Exponent II's Blog, page 131

Beyond the Mapped Stars: An Interview with Rosalyn Eves

Every summer I binge read a bunch of novels. And while I enjoy them in the moment, most of them fade from my mind faster than a sunburn turns to a tan. But two months after reading it, Beyond the Mapped Stars by Rosalyn Eves is still with me. Set in Monroe, Utah in the late 19th century, our heroine is seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Bertelsen who has a passion for astronomy, but no foreseeable way to pursue her dreams with the way her life has been mapped out for her. In fact it seems like the best she can hope for is to not become the second wife of a less than ideal older man. Thankfully, adventure ensues and the reader gets to watch as Elizabeth confront everything from bandits to self-doubt. There are no simple answers, which is part of what makes this novel so satisfying.

Lucky for me Rosalyn Eves was kind enough to answer some of my burning questions.

Q: What inspired this book?

A: Oddly enough, this is the second of my books that was inspired by listening to a program on NPR (Blood Rose Rebellion was the first). In 2017, I listened to David Baron talk about his book The American Eclipse, about all the scientists who came west for the 1878 eclipse, and I started thinking about what that eclipse might have looked like for people already living in the West. In particular, I started thinking about what life would have looked like for a young LDS girl who wanted to be an astronomer, something that required higher education but had little immediate practical application (unlike, say, becoming a doctor or artist).

Q: Polygamy is such a cringe inducing topic, most of us Mormons will go to great lengths to avoid it, especially with a non-LDS audience. What made you decide to include it, and not as a cautionary tale, but as a normal part of Elizabeth’s life?

Let me start by saying that I’m not a fan of polygamy and I don’t think I could have practiced it–but I’m also sensitive to the fact that many women genuinely believed they’d been called of God to practice it, and I don’t think it’s my place to disparage that faith. Also, polygamy is part of my own family history. My mom’s great grandfather married three Fielding sisters–I still remember visiting my great aunt one summer in Wyoming and hearing her claim that “grandpa always loved grandma best” (one of those three sisters). It struck me then that polygamy isn’t really that far in our past–I was talking with someone who remembered people who had practiced it. And in this case, it was part of Elizabeth’s life: her family is based loosely on my dad’s great-grandmother, whose father had plural wives. I wanted to show it as I think she might have seen it–a fairly ordinary, if challenging, part of family life.

Q: Elizabeth often struggles with her faith. In the afterword to the book you write that you also have struggles. What do you push against, and what do you embrace that makes you stay?

This is a hard question to answer, in part because it is such a personal thing, and something I struggled with as I wrote: how much do I include? But I sometimes get tired of books about religious characters that suggest that the only right character arc is for the character to leave a potentially hard faith for a more progressive one, so I wanted to avoid that. I know lots of good, moral people who stay (and many who leave–I’m not trying to argue for one right path), and I wanted to show some of the reasons someone might stay: personal belief, a sense of community, a connection to religious texts. For me, I stay for all of those reasons, although I struggle with the unequal role of women in the church and with the church’s stance on LGBTQ+ issues. (Fwiw, I do not believe we have yet received full revelations on gender and sexual identity). Mostly, I think it comes down to: where does God need me to be right now? And for now, it’s in the church.

I was also thinking about Jana Riess’s research in The Next Mormons, and how many Millennials and Gen Y members the church is losing–in part, I think, because we don’t talk openly enough about doubt and about these kinds of struggles. In writing a book for teens, I wanted to show that it’s okay to have questions and to make your faith your own. That’s part of why the dedication reads, “to the believing skeptics and the skeptical believers, there’s a place for us too.” I know that there are cases where church isn’t safe for some people, and that grieves me. But I believe in an expansive gospel that I hope can make space for all kinds of believers (though I think that we have to actively create those spaces).

Q: I love that you had Black characters figure so prominently in this book. How did you decide to include them and what liberties did you take?

My PhD dissertation looked at several women speakers and writers in the 19th century American West, and I knew from that research that the West was much more diverse than is often shown in movies and book depictions, and I wanted to show some of that diversity. I wanted to include a cameo to Jane Manning James, because I was moved by Quincy Newell’s biography, and her point that Jane and other Saints like her are an important, if often overlooked, part of our religious history. I was also surprised to learn, when I researched 19th century Denver, that there were several prominent Black families, and I wanted to show that, including Barney Ford, who owned the Inter-Ocean hotel. That kind of wealth afforded some privilege in society, and I based my family on that, although I think it’s likely that they would have faced a little more prejudice than my book showed, so that’s a liberty I took. (But I also feel strongly that as a white writer, it’s not my place to write about marginalized pain, so while I allude to that prejudice, I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on it).

Q: Talk for a minute about race and how historically groups that we now think of as white, like Irish Italians and Mormons, were seen as racially different, because that seems so foreign to us now.

I read W. Paul Reeve’s Religion of a Different Color when I was researching the book and was struck by the perception of Mormons as not-white. I had read before about Italians and Irish (significantly, Catholic majority ethnic groups) being seen as not-white in the 19th century, but it hadn’t really occurred to me that Mormons might be grouped this way as well, perhaps because we’ve done so well in the 20th century of assimilating to white ideals. According to Reeve, polygamy was a driving factor in this perception: since many LDS people were from northern and western European ancestry (including many founding members with ancestors on the Mayflower), many Americans could not account for the practice of polygamy (seen as a moral deprivation only practiced by other races) except by concluding that the practice somehow changed their racial and status. I don’t think Mormons were ever marginalized to the degree people of color have been, but I do vividly remember reading a mid-19th century book for my dissertation that claimed that the three biggest threats to American Democracy were “Mormons, Catholics, and Masons.” I do think that members were seen as Other because of their religious practices, and that’s something I tried to show.

Q: Polygamy, lesbians, interracial marriage, indigeneity. You take what seems like it will be a very vanilla cast of characters and mix in a colorful blend of people and situations. Sometimes I felt like Elizabeth should have been more scandalized by the situations she finds herself in. Like spending the night in Samuel’s room. Wouldn’t that have “compromised” her, or have I just read too much Jane Austen?

Like I mentioned above, it was important to me to show some of the existing diversity in the American West. I did try to base all my characters on plausible situations: one of the lesbian characters was, in real life, part of a “Boston marriage”–an arrangement where two single women pooled their resources and lived together, but many scholars think those relationships may have been romantic as well as financial. We also know that interracial marriages happened: the very fact that they were explicitly prohibited in most Western states suggests as much. It’s possible that Elizabeth should have been more shocked by some of the situations she found herself in, but I do think historical fiction, especially, always dances a fine line between accuracy and modern reader tastes: I wanted Elizabeth to be relatable to modern teens. As far as being “compromised”–I’d need to do a little more research to be sure, but my current understanding is that those rules were much more important for upper-class women (in both America and Europe) than for middle-class and poor women. (Although I am currently working on a book set in Regency-era England where one of the characters is compromised for much less!). Certainly Jo, in Little Women (published about 10 years before my book takes place) has a lot more freedom than most of Austen’s characters.

Q: How much did you learn about astronomy to write the book?

Not as much as you might think! I did research constellations and general astronomy facts, but mostly only for situations where I needed a specific detail. Mostly, I relied on a couple of physics professors that I know to help me with details.

