Monday, June 23, 2014

The Next Round of Excommunications Part 2

Well it's happened.

Today the verdict was in. Kate Kelly, leader of Ordain Women has been excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Her crime isn't what she thinks. Her crime is that she thought it out loud. She thought it out loud and people listened. They listened because she said out loud the very thing they were thinking and were too afraid to say. It gave them courage to say it too, to claim it and stand by it and know they are not alone.

And the more she said what she thought, the more people heard it and joined in, not because the message was new to them. But because the message was the thing they had believed deep down themselves.

Throughout history there have been those who have dared to say their thoughts out loud. Joan of Arc claimed that God told her to lead an army to free France. She was burned at the stake. Martin Luther nailed up a list of things that he found wrong with the Catholic Church. He was imprisoned. Martin Luther King stood up and said that segregation was wrong and asked for peaceful protests. He was assassinated. The suffragettes, demanded equality. They were slammed into prisons and force fed through tubes jammed down their throats. Malala Yousafzai continues to say that girls deserve an education even after she was shot in the head by the taliban.

Kate Kelly is in a smaller sphere. Her influence is only felt by a tiny portion of people on this earth. Her punishment is not as severe as others, unless you are a Mormon and believe that excommunication locks you out of heaven and bans you from your family.

But in spite of her small sphere, she did impact it.

Although the church would deny it, it's interesting to note, that no woman gave a prayer in general conference until after OW was formed and became known. Nor was the priesthood conference available for viewing until after OW was formed. Coincidence? Interestingly the very people that would claim that they don't believe in coincidence would probably say that it is.

It alarms me that having a voice in the church is dangerous.

This terrifies me. Especially when you read my previous post on this subject.

Yet if you asked most devout members they would see nothing wrong with this because Christ leads the church and the apostles follow Christ so they would never, ever, do any wrong.

And consequently you have members all over the world, willing to do anything and believe anything that these fifteen men tell them.

I am not willing to put my trust in anyone but the Lord. Not to this extent anyway. Especially after reading about what previous apostles and prophets have said. Now if you want scary bed time reading there is plenty.

There are folks in the church that have checked their compassion and Christian charity at the door and are cheering this. They believe it means that she will just go away now.

Because that's what the church wants. They want women to shut up and make some food and some babies and tell teenage girls that their bodies are so shameful that it causes teenage boys and men to think about rape.

I pray that Kate will find a new church family, one that will accept and love her and be grateful for her talents and won't just throw her away.

And at least there are thousands of Mormons who have not abandoned her.

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