Erika
@eleighbarrett
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❤️Adventuring, mothering, ecofeminism, learning, and unlearning. Journalist Community builder she/her 🇺🇦
Keokuk, IA
Joined October 2014
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@bessbell
Once in Nairobi, I passed by a woman in a market who looked absolutely stunning in a perfectly coordinating outfit. I stopped and asked if I could take her picture (I'm a photographer). She was delighted and said yes. She looked like a goddess. We're still Instagram friends!
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Crowdsourcing info: Can Mormon churches be used as warming centers or is there something in the handbook that forbids it?
We have heated buildings that are empty most of the time. We have subzero temperatures this weekend in Keokuk and no homeless shelter. Can't we do something?
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My 6 yr old after church: "My primary teachers are all women, but how come all they do is talk about men?"
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My husband's childhood cat died yesterday. We were talking as a family about ways to comfort Daddy.
5y.o: "We could kill Daddy so he could be with his cat again." 😳
My son is maybe a little too logical?
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Child to my hubs, "I know H.M. and H.F. are in heaven, but is there a daughter in heaven too?"
Hubs: "Um, you were and will be."
Child: "But is there a beloved daughter, like Jesus?"
...
My daughter at a tender 6yrs, notices the lack of women in our theology. It's a problem.
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I just walked out of a Sunday school class that was supposed to discuss Daniel, but in actuality listed all the fortune 500 companies with Mormon men leading them, convincing the class of white, capitalist, prosperity gospel. I'm still shaking.
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Didn't the WoW come about because Emma was cleaning up the disgusting tobacco mess in the School of the Prophets and asked Joseph to ask God if ingesting that stuff was healthy? Feels like the whole D&C was about Joseph asking questions/*demanding* answers.
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HELP—I have a meeting tomorrow to discuss using our building as a warming center for our town. I'm looking at the LDS Church website and doubting myself. I know it's 💯 what the Church should do but I'm afraid they'll shut me down with bureaucracy. Advice or good arguments?
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Today, in my tiny branch in Keokuk, Iowa, an elderly man gave a talk about HF and JC. He discussed their natures and roles. Then he said, "I cannot talk about the Father, without the Mother." He went on to speak about Heavenly Mother for 5 minutes before closing and I just 😭😭
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On my mission, I was voluntold to sing a solo musical number. Between mission dynamics (obedience), a panic attack in front of the audience, and teasing from other missionaries, it was a traumatic experience for me.
This weekend, I sang on stage for the first time in 15 years.
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The longer I engage in sincere questioning and deconstructing of my faith, the more institutional Church promises begin to sound like threats.
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How should "Abrahamic sacrifice" be renamed? We had a lesson in SS about it today & it really hit me that "Abrahamic" does not cover the breadth of the situation. It was Sarah who grappled with the implications of infertility with a man blessed to be the father of nations 1/
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1/5 I'm conducting interviews for CGU of Kenyan Mormon Women about their upbringing and experience with the Church. I had my first interview yesterday. It was incredible. Women all over the world recognize the inequality that currently stands within the Church.
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The LDS Church has done a good job cultivating musicians, business owners, influencers, public speakers, etc. Wouldn't it be great if it could raise a generation of people who learned how to spot abusers and proactively respond to abuse? We have the resources. Let's bloody do it.
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My most BYU story is in 2007 my freshman year, I worked at the Cannon Center at Hellman Halls and had to close the Cannon, lock all the dorms, and stop people from watching movies and making out. One night alone at 2AM, I got chased by a guy in a gorilla costume.
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"My fellow disciples in Christ," a great, inclusive way Près. Aburto addressed the audience without gendering them.
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If I had to organize a 5k, it would be called "Run, You Fools!" It would be on April 1st and people would be encouraged to dress up like characters from the LOTR universe. We'd give lembas bread as a recovery snack and rings to the winners.
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After I gave my talk today in Church, the Branch President came up to me, thanked me for my talk, and told me I probably made history as the first person to quote Ibram Kendi from the pulpit. 😂
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1/4 I recently interviewed a friend who is the first Mormon chaplain in the federal prison system. There was a lot of opposition to get there ( esp being divorced and a woman), but after years of conversations, policy changed to allow women chaplains in prisons and the military!