 

Rosalyn Eves grew up in the Rocky Mountains, dividing her time between reading books and bossing her siblings into performing her dramatic scripts. As an adult, the telling and reading of stories is still one of her favorite things to do. When she’s not reading or writing, she enjoys spending time with her chemistry professor husband and three children, watching British period pieces, or hiking through the splendid landscape of southern Utah, where she lives. She dislikes housework on principle. You can learn more at www.rosalyneves.com

 

Conference Cinnamon Rolls AND Anger

There are many different ways to make cinnamon rolls. There are options for dough, considerations on ingredients (no nuts or raisins in mine), and preferences around icing (a thick layer of cream cheese frosting for me). For many holidays growing up, we had Pillsbury orange rolls, and I still love those nostalgically.

Today, I’m starting homemade cinnamon rolls using my step-mom’s butter crescent roll recipe as my base. Many would find it an odd choice. It takes planning, because the dough has to rest in the refrigerator for at least four hours before rolling out. It also doesn’t get as big and airy as other dough recipes. But it brings a rich taste, and I can use half of the dough for morning cinnamon rolls and the other half for butter crescent rolls to go with dinner.

I get out the family recipe book, the ingredients, three mixing bowls, and a wooden spoon. I pick up my angst about General Conference, and decide to put that back on the shelf for a bit. My kids ask what I’m making, and I tell them. They are thrilled.

I start proofing the yeast. I measure and combine and, like the recipe says, am careful to not overmix. I want the butter to stay in nice chunks throughout the dough. I cover the mixing bowl and place it in the fridge.

I’m done for now. Tonight, I’ll roll out the dough, add the cinnamon sugar mix, shape the rolls, and place them in pie pans to rise. Tomorrow morning they’ll go in the oven and I’ll make the frosting.

I pick that angst back up and look at it. General Conference has become increasingly complicated for me over the years. The lack of women and non-binary speakers. The musket fire against the LGBTQIA+ community and anyone whose life and family doesn’t match the oft-spoken ideal of the Church. Messages of limited, conditional love. And while I know many people I love will feel peace and hope and will be spiritually filled by the messages shared, many others I love will be left hurt and lonely and spiritually hungry. And in my experience, those who share their hurt and loneliness will often be met with judgement and platitudes. I sigh, feeling the heaviness of the this weekend for so many.

I think of the times that I’ve shared my hurt about General Conference and the friends and family members who have attempted to shut down my feelings. They’ve told me I’m not thinking or feeling about this the right way. That sexism and racism and queerphobia in the Church doesn’t matter. That I should just feel happy, or grateful, or hopeful at surface changes that do not address systemic issues.

We Can Do Hard Things by sisters Glennon and Amanda Doyle is one of my favorite podcasts. In a recent episode, they talked about how emotions are information. We don’t need to judge these emptions, but consider what the emotion is teaching us. Women often feel shame about “negative” emotions like anger, but that anger offers important information about something that is wrong. And that anger or other “negative” emotions are not exclusive of other emotions.

Amanda said, “How many times do you hear women say, I should be grateful, but … I should be happy, but … it’s like we view having one of these, meaning it’s at the exclusion of another. And I just feel like it’s helpful to think of it in another way. It’s not like you’re 50% grateful and 50% angry. You can be a hundred percent grateful and a hundred percent angry.” Glennon agreed, saying we should take out the “but” and embrace the “and.”

I am grateful for any conference message that brings someone closer to Jesus Christ AND I’m angry about the ways that conference highlights systemic inequality in the Church and does not seek to address or improve these problems. I’m grateful for the privileges in my life that allow me to take time in the afternoon to make cinnamon roll dough and sit down and write AND I’m sad at the complete lack of institutional repentance, transparency, and accountability in the Church.

I look out my sliding glass doors, across Utah Lake, and at the mountains along the Wasatch Front that are showing off their fall colors. This is my favorite season of the year AND there is a lot weighing on my heart and mind. I am looking forward to cinnamon rolls in the morning AND I am anxious about the messages that will be shared over the pulpit this weekend. Both/And.

Has the LDS church become more woman-friendly since 2015?

During the last half decade, several improvements have been made to policies within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) that can be directly connected to public awareness campaigns, lobbying and publications by Mormon advocates. In 2015, I submitted to church leaders a comprehensive analysis of LDS Church policies  that disparately affect women, with suggestions for changes that would make the church more woman-friendly and better align church policy with its values. Many of those suggestions were based on ideas the advocate community was already promoting.

The Gleaners,Jean-François Millet

I am now taking a look back to evaluate the LDS Church’s progress over the past six years. Click on these links to see just a few examples of Mormon feminist and progressive Mormon efforts that led to tangible change:

Rewriting the temple ceremony to be more affirming to women Ending the 1-year wait penalty for marrying outside the temple Incorporating Heavenly Mother into the Young Women theme Allowing sister missionaries to wear pants Ending the ban on women as witnesses to weddings and baptisms Allowing interviewees to bring a support person/witness to priesthood interviews

My research was easier this time around. Back when I wrote the original report, I had to use a bootlegged copy of the Church policy manual because it was withheld from public view (which mostly meant withheld from women, since men could read it as they rotated through priesthood callings). One of my policy recommendations was to make church policy publicly accessible on the internet. I am happy to report that the Church did so in 2020. In fact, I am pleased to report that many of the changes I recommended have since been implemented.

While there has been significant progress, there have also been serious missteps along the way.  After I completed the 2015 report and before this 2021 follow-up, the LDS Church both initiated and repealed a devastating policy targeting married, homosexual couples and their minor children.

In other cases, church leaders chose to address side effects that I described in the report without actually addressing the source of the inequality. The problem of women being expected to entertain home/visiting teachers twice as often as men was resolved by replacing home/visiting teaching with the more flexible but equally inequitable ministering program. There will be no more men presiding and giving the closing talks at the annual Women’s Session of General Conference because church leaders eliminated the Women’s Session altogether. The male-heavy gender ratio in Ward Councils was reduced, not by making women eligible for male-only callings, but by eliminating some positions held by men. Cutting the Young Men’s Presidency is a particular head scratcher, as it places even more work on overburdened bishoprics and exacerbates inequality in attention to young men and young women by local leadership. Nearly all of these work-arounds required more drastic changes to church structure than simply eliminating the gender disparity.

Which brings me to a point I made in the 2015 report:

Ordaining women and incorporating them into the existing system of governance would be the least radical and most effective way to address many of the policy problems that affect women in the Church, eliminating the need for more complex changes to the correlated hierarchy of the church.

The LDS Church has not yet ordained women. But, anticipating that we would have a long wait before that happened, I added:

However, many beneficial policy changes can be accomplished even without priesthood ordination for women. Although the female priesthood ban is a significant barrier, it is not necessary for policymakers to wait until the ban is lifted before beginning the process of making the Church a safer and more inclusive place for its female members.

Based on what I see overall, the LDS Church is slowly but surely moving in the right direction, prodded along by diligent advocates like you.

I have included links to announcements, policy references or news articles about positive policy changes in the table below, along with effective dates. Some of the policy changes fully address the original suggestion; others are  steps in the right direction but leave gaps to fill.  Click on the link for more information about the policy.

Did I miss any positive policy changes? If so, let me know in the comments.

