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Guest op-ed: Gender equality is at the heart of LDS doctrine

By Kristine Douglass - Special to the Daily Herald | Dec 18, 2021

I am writing in response to the guest commentary posted on Dec. 11-12 by Keith Burns, titled “LDS women need more opportunities, not more praise.”

Mr. Burns cites sociologists Cragun, Sumerau and Williams in their characterization of so-called “soft influence tactics” and charges that male LDS church leadership placate women with insincere praise to bring them unknowingly into subjection and acceptance of their supposed denial of decision-making power within their church institution. He then boldly calls on LDS leaders to “replace their hollow adulation of women with actual institutional opportunities.” Although I cannot claim to speak for all LDS women, I would like to propose an alternate viewpoint and at least speak for myself as a Latter-day Saint woman in defining my aspirations within my faith community. There are minorities of LDS women who are grappling in regard to gender roles, but in my experience, the vast majority of LDS women are immensely fulfilled as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for many reasons. Most LDS men and women consider both genders fully equal with each other and strive for partnership in all aspects. I personally find this very consistent with core LDS doctrine. I am concerned that Mr. Burns’ rhetoric may promote distrust and disrespect for the LDS faith, basically twisting the concept of patriarchy into something it isn’t.

I am enclosing quotes for parts of an essay written by Neyland McBaine in hopes that it might explain the different paradigm of what leadership is and is not within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “To Do the Business of the Church: A Cooperative Paradigm for Examining Gendered Participation Within Church Organizational Structure.”

“In the cooperative structure that is the LDS Church’s lay ministry, there is a division of roles for the benefit of the organizational order. This division of labor is, we believe, a reflection of divine mandates given to Joseph Smith. The division of labor — not just among men and women but among varying age groups, geographical groups and also among individuals — is a central theme of the Doctrine & Covenants. For example, in March of 1835, Joseph recorded a revelation from the Lord that specified the organizational structure of the church governance: Section 107. Close reading of this revelation shows how abundantly the Lord uses phrases such as, “of necessity” and “it must needs be” and “to do the business of the church” in describing how important an ordered approach was to church administration. Similar language is used in the Book of Mormon when congregations of believers are organized in ancient civilizations.

“Nowhere does the Lord intimate that various callings and responsibilities are intended to give one person power over another. In fact, the words ‘lead’ and ‘leader’ appear nowhere in this section, and similarly, the word ‘leader’ appears nowhere in the Book of Mormon. Even that book’s most admirable leaders, like Captain Moroni, are described as ‘servant[s]’ and ‘righteous follower[s] of Christ.’ This emphasis on organizational stability, on the specific roles and responsibilities of various parties to act as facilitators within the larger community, is, we believe, of divine origin and eternal value.

“Lastly, the world calculates in terms of top-down power; God’s calculations are exactly opposite. In the divine kingdom the servant holds the highest status, and in the Church every position is a service position. Given the obvious parallels between the Church’s administrative channels and a business organization, it’s easy to mistakenly assess the Church as a ladder-climbing corporation with God in a corner office at the top; but in this line of thinking we only reveal our shoddy human understanding of power.”

Mr. Burns also criticizes our church leaders in regard to LGBTQ issues by judging their welcoming and loving words to the LGBTQ community as “soft influence tactics” that are harmful. The paradigm of LDS theology is to create a place where God’s abiding love is unmistakable and where all will feel welcomed and loved. It is the first great truth of all eternity that God has perfect and everlasting love for every individual being that has ever lived or will yet live. Here love is about genuine concern for one’s salvation through repentance, forgiveness and transformation through Christ. In the words of Jeffrey Thayne (“Worldview apologetics: Revealing the Waters in which we swim,” 2021 Fair Conference), “Self-righteous judgement and moral grandstanding are lapses in love. But so is apathy towards, or even celebration of choices that contradict divine teaching. The guiderails may not always dovetail to our personal inclinations, but Christian discipleship is a willingness to be disciplined by Christ, where commitments to Him take precedence over personal aspirations.” Please extend grace as we strive to fellowship in love with our nonmember friends and our struggling members while remaining loyal to God and our understanding of what He asks of us and how He blesses us.

Kristine Douglass is a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and enjoys studying politics, culture and religion. She lives in Ogden. Contact her at kristine.douglass1@gmail.com.

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