Equality and Apostasy

a·pos·ta·sy

əˈpästəsē/

noun

1. the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief.

Kate Kelly is facing Mormon church discipline for apostasy. The person in the Mormon church who apparently is leading this is William Clayton of the Quorum of the Seventy in the Mormon church.  Here is a quote from a news source, "Clayton reportedly said that public advocacy of ordination is an act of apostasy."  apostasy

What I find interesting, is for Kate to be accused of apostasy for espousing a belief that women should be ordained to the priesthood, there needs to first be a doctrine against women having the priesthood.

I have read the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, which makes up the doctrines of the Mormon church. In neither book does it state that women cannot seek equality or ordination to the priesthood. I would like to know what the movement, Ordain Women are apostatizing against. 

Where in Mormon church doctrine does is specifically state that women cannot be ordained to the priesthood? 

I want to know specifically what they are being accused of? If they are being accused of apostasy, where does church doctrine state they they cannot seek equality?

Here's to all the Loss...and Gains

I wish I could express in words all the loss I have come to know over the last ten years since I have made the choice to leave the Mormon church. In the Buddha tradition, they teach you that the only way past pain, is through it. You cannot deny pain, you cannot avoid it, you must walk through it. And so, I have  become deeply acquainted with pain over the last several years as I have dealt with loss.

When I made the choice to walk away from the Mormon church, I knew that so many people would not stand with me or support me. I knew it would mean the loss of my marriage, the loss of my belief in my eternal family, the loss of all my friends, as they were all Mormon.  I waited for well over three years to tell my extended family about my decision because I knew it would be devastating to them.

I didn't know how badly my extended family would take it.

My loss has been almost complete. My children have left the Mormon church, and that has been the biggest blessing to me, as I see them living happy, normal lives.

I have had to learn so many things as an adult that I should have learned as a child. I have had to learn to regulate my emotions rather than stuff them down. I have had to learn to communicate with people rather than be passive aggressive and then stuff down my frustration of not being able to communicate. I have had to learn to hold down a job, to learn that there is no such thing as perfection, to live with imperfection in myself and others rather than pretend perfection exists, to let things go, to be authentic rather than have unrealistic expectations based on the belief that people are perfect. I had to learn to set boundaries, I have had to learn to say NO! and yes, and be okay with love and hate and real emotions like jealousy and joy.

These are all things I wasn't taught to do, growing up in a religion that didn't allow authenticity.  I wasn't taught or allowed to do or be any of these things. It has been difficult to learn these things, but it has also been freeing to be able to learn them, to be able to freely express myself, to be me.

Yes, Rock, and Kate and John, I feel your loss as you face excommunication. It is a great loss. I hope you know you have friends. I hope more than anything you also know there is so much to gain also.

I am NOT the enemy

Today, the Mormon church announced that it will be holding excommunication counsels against the two most prominent voices in the moderate movements within the Mormon church, that of Kate Kelly and John Dehlin. there are others, but they haven't gone public, so to respect their privacy, I'll not be naming them.

I am both happy and sad about these announcements. I am happy because these inevitable excommunications will bring to light the rigid and arrogant views of the Mormon leaders, how impossible it is to affect change within an organization I could no longer be a part of because of these reasons. I am also sad

because it will also mean it will be harder to bring the Mormon church into a more moderate stance.

I do not view the leaders of the church as infallible, as this should be obvious by their ability to change doctrine with every whim of pressure that is put on the church. I am confused by those within the church who continue to view the church as error-free.

I am very concerned for the LGBT community within the church and the women who view the church as god's church and yet are conflicted within themselves because they personally desire equality, a voice, choice, to feel heard. They are losing the opportunity to have access to these. I am sorry for those who desire to attend church without guilt or derision.

I remember how difficult it was for me to leave, how conflicted I was, how confused I was, how utterly hopeless I felt. I had hopes that many others would feel they could stay and find some sort of middle ground and now that hope is lost.

The leaders within the Mormon church have so convincingly told the members that we, the ones who have somehow found a way out that we are the enemy, that our family and friends will not look to us as a way to find a way out of their conflict, their confusion, their hopelessness.

"I did not like the old man being called up for erring in doctrine. It looks too much like the Methodist, and not like the Latter-day Saints. Methodists have creeds which a man must believe or be asked out of their church. I want the liberty of thinking and believing as I please. It feels so good not to be trammeled. It does not prove that a man is not a good man because he errs in doctrine."

-- Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 2nd ed. rev. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957), 5:340.

We are not the enemy, but there is no way for us to convince our loved ones of that. What I find ironic, is that an organization that is worth billions of dollars is afraid of people like me. Why? Why would they be so afraid of a few people who write blogs and host podcasts? Why are they so afraid that they must threaten excommunication? That is what the Mormons should be asking.