The complete 2015 report, A Values-based Approach to Woman-friendly Policy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is available at http://bit.ly/LDSpolicy.  The series of posts in which I discussed my project with Exponent community is at https://www.the-exponent.com/tag/values-based-approach-to-woman-friendly-policy/.

Missionary Work

Policy Suggestion from 2015 report

Progress?

Establish the same minimum age standard for male and female missionaries.Allow female missionaries to wear pants, especially for biking. All sister missionaries may  wear slacks, December 2018 Do not require a third male as chaperone when male missionaries visit female investigators or members.Do not create new branches, wards and stakes in response to the number of male members in a given area.Prohibit mission presidents from setting mission goals, rules or incentives that encourage missionaries to teach and convert men rather than women.Give spouses of mission presidents a title that reflects their calling.Remove the ban on female missionaries as district leaders, zone leaders, assistants to the president and mission presidents.Youth Programs

Policy Suggestion from 2015 report

Progress?

Offer an equal amount of funding, time and staff resources to girls as are allotted to boys. Either eliminate programs that divert staff and funding resources to males without an equivalent effort toward females, or expand programs for girls to match efforts toward boys. (This could apply to churchwide programs, such as Priesthood Preview; regional programs, such as Boy Scouts; or
local activities, such as annual father/son camp-outs.) The Church ends Boy Scouts program, announced May 2018, effective January  2020*
Ward budgets for youth activities must be divided equitably between boys and girls, October 2019
*The resources dedicated to the North American Boy Scout program was the most significant financial disparity between the Young Women and Young Men programs.As is the case for boys in Church-sponsored scouting troops, require at least two adult leaders at activities for all children and/or background checks for people who work with children. Two adult supervisors must be present at all church-sponsored activities attended by children and youth, August 2019 Require consent of the guardian prior to interviewing youth.Change the word, “Father” to “parents” in the Young Women theme. New Young Women theme begins “I am a beloved daughter of heavenly parents,” October 2019 Offer guardians the opportunity to attend minors’ interviews, if desired by the guardian or minor. If the person being interviewed desires, another adult may be present during the interview, March 2018*
*This policy only allows for the minor to request that a guardian be present, not vice versa. The guardian may not even be aware that an interview is taking place.Do not interview Young Women about their efforts to motivate Young Men to become missionaries; focus on the Young Woman herself, instead. New interview guide excludes questions for young women about  supporting young men’s missionary plans, June 2018 Do not provide more detailed dress and appearance guidelines to Young Women than are provided to Young Men.Involve Young Women in the home teaching/visiting teaching program. Young Women may be companions to Relief Society ministering sisters, April 2018 Allow girls to pass and prepare the sacrament alongside their male peers. Young Women may carry the sacrament tray into the mother’s lounge, October 2018*
*Young Women are still prohibited from most aspects of the passing and preparing the Sacrament.Women’s Programs

Policy Suggestion from 2015 report

Progress?

Allow autonomy for women to supervise programs, choose staff, and finalize decisions.Clarify that women may utilize church facilities and conduct church activities such as Girls Camp without requiring a male to be present.Include women among those who select talks to be studied for “Teachings for Our Time.” The Relief Society presidency selects talks for lessons, January 2019 Increase the proportion of quotes by women in Church manuals, especially manuals for female classes.Have a woman preside and give the final and longest speech at General Women’s Session. Women’s Session eliminated, June 2021*
*This policy change ends the tradition of Women’s Session with male presiding officers and male concluding speakers, but does not address the need for meetings with female presiding officers and concluding speakers.Church Participation

Policy Suggestion from 2015 report

Progress?

Eliminate rules limiting carpool options on the basis of gender.Where changing tables are feasible, make them accessible to men and women.Prohibit local leaders from barring women from church meetings or church activities for breastfeeding.Amend LDS tools apps and ward websites such that women can be found in alphabetical order by their own name.Have bishopric members and other priesthood leaders sit with their families when they are not conducting, speaking, or otherwise needed at the pulpitClarify that women may give concluding talks in Sacrament Meeting, even if a man is one of the other speakers.Allow women to participate in blessing circles and offer blessings.Allow women to be official witnesses to weddings and baptisms. Women may serve as witnesses for baptisms and temple sealings, October 2019 Do not restrict opportunity to participate in funerals or assist the bereaved on the basis of gender. Options to assist to the bereaved consolidated into one list for “ward members” instead of divided by gender, March 2021 Do not restrict people from attending church meetings on the basis of gender. Women’s Session and Priesthood Session are discontinued. All sessions of General Conference are available to anyone who desires to watch or listen, June 2021 Expand the number of women eligible to give General Conference talks and invite an approximately equal number of men and women speak at General Conference.Revise the home teaching and visiting teaching programs so men have the opportunity to have both male and female teachers. Do not expect women to entertain church representatives in their homes twice as often as men. Ministering does not include a prescribed way to keep in contact, such as in-home, face-to-face visits each month, April 2018*
*This policy helps women avoid entertaining church representatives in their homes twice monthly. However, the gender disparity in assigned ministers continues.Expand priesthood opportunities to every worthy member of the Church.Priesthood Interviews

Policy Suggestion from 2015 report

Progress?

Begin interviews with an informed consent statement. Inform interviewees that they may stop the interview at any time and skip any questions that they do not want to answer.Make interviews confidential. If there is any way personal information will be shared, disclose this exception in advance of the interview.Permit members to bring a support person to any interview, if desired by the interviewee or his/her guardians. If the person being interviewed desires, another adult may be present during the interview, March 2018*
*This policy only allows for the minor to request that a guardian be present, not vice versa. The guardian may not even be aware that an interview is taking place.Make confession a voluntary practice, completed at the request of the parishioner. Do not authorize local leaders to call interviews on the basis of rumors, tattling or hunches.Revise or eliminate the “affiliate” question. The question, “Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?” is replaced by “Do you support or promote any teachings, practices, or doctrine contrary to those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?” October 2019 Forbid priesthood leaders from adding interview questions that go beyond the scripted interviews.Publish current temple recommend criteria at LDS.org and make a laminated copy available for members to view during temple recommend interviews. Temple recommend questions shared publicly on church website, October 2019 Include women among those who interview members and baptismal candidates, receive confessions and offer pastoral counsel.Provide contact information for questions, concerns, and reporting of unethical behavior by priesthood leaders, such as an ombudsmen and/or hotline.Callings & Employment

Policy Suggestion from 2015 report

Progress?

Establish the same co-teaching requirements for male and female Primary workers. “At least two responsible adults” must co-teach children, August 2019
*Previous policy required men to have co-teachers but allowed women to teach alone.Allow teachers to co-teach with members of the opposite sex who are not their spouses.Use the same sustaining procedures for male and female callings. Protocols for sustaining similar Priesthood and Relief Society callings are made the same, January 2019 Remove bans on women as Sunday School presidents, mission leaders, clerks, auditors, technology specialists, and other callings currently limited to men. Women may serve as stake auditors, January 2021 Do not make maleness, priesthood or experience in male-only callings a prerequisite or preference for paid church employment or promotion opportunities.Do not make maleness, priesthood or experience in male-only callings a prerequisite or preference for church endorsement for non-church employment opportunities, such as military chaplaincy.Do not make maleness, priesthood or experience in male-only callings a prerequisite or preference for paid or volunteer work at church functions, such as interpretation or journalism.Eliminate “marriage and family life” requirements for seminary and institute teachers that go beyond the standards necessary to be a member of the church in good standing serving in youth callings.Leadership & Policymaking

Policy Suggestion from 2015 report

Progress?