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This is long, but I have appreciated the support and felt like I needed to give an update. Thank you for keeping me stable and strong through this nightmare. It's going to be rough, but it's not going to destroy us or silence us. 10/10
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The bottom line: great sacrifices and covenants are made on the backs of women without much acknowledgement. We can acknowledge them now. The promises made are beautiful, but acknowledging suffering brings empathy and the beginnings of healing to everyone. 7/
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1/10 I used to believe that the Church moved slow on policy changes because it was "adapted to the capacity of the weakest of the Saints." I thought this referred to third world countries, the ones where women are treated much worse off than white, middle-class me.
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8/10 The problem isn't with God moving slowly, it's about a clog in the pipe. Leaders not having all the information. They are missing 50%. They are missing revelation that comes from consulting with and listening to women.
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Not until recently have I noticed the Church using he/him to talk about the Holy Ghost. I've always thought of the Holy Ghost as they/them. Why does the Holy Ghost have to be a male? Is there revelation on this?
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Had the meeting. "I think sometimes logistics, rules, and liability concerns get in the way of being Christlike. This is the Christlike thing to do," he said. He's talking to the SP Thursday.
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In 2009, I was at BYU in an RB gym for an all♀️ class. Every class, J.T. would be there, shooting 🏀 until our class started. One day on his way out (no one asked), he pointed to each of us and "rated us" (hot or not, literally laughing at some). Hope he's changed bc he was 🤢.
This dude keeps going on about loan forgiveness and making fun of sincere followers of Jesus. And he calls himself a follower of Jesus. His prosperity gospel, American exceptionalism-loving Jesus doesn't exist.
I'm done giving this dude clicks, but man... He's egregious.
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The push the LDS church has made in recent years to use its full name is a pet peeve of mine. I had to write an article about the church today. With a limited word count, it was a would you rather game: write the full name of the church five times or actually write what they did?
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When my stake did Trek, I was 17. The planners wanted to be hardcore. No cell phones, but also no "modern conveniences" like toothpaste, deodorant, or hand sanitizer. Exception: pads and tampons. So I created a black market during Trek smuggling forbidden goods in tampons. 1/
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My grandpa died on Saturday. He requested no funeral and I gotta say it's pretty uncomfortable not having the closure that a funeral or memorial would bring. Especially for my mom.
Funerals and memorials are for the living, not the the dead.
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Really wish the Church would institute and normalize an honorable step-down/retirement from callings, especially for the First Presidency and 12. They should be able to spend their last years with family and out of the spotlight if they choose.
Church releases statement acknowledging appreciation from the Holland family and the Apostle’s desire to return to active ministering.
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At times I post raw takes on church experiences because it's lonely existence being a Mormon Feminist in a rural community. I've found added peace, solidarity, and purpose as I connect with people on here. It's nice to know I'm not the only one that feels the way I do 1/2
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How much do you think this cost?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints takes over the iconic New York City Times Square to show scenes of Jesus Christ's birth and the traditional nativity.
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I am so psyched. The relief society stake president got wind of the CGU interviews I'm doing about Kenyan Mormon women and feminism and asked me to speak at the stake relief society activity later this month. The topic? Heavenly Mother 🥰👸🏿🌳☀️🌌
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Highlights of Convo:
1st thing he said, "I heard about the Twitter storm. Someone sent it and the blog to me. I can't imagine how you must be feeling. Are you okay?" 😭😭😭 It meant so much to me that was the 1st thing he said. 5/
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Re: last Sunday's drama. People who follow the blogger that wrote about me contacted someone in my ward. So now I'm struggling to sleep, envisioning worst case scenarios, and kicking myself.
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"I've never had a s'mores before." (This was multiple kids)
This was a random sampling of kids that stopped by tonight in our small town. Kids are hurting. Their lives are hard. We just need to love them and judge less.
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Women (and children 8+) being permitted to be witnesses in the Church ordinances is a tragically ironic consolation prize. "200 years after the Restoration, You can now stand there, tell us you saw something that everyone else saw, and we'll officially take your word for it!"😇
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This guy (Geoff B) wrote an entire article about me and my previous tweet, about how I am lying. Feels strange having an experience my entire branch witnessed questioned for the sake of a post. "Not picking on Erika" though. Just my ideals and sentiments. Jesus would be proud.
