human endeavor is now open to women. There is not anything that you cannot do if you will set your mind to it. I am grateful that women today are afforded the same opportunity to study for science, for the professions, and for every other facet of human knowledge. You are as entitled as are men to the Spirit of Christ, which enlightens every man and woman who comes into the world. . . You can include in the dream of the woman you would like to be a picture of one qualified to serve society and make a significant contribution to the world of which she will be a part." This quote from him truly inspired me, and helped me realize that in order to fulfill my full potential I need to work to become both an excellent wife, mother, and family member, and also an exceptional citizen that works to improve the world around me.

Our gospel is one that teaches the true equality of men and women; we should both be educated, we should both be active in doing good for our society, we should both be actively, fully engaged in the role of parenthood and of running the home. Though we may have primarily different responsibilities, one is not valued above the other, and we are always expected to work together in a perfectly respectful, equal partnership. As was recently said by Elder Alexander B. Morrison, "The Church cannot bow down before any traditions that demean or devalue the daughters of God."

As a true feminist--a person who believes that men and women should have equal treatment and rights-- I know that Christ's true gospel teaches that men and women truly are equals in the sight of God.

What is the role of the husband and the wife in the family?

The Gospel of Christ teaches that women and men should work together as equal partners: "fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners" (A Proclamation to the World). Another wonderful statement from Elder L. Tom Perry clarifies our beliefs about men and women working together in family leadership: "There is not a president and vice president in a family. We have co-presidents working together eternally for the good of their family . . . They are on equal footing. They plan and organize the affairs of the family jointly and unanimously as they move forward." One of my very favorite clarifications was made by President Boyd K. Packer: "There is no task, however menial, connected with the care of babies, the nurturing of children, or with the maintenance of the home that is not the husband’s equal obligation. The tasks which come with parenthood, which many consider to be below other tasks, are simply above them."

Perhaps my favorite analogy about the role of men and women was taught by Elder Bruce C. Hafen and his wife Sister Marie Hafen: "In the little kingdom of a family, each spouse freely gives something the other does not have and without which neither can be complete and return to God’s presence. Spouses are not a soloist with an accompanist, nor are they two solos. They are the interdependent parts of a duet, singing together in harmony at a level where no solo can go."

In my opinion, the role of husband and wife should be the ultimate model of equality, love, and respect. I know this is the case because it is what God has taught us through scripture and prophets, and because I have prayed about it and know that it is true.