Make Church Handbook of Instruction Volume 1 publicly accessible on the church website. Handbook is accessible to all on the church website, February 2020 Publish annual Church financial reports on the church website. Make ward and stake budgets accessible on ward and stake websites.Provide means for General Primary Presidency to address all people within their stewardship, including boys and male teachers.Allow women to preside over councils and meetings of the church, including meetings with males in attendance.Include approximately equal numbers of men and women in branch, ward, district, stake and general councils of the church. Elimination of Ward High Priests Group Leader reduces inequitable gender ratio in Ward Council, March 2018*
Elimination of Young Men presidencies reduces inequitable gender ratio in Ward Council, October 2019*
*Men still have a mandated majority over women in Ward Councils, but by a smaller ratio than previously.Have mixed gender presidencies preside over mixed gender organizations.Include approximately equal numbers of men and women among those who write and update church policy.Include women among those who manage church finances. Women may serve as stake auditors, January 2021 Establish means for members to provide feedback to General Authorities. Do not forward letters about general level issues to local authorities.Do not restrict church members from speaking to church leaders based on assumptions that they could make “non-negotiable demands.”Temple Worship

Policy Suggestion from 2015 report

Progress?

As long as appropriate sanitary measures are taken, do not permit local temple presidencies to bar women and girls from participation in baptisms based on their menstrual cycles.Eliminate the mandatory one-year wait for temple sealings in certain countries following a civil wedding. One-year waiting period for temple sealings after civil marriage discontinued, May 2019 Allow divorced women to cancel their temple marriages to their ex-spouses, even if they do not remarry.Allow living, widowed women to remarry for time and eternity in the temple without cancelling their sealings to their first husbands.Do not require women make temple covenants or wedding vows toward real or hypothetical spouses that are unreciprocated by their husbands. Temple ceremony scripts rewritten such that both men and women covenant to God directly, January 2019 Do not require women to cover their faces. Women no longer required to veil faces during temple ceremony, January 2019 Allow women with minor children to serve as ordinance workers in the temple. Mothers with dependent children may serve as ordinance workers, March 2019 Expand opportunities for female temple workers to perform temple-related tasks, such as checking recommends, voicing prayers, and operating technology equipment.Revise temple ceremonies to be as affirming for women as they are for men. Temple ceremony scripts rewritten to be more affirming toward women, January 2019*
*The new scripts are still not fully equitable.Make temple script transcripts available to members as part of temple preparation (excluding parts forbidden to be disclosed by covenant).Gynecologic Health

Policy Suggestion from 2015 report

Progress?

Redesign female underwear to be less masculine and more appropriate for menstruation, pregnancy, lactation, and menopause. New garment designs released, February 2016*
The garment is still like more like male underwear than female underwear in design and does not accommodate many female needs, but is nevertheless an improvement over previous options.Allow members to view and handle sample underwear for fit and comfort prior to purchase. Customers may open, try on and return opened garments, February 2016 Do not require women to submit to questioning by a person of the opposite sex about their underwear.Allow personal interpretation about how to wear underwear in accordance with temple covenants and gynecological and psychological needs. Eliminate rules about wearing underwear, altering underwear or purchasing underwear from a monopoly supplier. Temple recommend question and script about garments removes “day and night” and during “yard work” mandates, October 2019*
*Other mandates remain in place.Where Mother’s Rooms are feasible, require them to be ventilated, of adequate size, appropriately furnished and available as an optional—not mandated—breastfeeding location.Do not permit men to ask women and girls for details about their sexual activity, such as sexual positions, type of intercourse, masturbatory activity, or success at achieving orgasm or satisfying their sexual partners as part of worthiness interviews or disciplinary councils.Remove policies discouraging certain birth control and reproduction options.Eliminate requirements that couples and individuals involve priesthood leaders in decisions about birth control and reproduction. Requirement for men to consult with their bishop prior to a vasectomy is deleted, July 2020 Do not advise priesthood leaders to make every effort to encourage unwed, pregnant women to marry. Wording instructing bishops to make every effort to encourage single, pregnant women to marry is deleted, December 2020 Do not authorize local leaders to discipline members for receiving or participating in medically assisted reproduction services. Statement that single sisters who are artificially inseminated are subject to church discipline is deleted, July 2020 Broaden church policy to address all rapes, not just forcible rapes.Church Discipline

Policy Suggestion from 2015 report

Progress?

Do not discipline members for expressing their opinions.Do not allow local leaders to discipline members for failure to obey counsel improvised by the local leader, for disagreeing with a local leader’s opinions, or for having friends, relatives and other associates that the leader disapproves of.Provide means for individuals to appeal decisions of local leaders to revoke temple privileges or administer other punishments informally.Require local leaders to employ less extreme measures for a minimum period of time prior to initiating church disciplinary councils, providing members with full disclosure about the
potential for a pending council and ways to deescalate the situation.Do not permit local leaders to retain authority over members who have moved out of their jurisdiction.Include women among those who call, staff and judge disciplinary councils. Do not try a woman or interview a female witness before a council composed entirely of the opposite sex.Require local leaders to inform the accused of their rights and disciplinary procedures in writing prior to administering church discipline.Allow members to have any witnesses in attendance that they choose and allow these witnesses to remain in the room.Allow accused members to document disciplinary councils with recording devices, if desired.Provide disciplined members with copies of records and testimony pertaining to their own discipline.Do not hold disciplinary councils in wards or stakes in which the accused does not reside.Do not allow women to be excommunicated by lower-level officials who may not excommunicate men. Like men, women must be excommunicated by stake presidents, not bishops, February 2020*
The term “excommunication” has been retired in favor of the term “withdrawal of membership,” but the terms are synonymous.Do not allow councils of fewer people to excommunicate women than are required for men. Protocols for membership councils are made the same for men and women, February 2020 As is the case for men, do not excommunicate a woman without first appointing six people to advocate on her behalf.Do not mandate more stringent church discipline for transgressions that are widely known.Have members under discipline submit appeals paperwork to a neutral third party, instead of to the priesthood leaders who originally disciplined them.

Discussion of the values guiding the 2015 report are available at these links:

Introduction

Introduction

Values

Womanhood Opportunity Communication The Golden Rule Protecting the Vulnerable Transparency Agency

Access all posts here.

Sacred Music Sunday: Glory to God on High

This weekend is my stake’s Stake Conference. Last night was the adult session, and the music was lovely. I watched it at home over Zoom, not because of fear of covid, but because I didn’t want to get dressed and deal with parking at the stake center. I folded all of my laundry and did the dishes while listening to the talks and hymns. Pajama Church is always remarkably productive for me.

The closing hymn was Glory to God on High, which is one of my favorite hymns. It’s upbeat, bold, and brassy. The first time I encountered this hymn was shortly after I joined the church. I was in a youth choir in preparation for a large regional conference, and this was one of the hymns we were singing. Rehearsal was fun, and singing it for the meeting was a spiritual experience. Singing it in my living room last night with my neighbors over an internet connection brought back memories.