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Update: I went to church w/ my daughter. Husband stayed home w/ sick kids. Primary program. Then BP asked to speak w/ congregation after primary program and before RS/and nonRS. 1/
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I freaked out and called the cops. By the time they arrived, he was gone. I was terrified. At the end of fall semester 2009, the Daily Universe published a "Best of the Decade" police reports and mine was on there.
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We pitched a tent and built a small fire in the empty lot my in-laws own and kids just started coming from the houses to hang out with us. It was so awesome, but some of the things they said in passing were heart breaking...
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The fact Patricia Holland was only mentioned by surname and made relevant by her relationship to a man on the Church News's post announcing her own funeral is all the proof you need. 3/
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9/10 Change won't come when the people are ready. Change needs to come now and the people will follow. And when we have all voices speaking up and sharing what's going on, our revelation and prayers are more informed. If this is a woman's church, leadership should reflect that.
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4/10 But after speaking with several women here in Kenya, my mind is changed. The "weakest of the Saints" are not the people in these countries. It's the exclusivity of the male leadership in the Church and the limited seats women have at the table.
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I deleted my previous tweets commenting on posts people made about *how* the Church News shared Patricia Holland's funeral this weekend. I did not have permission from the original posters to share their words, and that was wrong. However, I still stand by the ideas. 1/
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The hardest part about being disappointed in my Church for me right now is not becoming bitter.
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10/10 This isn't even touching on the needs of the LBGTQ community who also need a seat at the leadership table, who also need to be consulted and heard.
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My daughter is getting baptized next week. She thoughtfully created her program and we found out my MIL can't conduct the program because it has to be a member of the Branch Pres. Why? 😭 Not mad at the BP, but furious about the church's obsession with male control.
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A common sentiment in several talks about the New Strength of Youth: things may have changed in the pamphlet, but God's just testing us. We're not supposed to deviate from what we've been originally taught. 🤦🏼♀️
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I'll be honest, I'm very confused. I don't live in Utah? And I'm not in Mountain Time. I never said I talked to the teacher after class, in fact, I walked out and said I did, after raising my hand and kindly disagreeing. Weird to spend so much time with me.
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Being a peacemaker also includes using our agency to apologize when we have done wrong. Especially as an institution. People who have been hurt by institutions aren't simply "griping."
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Why is it that rich and powerful (and, in this case, conspiracy theorists) have direct access to Mormon leadership? Big yucky flags here.
reading the lawsuit against Tim Ballard - anyone else bothered by this email from Glenn Beck?
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Our stake wrote and read a letter today for members need to stop using fast and testimony meeting to share opinions, teach lessons, give travel logs, or tell stories. It should just be stating what you believe.
I get it, but inadvertently, it made church feel more Rameumptomish.
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One more: Our branch recently became a ward. The SS teacher wanted everyone to introduce themselves. It quickly deteriorated into men introducing themselves and their wives, the women only half-standing and giving a small wave before sitting back down. They were spoken for. 4/4
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My school of the prophets:
-Robin Wall Kimmerer
-Rachel Held Evans
-Angela Davis
-Roxane Gay
-Lavina Fielding Anderson
-Sharon Eubank
-Sue Monk Kidd
-Carol Lynn Pearson
-Maxine Hanks
-Audre Lorde
-Rachel Hunt Steenblik
-Richard Rohr
-Gregory Prince
-Eugene England
Any others?
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Women in the church often stand in the shadows of their husbands, known either as "Sister So&So," or as a man's auxiliary —not on their own merit or personhood.
I was mocked for using the terms "erasure of women" and that "women are not equal" but I truly believe that. 2/
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The contractor doing work in my in-laws home (where we now live) called my husband and asked him to remove some "sexual photos" he glanced at in my in-laws' closet. "I don't want to be in their business," he said.
The "sexual photos" were my husband's high school wrestling pics.
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My heart is bursting. I submitted an essay to the
@TheExponent
and it was published! This is the first time my writing has even been printed and I'm thrilled it's with the Exponent II. Artist Lauren Walke created the most stunning photography to accompany the article.
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A a reporter who lives near Nauvoo, this is an accurate sentiment felt by many non-Mormon locals. Ties to the church come with perks, but at what cost? Every time locals take money from the church, they feel like they're selling out. Plus, Mormon tourists are THE WORST.
