Agitators

And . . . I still haven't finished the Lusseyran book.

Maybe it's because I spend too much time on Mormon blogs.

Right now, the hot topic is ordaining women to the priesthood. It springs from an interview President Hinckley did with Mike Wallace years ago, in which he explained that Mormon women are happy. They have plenty of leadership and service opportunities. They aren't agitating to get the priesthood.

To which a few women have said, "Oh yeah? Well, we do want it. We've wanted it for years. And we start agitating now."

My thoughts on the matter?

1) It's a mistake for men to proclaim what women want, or what they like, or what fulfills their dreams. Ask the women.

2) It's not a mistake to ask questions about why things are the way they are or to ask God if they could be different. But if He says no, if He says A and B can change but C has to stay the way it is, we have to accept the answer. To do otherwise is apostasy, and Mormonism has always been about rejecting apostasy.

3) If He says yes to C, well then, cheers to you for your forward thinking.

4) I adore a rousing online discussion, where people are free to say what they think. I love finding out that I'm not the only one bugged by A and B, even if I'm not with you on C.

5) I don't long to perform blessings or ordinances or rituals. Ritual embarrasses me. But I am also embarrassed by people who call you names for wanting the priesthood. No, wait. Not embarrassed. Amused.

6) You tell me equality has a certain formula. You have read thinkers who say that anyone who doesn't agree with the formula is an agent of her own oppression. Thanks, but I'll decide how oppressed I am. If it's a mistake for men to tell me what I should want, it's also a mistake for strangers to tell me how to be and what trade-offs to make.

7) Otherwise, carry on. Your stories about what you have had to put up with in your lives embolden me and a few thousand others to not put up with the same. That effects some mighty change right there.

Now, let's bake bread:

Ranch French Bread