Mormonism is often thought of by people outside the church as a kind of "Christianity, with quirks." And some of those quirks can sound like pretty conservative rules, especially when it comes to the role of women. But in practice, how far do these "rules" really go?
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Mormonism is often thought of by people outside of the church as kind of Christianity with
00:05quirks.
00:06And some of these quirks can sound like pretty conservative rules, especially when it comes
00:09to the role of women.
00:11But in practice, how far do these rules really go?
00:15It's important to keep in mind that it's not like there's a corkboard in every Mormon household
00:19with a list of thou shalt not rules for women.
00:22Also, there's not going to be consistency across all households and communities, nor
00:25do we have perfect insight into the daily private goings-ons of LDS, or Latter-day
00:30Saints, individuals.
00:32But on paper, it might surprise people just how traditional Mormons are regarding women's
00:36roles in society, especially when it comes to motherhood.
00:40And this isn't hearsay.
00:41Our source for this info is the official website for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
00:45Saints.
00:46That site explains, women's duties are dictated by a combo of rules laid out in the Bible,
00:51texts written by Mormon founder Joseph Smith, and the sayings of church leaders.
00:56In 1987, Mormon President Ezra Taft Benson said,
00:59"[The Lord has commanded that women and children have claim on their husbands and fathers for
01:03their maintenance."
01:05According to the Mormon Church's 14th president, Howard Hunter, women have been given a, quote,
01:10sacred privilege to bear the souls of men.
01:13His words echo the 12th president, Spencer Kimball, who said that a father procreates,
01:17provides, and loves and directs, and a mother conceives and bears and nurtures and feeds
01:22and trains.
01:24How strict is this rule, really?
01:26There is some flexibility.
01:28One source, the unofficial website MormonChurch.com, says there are extenuating circumstances that
01:33might justify a mother having a job outside the home, and those arrangements are between
01:38the family and God.
01:40If rules can be bent in the secular world, things are a lot more strict inside the church
01:44itself.
01:46Mormon women are expressly not allowed into the priesthood, which is defined to mean any
01:50clerical roles in the church hierarchy.
01:52The Mormonism 101 blog plainly says,
01:55"...only men are admitted to this priesthood.
01:57Women may not speak or act on behalf of God."
02:00What century is this?
02:02You're joking.
02:03No.
02:04So what does this mean?
02:05It's a lot more than you think.
02:07Mormon women can't conduct specific church rituals like baptisms, blessings, and sacraments,
02:12nor can they involve themselves in organizational church issues like budgeting.
02:16Women can, however, join decision-making boards related to Mormonism's five auxiliary organizations,
02:22named on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' website as Young Men, Young Women,
02:27Sunday School, Relief Society, and Primary.
02:30Those auxiliary organizations all have different beats, but the broad mission is just to spread
02:34the gospel around the world.
02:35This might all sound a little unfair, and a lot of Mormon sources kind of implicitly
02:39acknowledge that.
02:41Some church leaders do, too, like the 10th Mormon president, Joseph Fielding Smith, way
02:45back in 1959.
02:47Smith wrote,
02:48While the sisters have not been given the priesthood, that does not mean that the Lord
02:51has not given unto them authority.
02:54Authority and priesthood are two different things.
02:56A person may have authority given to him or a sister to her to do certain things in the
03:00church that are binding and absolutely necessary for our salvation, such as the work that our
03:05sisters do in the house of the Lord.
03:08In other words, just because women are mostly just allowed to work in the home, care for
03:12the family, and not become priests, that doesn't mean they're not doing the Lord's work.
03:18There's a lot of differences between Mormonism and mainline Christianity, and this is a big
03:22one.
03:23According to Joseph Smith's text Doctrine and Covenants, marriage is critical for exaltation.
03:28He writes,
03:29In order to obtain the highest degree in the celestial kingdom, a man and a woman must
03:33enter into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage.
03:37The marital bond must be sealed by, quote, the Holy Spirit to promise, so that the married
03:42couple will, quote, have eternal increase.
03:45So what does this mean?
03:46In a nutshell, there are different levels of heaven, a.k.a. the celestial kingdom.
03:50The truly exalted will fuse with God after death and have all power, glory, dominion,
03:56and knowledge for eternity, to the point where they become gods.
03:59I'll be a living God!
04:03To get to this level, there are loads of rules that Mormons have to follow, like having family
04:07and individual prayers every day, attending church meetings, and being married for eternity,
04:12either in this life or the next.
04:15Strictly speaking, this marital rule covers both men and women, but because Mormonism
04:19places such a strong emphasis on the role of women within marriage, it's hard to see
04:23how a Mormon woman wouldn't be all but compelled to get married, no matter what.
04:27And yes, this means heterosexual marriage only.
04:31In general, abortion is a hard no in the Mormon Church.
04:35Former Mormon President Spencer Kimball is on record as calling it, quote, one of the
04:38most revolting and sinful practices in this day.
04:42In the opinion of the Mormon Church, this belief goes hand-in-hand with the familiar
04:46Thou Shalt Not Murder commandment.
04:49While that sounds pretty open and shut, there's actually some wiggle room for incest, sexual
04:53assault, concern for the life of the mother, and fatal birth defects.
04:57Even so, it's said that a lot of prayer is required before you can come to a decision.
05:01Finally, one rule stands out from all the rest just because of its impact on everyday
05:05life, clothing and appearance.
05:08While there are no hard rules regarding Mormon women's clothing, modesty is the guiding principle.
05:13Fashion should adhere to the conventions of the day, but err on the side of modesty and
05:17femininity, both as a sign of respect and to prevent men from sexual temptation.
05:22Mormon women are said to generally feel pressured to wear dresses to church, as The New York
05:26Times wrote in 2012.
05:28Officially, the outlet explained,
05:30"[Church members are encouraged to wear their best clothing as a sign of respect for the
05:34Savior.]
05:35Keep in mind, there's a lot of expectations built up in Mormon communities regarding propriety
05:39and tradition.
05:40Case in point?
05:41A short-lived wear-pants-to-church day in 2012 that garnered a lot more negativity than
05:46praise, according to The New York Times.
05:48One Mormon man was quoted as saying,
05:50"...women who want to wear pants, they just don't know how to follow the Lord."
05:54Another threatened to shoot women who went to church in pants.
05:57Boy, that escalated quickly.