When I was first learning the hymn many years ago, I got stuck on the line “to him ascribed be honor and majesty”. Because of the way the sheet music was written and because we were using old-timey pronunciation to make the words fit the meter, the word “ascribed” was written “a-scrib-ed” and was pronounced “uh-scry-bid”. For whatever reason, probably because of the extra syllable, my brain never made the connection to the familiar word, and I wondered what “uh-scry-bid” meant. It didn’t occur to me to pull out a dictionary to discover that it was a word I already knew.

I think there are two lessons to learn from that. The first one is to look up or investigate things that we don’t know the answer to. If I had just grabbed a dictionary, I would have had my curiosity satisfied. The second lesson is that even if we have questions, we can still have a spiritual experience. I didn’t know what “uh-scry-bid” meant or why it belonged to God, but I still enjoyed the choral experience and had great joy praising God.

Guest Post: The Doctrine Does Change

Guest Post by Nicole Sbitani. Nicole is an adult convert, a non-Black woman of color, and a professional diplomat. She blogs at nandm.sbitani.com and writes microfiction @nsbitani on Twitter. The content of this post does not represent the views of the U.S. Department of State or any other U.S. Government agency, department, or entity. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and in no way should be associated with the U.S. Government.

I’ve recently had several difficult conversations with members regarding the stance of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on same-sex marriage. One common refrain I heard over and over again is: “Policies change, but the doctrine doesn’t.” This is frequently coupled with a variation of the following: “If the Church allows same-sex marriage, I’ll leave. Not because I oppose LGBTQIA+ rights, but because that would mean the doctrine changed and the Church isn’t true.”

Your friendly convert with a passing interest in Church history is here to tell you that, in fact, doctrine and not just policy does change. It has changed many times and it can change again. The narrative that doctrine never changes is harmful in two ways. First, it closes members’ minds to the possibility of truer, more correct doctrine. Second, it incentivizes members to dismiss any accurate theological history of the Church.

Because the context where I hear this falsehood the most is in conversations about same-sex marriage, let’s focus on the doctrine of marriage. Here are a few examples of times that the Church’s marriage and sealing doctrine deviated from what we now understand it to be, backed by faith-affirming and Church-approved sources:

Plural marriage as infidelity to living husbands: Zina D. H. Jacobs Young married Henry Jacobs in 1841. Months later, she was “sealed for eternity to Joseph Smith.” She was then “sealed to Brigham Young in 1846 [for this life] while still civilly married to Henry [Jacobs].” She had children with both Henry Jacobs and Brigham Young.
Sealing to prominent, familially unrelated Church leaders: The Law of Adoption practiced in the early days of the Restored Church engendered political squabbles, power struggles, and a mistaken belief that sealing to powerful Church leaders would be necessary for exaltation. This also included the practice of not sealing children to deceased non-member parents and not sealing wives to deceased non-member husbands because the non-members’ lack of belief was seen as a threat to the members’ salvation.
Sealing of at least one member as an eternal “servitor”: Jane Elizabeth Manning James, pioneering African American woman in the early Restored Church, fought for decades to receive her Endowment and be sealed in the Temple. She was denied those ordinances for being Black, and she was eventually sealed in proxy to Joseph Smith not as an adopted daughter as she requested but as a “servitor” in eternity.

The Restored Church is one of revelation; it is one of the theological miracles that drew me to the Church and continues to bolster my testimony. Revelation has changed doctrine, and I am hopeful it will do so again. As just one example, President Wilford Woodruff received a revelation on the aforementioned Law of Adoption that he announced in the April 1984 General Conference. He said:

“We have not fully carried out those principles in fulfillment of the revelations of God to us in sealing the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers…the duty that I want every man who presides over a Temple to see performed from this day henceforth and forever unless the Lord Almighty commands otherwise is let every man be adopted to his father…that is the will of God to this people…Have children sealed to their parents and run their chain through as far as you can get it. When you get to the end let the last man be adopted to Joseph Smith who stands at the head of this dispensation.”

Even this portion of the changed doctrine on adoption has changed yet again. (Or did I miss the part of the Family History lesson where they said I’m supposed to seal all the ancestors at the top of my family tree to Joseph Smith?) President Woodruff himself leaves that door open in his revelation when he says “unless the Lord Almighty commands otherwise,” an important reminder that even when changes come they may not be the Lord’s last word on the subject.

Most members of the Church today would agree that our current understanding of marriage and sealing is much closer to what our Heavenly Parents would want for us than the previous examples I mentioned. Asking women married to non-members to cheat on their husbands, ignoring the exhortation in the Scriptures to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers by cutting non-members out of sealing ordinances, and sealing anyone in eternal servitude clearly do not match our modern doctrine.

Something as monumental and fundamental to our religion as the nature and practice of sealing is not a mere policy. These are core doctrinal changes. Moreover, this changing doctrine should be celebrated rather than feared because it is bringing us closer to where God wants us to be.

Let’s not rob ourselves of the opportunity to benefit from the truer, more correct doctrine God is waiting to reveal unto us. If we close our minds and refuse to believe we have anything to learn, then we will not have the meekness of heart to receive the truth even if it is delivered line upon line, precept upon precept. Only with a clear-eyed view of our own complicated history and improving doctrine can we open ourselves to all the possibilities of what and who we can be.

 

Dear Grandma Sina: WHO Year of the Nurse and the Midwife

Guest post by Inquiring Mind

Dear Great-Grandma Sina,

Doubtless you were present for the family call last Sunday. If there’s one good thing to come of the CoVid-19 Pandemic culture, it’s a facility with group video chats. Mom changed the meeting time on our family text thread, but I didn’t check my phone and the original starting time suddenly became two hours too late. Sorry I missed you all. By the time I hopped on, my siblings had disappeared and it was just me and Mom, with her PowerPoint presentation on a shared screen and a smattering of old photos. The news to me was now common knowledge to everyone else—two hours old. As for myself, I felt like the bottom dropped out of our buttoned-up family. But I just kept thinking about how you must be feeling, with your secrets being the topic du jour. What do you think of us airing your dirty laundry like so much gossip fodder? If you had wanted us to know about it at all, wouldn’t you have told Virginia when you had the chance?

Sina Watson, LDS Nurse’s Training Program, about 1928

Admittedly, your story had been flimsy at best. Even so, I never questioned it as a child. I guess I never had reason to. Everyone loves a romantic tale. Grandma Virginia: the girl who lived. Four months premature, so small she could fit in a shoebox. Warmed in an oven, she began the Duke Family before anyone had expected. And the modern adventure-loving girl in me didn’t need an explanation for why you would leave your parents, precious siblings, in-laws, friends, and career to seek your fortune a thousand miles away. Isn’t that what newlyweds do? Leave their father and mother to cleave to their spouse? Your return to Heber a scant six months later didn’t raise any red flags for me either, listening to this story at bedtime.

Grandma Virginia gave me the first tool of skepticism for my baptism—a Book of Remembrance. Now even those feel obsolete. Why painstakingly rewrite the seminal dates of each of your forbears now, when it’s all on Family Search? Mine was filled, consulted and loved, copied and recopied for years before I upgraded to the app. I didn’t notice until I was in college that your temple sealing date was in May, and Virginia was born in October. Five months didn’t seem long enough to cook a baby who lived, so I began to wonder why you and Wendell chose to be sealed in the temple when you knew you’d been, um, hasty. I brought this up to Mom, and we concluded that the shame of poorly-timed sex would have been paid for voluminously with the self-flagellation of a first-time mother’s forced isolation. You, Sina, who delivered so many babies, were alone when your own time came.