Nauvoo “lost its sovereignty last night because Utah will always control it,” said Irene Tukuafu, a Latter-day Saint temple worker in the Illinois town. “Nauvoo has become a colony of Salt Lake City.”
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It wasn't just an Abrahamic sacrifice: it was the sacrifices of Sarah and Hagar too. We don't see the flaws of Abraham as poignantly as Sarah or Hagar perhaps because Abraham is so pedestalized (made that word up) or to soften/justify the trauma Sarah and Hagar went through. 6/
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"We might not stay long, our dad's coming to pick us up. And it's his birthday! (Pause) He probably won't come."
"I need to go talk to my mom and tell her we're here, the last time we were around some adults, they tried to give us drugs." (This girl is NINE).
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One of the drawbacks about being a journalist in a small town: eventually, when you stop writing about 100th birthday parties and start writing more about misuse of power in the community, loud people start hating you.
Things have been tough the past two weeks.
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4/4 "The power I don't have in my church, but the power I have in the prison. Don’t get me wrong—it’s not about me seeking power or wanting power over others. It’s just kind of amazing to think about the dynamic because it’s a new thing for me as a Latter-day Saint woman."
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5/5 "Many men use the priesthood to justify beating their wives. And when you go to complain to the Bishop, you sometimes find out that he does it too!"
"The Church needs to have equal callings for men and women."
If you haven't noticed, this woman is incredible.
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My 4-yr old after sacrament meeting: "I don't want to go to primary!"
Nice visitor we've never met sitting next to us: "What do you mean, you love primary!"
4-yr. old: "I hate primary, and you don't even know me!"
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What's your favorite Primary song?
Here's mine:
"I often go walking in meadows of clover,
And I gather armfuls of blossoms of blue.
I gather the blossoms the whole meadow over;
Dear mother, all flowers remind me of you."
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4/5 "Joseph (OT) is a favorite scripture story, so is Deborah. She was a prophetess. Where are the prophetesses now? We need one like yesterday."
"Men here use the priesthood as a weapon to suppress women and keep them in their homes."
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I told him that I didn't believe in criticizing people's character, I do believe in criticizing people's ideology, which is what I tried to do, but probably messed up. I have things to change and improve on, but I also felt understood. And I was not silenced, but encouraged. 9/
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My dear friend, Jenna Carson, just became the first female chaplain in the US military for
@Ch_JesusChrist
. It was a very long, heart wrenching road. I did a non-Church affiliated interview with her in December before she was finally approved.
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6/10 For example, a woman in Kenya spoke with a bishop & said she wanted men to stop using the priesthood as an excuse beat their wives. She said the bishop also beat his wife. Is the bishop going to take her suggestion seriously? No! He's part of the problem. He'll go to
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Not forgetting Hagar, who was the unconsenting, enslaved lamb on the altar of Abraham and Sarah's marriage, who was impregnated, gave birth to Ishmael, and then expelled into the desert without a plan. 5/
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@matthewallen
Most churches claim liability, but it's simply not true. In an interview with a Presbyterian pastor yesterday, "We called our insurance a couple of years ago, it's a Church activity. When you have a group of teenagers come in for a lock- in. I don't have to file anything..."
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My 6 yr old got a baby cactus yesterday & has been nurturing the hell out of it. Yesterday she sang to it, told it a bedtime story, & asked me to draw the curtains so it wouldn't eat too much (sunlight). Before going to school today, she ran to it & whispered, "Bye darling!" 😍🌵
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And then made a movie about herself and commissioned a painting of herself with a Jesus halo.
For those wondering why so many people don't like Tim Ballard, imagine Harriet Tubman had orchestrated raids to free slaves from plantations, taken them a mile or so away, and then left them alone and vulnerable with no resources. Nobody would call that a successful rescue.
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5/10 When a woman has a problem who should she systemically turn to? The bishop (male), the Stake Pres (male) or an area authority (male). If a woman in Kenya/UK/USA suggests a policy change, how far up the leadership chain does her request travel? How seriously is it considered?
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It was Sarah who was pregnant and gave birth in her NINETIES, and it was Sarah who maybe wittingly or unwittingly said goodbye to her only son, Isaac, that morning as Abraham took him to the altar. Did she have a say, was her faith also tested? 3/
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3/4 "As a woman in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have a congregation. I stand up there in front of a crowd of men, and I am the spiritual authority in the room. Preaching. I think of the irony, the power that I have in that place."