I am not the enemy, Mormons, your own dogma is.

Abraham History or Egyptain Funerary Relics?

I just love change, for the most part, change usually means growth, improvement, stretching. There is mischief afoot, however, with changes being made with the LDS scriptures. It is beginning with the Android scriptures, they are leaving out the facsimilies found in the Book of Abraham. Egyptologists have conclusively said these facsimilies have nothing to do with human sacrifice, Hebrew temple ceremonies, or Abraham, but in fact of typical Egyptian funerary relics. Hmmmm, I wonder why the Mormon church has chosen to take them out of their Christian scriptures? [sarcasm noted] I am posting them here for those who won't know what they look like in a few years:

The Mormon church has come out with a new article on the Book of Abraham. Here is a quote about these facsimiles:

"None of the characters on the papyrus fragments mentioned Abraham’s name or any of the events recorded in the book of Abraham. Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of Abraham, though there is not unanimity, even among non-Mormon scholars, about the proper interpretation of the vignettes on these fragments.27 Scholars have identified the papyrus fragments as parts of standard funerary texts that were deposited with mummified bodies. These fragments date to between the third century B.C.E. and the first century C.E., long after Abraham lived."  Book of Abraham

What do Sharia law and Mormons have in common? Child Brides

This month, Iraq's Muslim controlled government has proposed a law that would allow girls as young as 9 years old to be taken as brides, to restrict women's rights of divorce, parenting and inheritance.child brides

 Here in the USA, we would be outraged at such misogyny, and yet, there is no such outrage when girls as young as 8, 9, 10 and 11 are dressed up as brides and told their only purpose in life is to become a wife and mother:

When children are taught they are only as good as the roles they fill, when they are taught they belong to men, when they are taught they are only worthwhile if they fit into a box, rather than follow their dreams, or be an individual or be human, they are set up to be seen as an object, to be used an an object, to suffer depression, isolation, anxiety the rest of their lives.

A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD

Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.

Then, there is this. Women will not be equal until they no longer have to be afraid of men.

The Balcony of Life

The Balcony of Life

Standing on the corner of 8^th and Idaho street, there are two men handing out pamphlets calling people to repentance. The pamphlets quote the Bible and name homosexuality and other sexual behaviors as sinful and name all sorts of eternal consequences. Most people ignore them, or throw the pamphlets in the trash. The reason they have chosen this corner to hand out their righteous indignation is because right above them is one of the trendiest places in Boise, its on the second level and it’s called The Balcony and it overlooks the street. The Balcony is a gay bar that is straight friendly. You can sit on the patio of The Balcony and watch the night life move at a fun pace on a weekend.  There is a three dollar cover charge to get into the Balcony, well worth it. It is ten o’clock and people are just arriving. Some people dress up, there are a few women in princess dresses, one woman in a wedding dress. I see a man all in black, he has a black fedora on with black goggles on his hat, a black leather vest and no shirt. His black gloves have green and pink lights in the finger tips and when he dances his hands light up the dance floor.

 

There are some transvestites and some people are gender neutral. Most people are there just to dance, drink and have fun. I’m there for a birthday party of an ex-mormon and there are about 20 of  us. We are drinking and dancing and just enjoying life. Like most gatherings of ex-mormons, there is some talk of how it feels to leave the mormon church, but tonight I just want to feel like a human, so I avoid this talk.

After two hours of dancing, I’m  tired and I sit on the patio with Ray and watch the night life below and the people dance inside. The people inside are of every age group; there are people in their 20’s and all the way up to their 60’s; there are people of every race as well as every gender. Nobody gives a shit or seems to notice the differences. In this place, we are all just humans having a good time.

This is the hope of the future, that we can learn to be human together.

New Life and Eostre

Today, I took my atheist 17 year old daughter to Easter brunch. We were talking about the holiday and its origins and how the spring equinox, eggs, bunnies, all represent fertility.  My daughter started to laugh and asked me if I remember how it was my fault that she didn't have any Mormon friends in elementary school because of Easter.

I didn't know what she was talking about, so I asked her to explain. She recalled how I would teach her and her sisters about the true history of Christianity and Easter, how the Christians were practical people and would incorporate pagan practices into their worship, such as Eostre, or new birth, new life, which eggs, rabbits and Estres or Eostre represent.

Of course, being the young child that she was, would take her new found knowledge to school and tell her Mormon friends all about the real beginnings of Easter. Her Mormon friends would be all horrified and in disbelief and would not talk to such a heathen as her and she couldn't understand, at such a young age, why these Mormon girls would not talk to her after that.

Now, years later, she has left the Mormon church and religion all together. She can tease her Mom for not having Mormon friends in elementary school for teaching her the truth about Easter. We eat Easter brunch in honor of fertility and new life, paying homage to our new life.