Your calling as a nurse has permeated every story about you that I have ever heard. While your high school sweetheart, his friends, and even your closest sister prepared for church missions, you followed your heart to the nurses’ training program at LDS Hospital. The skills you gained there defined your life’s purpose– caring for the suffering. I read about how you cared for the patients of the Koosharem meningitis epidemic, and how, in Tooele, you delivered a perfectly formed 5-month old stillborn child. Dependably competent, you ran the show when doctors were absent, and sometimes even when they were present. You raised your family in the Heber Hospital, often evading contagion by sending your daughters to find refuge at Mazie’s. You must have wondered at times if your sister could have offered them a more stable home than you could, with your all-hours shifts and professionally-inclined attentions. Virginia never mentioned so much to me, but I’m a mother now, and I know how the guilt can settle. Were you proud when Virginia graduated from the U as a nurse? Or when baby Laurel grew up to have a nursing photograph taken that looked just like yours? Trees and apples, Sina.

Virginia Duke, University of Utah Nurses’ Program, 1952

My Mom said she felt nursing wasn’t for her, despite her maternal lineage, because she could never poke anyone with a needle. She discovered her own professional path to relieve suffering as a therapist. I found mine with speech-language pathology, but I still felt close to you when I began work at LDS hospital, testing the hearing of newborns and imagining you: same halls, earlier era, whiter uniform, delivering the babies.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry,” was how you described your nursing work. In your writings, you gloss over graduation, a guest shift at the Ely Hospital, and even your job in Tooele with that “hurry” mentality. Each gap in your history is neatly pinched together with a brisk setting change. Suddenly you leave Tooele to work in Salt Lake again. Quick as a wink, Wendell Duke returns early from his mission service, weak from malaria. Without delay, you and Wendell marry and set off to find work and a healthier climate in Portland. And when you come back, you hurry to Heber Hospital to begin your long-term post. Virginia’s birth as a hurried event dovetails nicely with your life’s outlook. You squeezed in four more pregnancies along the way, without skipping a beat. Five happy daughters, five happy weddings, Duke family reunions in Heber where your great-grandchildren proudly sing “We are the Duke posterity/we all fit on the family tree.”

And that’s why we were so surprised when Mom got a Facebook message from Diana. Diana? Diana who? Diana why? Yes, I took a DNA test. No, I’m not familiar with anyone on your family tree. We need to talk? Talk about what? Turns out Diana’s dad was more closely related to Mom than Diana was. And if her grandfather was still alive, it would only confirm what Diana already discovered: the sleuthing work pointed all the fingers to you, Sina. You and Diana’s grandfather, Henry Lynn Rogers.

Who is Henry Lynn Rogers? And what business did he have in your life? The questions pour out of me the more I sit with this new information. How long did he stay? A month? A moment? Did you even want him there? When did you cross paths? Maybe in Tooele? Maybe in Salt Lake as he scraped through the depression as a student custodian and a taxi driver? All he writes about the pertinent months was that he wasn’t living the gospel as he should have. Now that is, pardon the pun, a pregnant statement indeed.

You never breathed a word. Not to your daughters, anyway. As Virginia attended you at your deathbed, she asked if you wanted to clarify anything about the wonky circumstances of her birth. You closed that door with a firm, “Nope. You know all there is to know.” Maybe if you died with the secret, it would disappear.

Your funeral is one of my earliest memories—flitting from umbrella to umbrella as the grown-ups say a prayer. My older siblings remember more about your last home in Salt Lake and your penchant for Coca Cola. But all I have is a cemetery. Wendell I remember better. Transition lenses, plaid shirt with suspenders, slicked dark hair that never grayed. Bouncing on his knee as he sang, “Old Dan Tucker.” I remember great-aunt Laurel telling us about how much he hated the rest home, how he removed the window screws for his great escape. No one seemed sad when he died. His heavenly reunion with his dream girl Sina gave a laser-focus to his funeral services.

Did Wendell know, Sina? If so, when did he find out? Maybe the conversation was a lengthy heart-to-heart the evening he returned from his mission, prompting the hurried nuptials. Or did you write your missionary with the news? We have a telegram from him announcing his return– could his note have been a reply to a frantic need? Sina pregnant. Stop. Baby needs father. Stop. Perhaps you locked the secret away from every soul having the power to ruin everything you had hurried to create—Wendell included.

Everyone except the birth certificate recorder, who needed the truth when it presented itself so obviously. Full Term? Yes. But the recorder couldn’t have known that your response to the next question—Legitimate? Yes—conflicted so starkly that you fled a thousand miles to say them without reproach. Even her name incites a plea for purity: a fresh start.

Virginia influenced my life in a thousand precious ways. Her love of music, her love of people, of walking, of education, of children – she abounded in wealth and she shared this wealth with me. Her last words to me were spoken with labored intensity, “Where’s Brandon?” Indicating I didn’t need to be at the hospital with her, witnessing her stroke aftermath when I could be with my husband. And when she died, I could not be comforted. But Grandma believed in an afterlife and the value of family. I could not help but think it was her doing, when the baby I waited a year for finally sparked in my womb 4 months after she passed away. I felt she had used her newfound spiritual influence to encourage little Quincy to make the journey from the world of spirits to the vale of tears. Three of her great-grandchildren joined our family that year, and I believe they were all invited by Virginia, the generous soul who had so much to learn about her own beginnings.

The world after this one mystifies me. At times I have felt the tugging of a life beyond, but I have no scientific evidence, and so much in my world depends on evidence and proof. I am confident that there’s more to learn about the circumstances surrounding you, Henry, and Virginia, and we will find earthly evidence that supports these claims of new family. I also believe that what we learn here is a direct result of what you have learned in that spirit world: the truths you are confronting and the connections you are forging. So although sitting as a silent witness to our Zoom meeting was likely as excruciating as a spinal tap, I believe you haven’t forgotten that some types of pain can lead to growth and repair. Once again, you are an instrument of healing, in Heaven as you were on Earth.

Love, your great-granddaughter

Community Funds

We believe in supporting community members from all backgrounds and diverse experiences. Many generous contributors and readers have donated honorariums and money toward the following new community funds:

Scholarships for BIPOC Artists and Writers
Each year, the total funds raised for this scholarship will be divided among a number of applicants who identify with the mission of Exponent II. Application instructions are announced in the fall and decisions are made in the spring. Both visual artists and writers are encouraged to apply. More information on how to apply we be made available 

Collaborative Art Commissions
Community makes Exponent II special. Having the chance to gather or collaborate on new projects builds bridges and forges new connections. This fund will go toward commissioning new artwork between two artists identified by the Art Team. When the fund replenishes, the Exponent II Art Team will identify two more artists to collaborate.

Needs-based, LGBTQ+, and/or BIPOC Retreat Scholarships
The annual retreat is a pillar of the Exponent II experience. We want everyone to have the opportunity to participate. The Retreat Coordinator will use the total fund amount, per year, to support individuals in attending.

Backpay to Editors Who Donated Stipends
While Exponent II is working toward improved financial sustainability, the current editors have agreed to pool their stipends from Summer 2021-Spring 2022 to be able to provide magazine contributor honorariums for the year. The fund will distribute to editors during each quarterly print cycle. We hope to continue offering honorariums to contributors going forward, while also paving the way for future editors and other Exponent II team members who volunteer throughout the organization to sustainably do this work.