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It was Sarah who had to grapple with the implications of infertility with a man blessed to be the father of nations. It was Sarah who painfully "offered" Hagar to Abraham as a solution to her infertility, and dealt with the trauma of plural marriage (albeit in terrible ways). 2/
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4th thing: "I'm not going to tell you to do anything with you Twitter. Twitter policing is the last thing I want to do with my time." I explained that Twitter was a space for me to process things with solidarity and gentle challenging. 8/
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Bottom line: many women worldwide are asking for and ready for policy changes. Their desires fall on unlistening ears. There are no channels of communication. This issue is endemic in the Church. Bring the change and the people will adapt, that's part of our Mormon heritage!
9/10 Change won't come when the people are ready. Change needs to come now and the people will follow. And when we have all voices speaking up and sharing what's going on, our revelation and prayers are more informed. If this is a woman's church, leadership should reflect that.
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Just got
@designmom
's book, "Ejaculate Reponsibly" and it's genius. My favorite part is the eye-catching cover and the chapter titles that are so big, people can read them over your shoulder and immediately have something to think about.
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I did not watch a single session of Conference this weekend and my early-October psyche has never been better.
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"We talk of service but when the rubber hits the road, where are we?Some people of the branch are going to be uncomfortable with this. A little discomfort is a good."
He's an amazing person. He said, even if the SP says no, he'll try to keep it an active conversation.
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2nd thing: "I don't want you to think I was calling you out at church. We all can be better. I meant that. The talk we had stemmed from all "this," but it's been a problem long before you moved in. In part, this is from a fault in my leadership." 6/
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My son has never known a BYU team to have lost a game. He's also 2 days old, but that's a small detail.
@boneyfuller
@byuROC
@BYUfootball
@BYUSportsNation
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7/10 leadership meetings and this issue will go undiscussed. Women in turn, won't talk about inequality, which they feel in their hearts, but can't express openly in their Church services. It's extreme in Kenya, but don't women feel like that to some degree everywhere?
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I think the testosterone drenched dogpile of character condemning and brimstone rhetoric that occurred on my thread today is further proof that women are not equal to men in an orthodox Mormon world. To even suggest such a thing brings a deluge of hate from "Christians."
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My goal of what will be said at my funeral:
No: She never complained.
Yes: She advocated for herself, her family, and the community. She didn't suffer quietly in martyr like conditions—She spoke up clearly as often as necessary.
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3rd thing: "I want you to feel like you and your family can keep coming. We need your perspective." He encouraged me to understand people's p.o.v and background said even with the criteria he laid out there'll be problems. "But we're going to learn and it's going to be okay." 7/
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3/5 Examples of her feminism: "God speaks to me through visions. I hate that the Church doesn't openly recognize that women can have visions."
"I have the spiritual gift of healing, which is supposedly impossible since I don't hold 'the priesthood'."
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These are the "Defenders of the Faith." Not clever or cute or Christlike.
Boys like these, which are plentiful in this church, can't help but show their true misogynistic colors when threatened by self-actualized women.
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Has OUR propaganda made you believe in a false binary that either you support ($$$) them or are a human-trafficking pedo? If so, more reasons they are a bad org.
For people seeing this, if you are against human trafficking but don't support OUR, please post orgs you prefer 1/2
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He said, "The SP is a good person. I think he'll at least give it serious consideration."
Update on Thursday or Friday.
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@matthewallen
"... Or when I have 50 women come every month for a luncheon. So to me, it smacks of a really ugly thing. It's their own misconceptions of homelessness. It's a misunderstanding of who we're serving. And it's putting fear over faith."
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I can be wrong. I'm learning & I appreciate additional perspectives that widen my lens. I get that people disagree. I don't mind discussion. What I don't like (and will block) are folks who engage in name calling and ignorant condemnations in the name of their militant Jesus./2
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2/4 Here's the link to the interview:
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Just watched Everything Everywhere All at Once and wow, I loved it.
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@MargaretOH_
The Lamanite girls playing in the woods who were kidnapped by nasty priests of King Noah, then forced to marry them, developed Stockholm syndrome and begged for their people not to kill the priests when they found them.
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