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We invite you to donate toward any of these community funds here, specifying which fund to place your contribution. Updated reports on the current amount in each fund are announced in our monthly newsletter.

Guest Post: Moroni, Moses, and President Nelson: Vital Correlations with the Coronavirus Vaccine

Guest Post by Robin Litster Johnson. Robin Litster Johnson wears many hats, including resilience and well-being advisor, fraud prevention expert, and Suzuki violin teacher. She is is passionate about the Book of Mormon and its relevance to our lives. Her favorite church callings have been Stake Music Chairman and Primary Chorister. She received an MBA with an emphasis in Organizational Behavior from BYU, and more recently a Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) degree from the University of Pennsylvania – Covid Class of 2020:)

I listen to the Book of Mormon almost every day and often find what I consider to be interesting correlations between it and other goings-on in life. Most recently, I am struck by the similarities between the Nephites’ attitudes regarding defending themselves against the Lamanites, Moroni’s preparations for war, Moses and the brazen serpent, and the development of the coronavirus vaccines and President Nelson’s encouragement to be vaccinated.

First, in Alma 48:15-16, it says, “…this was their faith…that he [God] would prosper them in the land; yea, warn them to flee, or to prepare for war, according to their danger; and also, that God would make it known unto them whither they should go to defend themselves against their enemies…”

It should be noted that the commonality above was not a static set of actions the Nephites were to take in every circumstance to order defend themselves, but rather a belief that in each varying circumstance they would be inspired and led to do what was appropriate for the situation.

Next, in Alma 49:8-9, when the Lamanites, led by apostate Nephites, came against them in battle, it says,

“But behold, to their [the Lamanites and apostate Nephites] uttermost astonishment, they [the righteous Nephites] were prepared for them, in a manner which never had been known among the children of Lehi. Now they were prepared for the Lamanites, to battle after the manner of the instructions of Moroni. And it came to pass that the Lamanites, or the Amalickiahites, were exceedingly astonished at their manner of preparation for war.”

It is clear in these verses that entirely new technologies, new tactics, and new strategies had been innovated and developed by the Nephites, because of the inspiration and guidance of their leaders, and because of the people’s cooperation and collaboration with their leaders.

Now flash back a few thousand years to Moses in the desert with the Children of Israel. In Numbers 21:6-9 we read:

“And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”

It is interesting to note that the people asked Moses to pray to have the fiery serpents removed. The scriptures here do not say that that is what Moses asked the Lord to do. It simply says, “Moses prayed for the people.”

Next, it should be noted that the Lord did not remove the fiery serpents, which had been the people’s request. Instead, they were given an antidote to quell the effects of having been bitten.

This entire “Moses and the fiery serpent” scenario is expounded various times in the Book of Mormon, and the verses I find particularly relevant to this analysis are found in 1 Nephi 17:41 and Alma 33:20:

“…after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished…” and “But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them.”

Now flash forward to March 26, 2020. President Nelson asked the Church, and the world, to join in a world-wide fast for relief from the coronavirus pandemic. He included, “As a physician and surgeon, I have great admiration for medical professionals, scientists, and all who are working around the clock to curb the spread of Covid-19.”

Less than two weeks later, President Nelson again called for a second world-wide fast on April 10, 2020 for relief from the pandemic, including (italics added) “that the present pandemic may be controlled,” and for “…our Heavenly Father and His Son — the Master Healer — to show forth Their marvelous power to bless the people of the earth.”

Nine months later, on January 19, 2021 President Nelson was vaccinated, and shared these comments (italics added):

“…We are thankful for the countless doctors, scientists, researchers, manufacturers, government leaders, and others who have performed the grueling work required to make this vaccine available. We have prayed often for this literal godsend.

As a former surgeon and medical researcher, I know something of the effort needed to accomplish such a remarkable feat. Producing a safe, effective vaccine in less than a year is nothing short of miraculous. I was a young surgeon when, in 1953, Dr. Jonas Salk announced that he had developed a vaccine against the cruel and crippling disease of polio. I then watched the dramatic impact that vaccine had on eradicating polio as most people around the world were vaccinated.

…My professional and ecclesiastical experiences convince me that vaccinations administered by competent medical professionals protect health and preserve life.

Receiving the vaccine today was part of our personal efforts to be good global citizens in helping to eliminate COVID-19 from the world.”

It is interesting to note President Nelson specifically stating that the polio vaccine eliminated polio around the world BECAUSE most people around the world were vaccinated, and implied, if not directly stated, that the coronavirus could be eliminated thusly as well, if most people around the world were to become vaccinated.

Also, on January 19, 2021, the First Presidency released the following (italics added):

“…Vaccinations have helped curb or eliminate devastating communicable diseases….COVID-19 vaccines that many have worked, prayed, and fasted for are being developed, and some are being provided… Church leaders… welcome the opportunity to be vaccinated. As appropriate opportunities become available, the Church urges its members, employees and missionaries to be good global citizens and help quell the pandemic by safeguarding themselves and others through immunization….“

In February 2021, per President Nelson’s direction, the Church, through LDS Charities, gave $20 million to support global efforts to provide 2 billion (that’s “billion” with a “b”) Covid-19 vaccines to people in low- and middle-income countries.

In March 2021, the First Presidency upgraded the Church’s General Handbook (38.7.13) to encourage vaccinations.

In April 2021, it was announced that missionaries should be vaccinated, and if not, they would only be assigned to missions within their home country.

In August 2021, another statement was released by the First Presidency, including (italics added): “We find ourselves fighting a war against the ravages of COVID-19 and its variants…. We know that protection from the diseases they cause can only be achieved by immunizing a very high percentage of the population…. we urge individuals to be vaccinated….”

To summarize the Coronavirus vaccine timeline:

March 2020: the Prophet asks us to fast for relief from and a solution to the pandemicApril 2020: the Prophet again asks us to fast for relief from and a solution to the pandemicJanuary 2021: the Prophet is vaccinated, stating that he prayed many times for the development of a vaccine, declares its rapid development a miracle, and urges members to be vaccinated as they are able.February 2021: the Prophet directs $20 million to be given directly to vaccination efforts worldwide.March 2021: the General Handbook is updated to include the encouragement of vaccines.April 2021: missionaries are encouraged to be vaccinated.August 2021: the Prophet again urges members to be vaccinated, stating that diseases can only be controlled when the vast majority of a population are vaccinated.

In the event that my argument and the vital correlations between Moroni, Moses, and President Nelson are not apparent, I will attempt to lay it bare here. We are at war, metaphorically like the Nephites. Like the Nephites, new technologies have been developed to fight and win this war. The Prophet, highly knowledgeable and experienced in this battleground, has himself used these new technologies and has repeatedly urged Church members to use them as well in order to win this war. Yet, like the Children of Israel ignoring Moses as he lifted the brazen serpent for all to see, and like those whom Moronihah attempted to lead (see Helaman 4), there continue to be Church members who refuse to be vaccinated, many due to a belief in a false narrative.

It is true that individual choice in this matter has always been affirmed in each of the statements by President Nelson and the First Presidency, as personal agency is a “prime directive.” It is also true that there are genuine medical conditions which preclude some from getting a Covid-19 vaccination. For example, the daughter of a friend is expecting her first child, and because of her and her husband’s blood types, she had to receive a RhoGAM shot. Her doctors were uncertain how the Covid-19 vaccine would interact with that and recommended waiting until after the baby’s birth to receive the Covid-19 vaccination. There may be other medical conditions which would prohibit small numbers of others from getting the vaccine.

However, in my opinion, complacency, obstinacy, nor an affiliation with conspiracy theories constitute medical conditions that warrant the refusal to be vaccinated. “In the day of their peace they esteemed lightly my counsel; but in the day of their trouble, of necessity they feel after me.” (D&C 101:8).

I have several family members who are currently choosing to not be vaccinated. Their research for making this decision comes from “alternative” doctors. Some of their evidence is quite compelling. However, more compelling than their research, more compelling than the research presented by traditional doctors, and more compelling than any opinions proffered by political pundits on either side of the aisle is my testimony in the concept of a living prophet. I believe in the concept of a living prophet. Right now, the living prophet happens to be Russell M. Nelson. On this topic of being vaccinated against Covid-19, he has given clear, consistent, and continual counsel. Get vaccinated.

Why Do We Only Talk About Men in Relief Society Facebook groups?

 

Last month I wrote a blog post about the number of men speaking at Relief Society conferences and events compared to women, despite the Relief Society being a women’s organization. The day after that posted I checked my email and saw a message from my ward Relief Society presidency, encouraging us to read a talk by Elder Gong (a man) before we study it together on Sunday in class.

This got me thinking, and I searched for other unread messages from her. Sure enough, two weeks before that was another email encouraging me to read another talk by another man for the last Relief Society meeting. 

I didn’t have any more emails remaining in my inbox, so I went to our ward Relief Society Facebook page to see if they updated lesson plans there. They didn’t, but as I started scrolling I realized that the vast majority of links and announcements were not about things female church leaders were teaching or doing, but almost all of them were about male leaders and what the men were teaching and doing. 

I scrolled through 24 months of Relief Society Facebook posts, and each time I found one that was a link to a talk for a lesson, an invitation to a fireside or conference, or a woman in my ward sharing an outside quote or book reference, I took a quick screenshot. To preserve privacy I cut out any names or identifying details, but I left the image of the talk, conference, fireside or quote in the screenshot. To make it easy to see at a glance whether the person highlighted in the post was male or female, I put a pink check mark on the female posts, and a blue check mark on the male posts. (And when there was a mixture, I put checkmarks to indicate about how many of each.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always, there’s nothing wrong with learning from inspired men. However, what *does* bother me is that in a women’s organization we choose to elevate male voices far more frequently than we elevate female voices. When we find an idea worth sharing with each other, it’s usually an idea from a man. When we want to tell a story, we tell the experience of a man’s life instead of one from our own.  On my ward Relief Society’s Facebook page, a group for only women (well, plus the bishopric who is also inexplicably in there), women’s voices got 9 pink check marks, while men’s ideas got 33 blue check marks. In the past two years, women’s words were represented in our group posts only 21 percent of the time.

I think that LDS women have become so accustomed to being instructed by men that we aren’t even aware of the disparity. We lift up the words of men at the expense of other women and don’t even notice that we’re doing it. In general conference, I hear women at the pulpit spending a lot of their time quoting male apostles and prophets (sometimes from the exact same men who have already spoken/will speak in the same meeting!) rather than taking the opportunity to share their own original interpretation of doctrine. In Sacrament Meeting, I see a women at the pulpit giving a talk, but they are often summarizing a favorite conference talk from a male apostle or prophet. In Relief Society, I’ve seen many female teachers at the front of the classroom discussing Teachings of the Prophets, yet never once did we study the Teachings of General Relief Society Presidents.

It’s fine to be an organization that studies the words of men, but only allows women to be members – just don’t call it a women’s organization when it’s clearly not one. Also, give us a fair warning about how male-centric it can be before we decide if we want to join or not, and don’t make membership automatic and mandatory. Some of us would like to opt out.

Staying Open

The following is the Letter from the Editor by Carol Ann Litser Young for the Fall 2021 issue of Exponent II. To receive a copy, subscribe by October 15th.

A few years ago, my partner gave me a hand-painted sign for Christmas—one he’d commissioned from my dear friend, a professional artist and sign painter. The word “open” sits in the gold center. The words, “heart,” “mind,” “arms,” and “home” appear in each of the four corners. It’s the first thing you see when you enter our apartment and serves as a reminder to us, and those who enter, to have that openness with all. I hope as you explore the contents of this open-themed issue that you will take on the different perspectives presented through the creative works of these artists and writers.

We are still hurting and healing as the Delta variant of COVID-19 rages. There is continued uncertainty with travel and gathering, as well as current and past racial, social, economic, environmental, and other harms and inequities in every community. My own family is divided on masking and vaccinating, and I’m not sure when we can next safely gather. The present feels difficult. As a result, I’ve been in an era of consuming and not wanting to reflect, write, or create much. This isn’t pandemic exclusive, but it happens whenever the weight of emotional exhaustion catches up with me. Things add up, and sometimes it feels easier to just turn on the TV or read someone else’s story than process and write down my own. Thank you to the creators out there, still creating, helping the rest of us navigate and deal with the challenges of our time. We recognize the new writers and artists, as well as the seasoned writers and artists in this issue. I feel such gratitude for the contributors, as well as the editing, proofreading, layout, and design teams doing their magic to get this and future issues to you. These essays and art take us past the tiny glimpses and sound bites of headlines and scrolling and instead let us go a little deeper into another’s journey.

Many of the stories, poems, and essays in this Fall 2021 issue highlight comfort and pain. Amy Sorensen finds comfort making her own choices about mowing the lawn, and Lisa Poulson seeks peace through the resilient women in her family after a traumatic experience. Cynthia Watte Connell makes space for those who sacrifice for others, and Sherrie L. M. Gavin’s satirical observations call out the confusing and exploitative immigration processes in the United States. Blaire Ostler’s theology piece talks about redeeming queerness in the present as we become like Christ, and Sarah Ostler Hill’s sermon reminds and encourages us to try again each day. The poetry of Carol Lynn Pearson, Brinn Elizabeth Bagley, and Mary Caroline Cole highlight hurt at church or in church conversations with family members. Alixa Brobbey’s poems reveal the pain of loneliness, and S.E. Page’s words describe longing, similar to how Hannah MacDonald’s essay, “On Saying Yes to Boys,” interrogates the tension that comes when we prioritize other people’s comfort over our own. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s essay reflects on the significance of retreat and gathering at a time, like now, where we feel the ache of separation.

This issue also highlights excerpts from the Exponent Blog, a new feature we will run going forward. These posts also touch on pain or finding comfort and empowerment, such as Kaylee’s description of her young daughters’ observing patriarchy in church settings. Erika Barrett’s piece counters this patriarchy-dominance in her own religious experience by bringing Heavenly Mother into her family and church worship, and Roxanne Gray writes her own scripture in a re-telling of Eve in the garden and Heavenly Mother’s role there.

Welcome and thank you to our new subscribers, our somewhat-new subscribers, our here-since-the-beginning reading, and everyone in between. Keep writing, making visual and written art — keep creating. Continue celebrating and gathering with us through the Exponent II magazine and other venues. Thank you for being here.