A new website, Agitating Faithfully, provides a forum for Latter-day Saints to be counted in their support for gender equality. At the site, members of the Church can sign their name and ward to show that they support extending the priesthood to women. Below is some information about the site:
Agitating Faithfully was inspired by Pres. Hinckley’s statement that women could possibly receive the priesthood, which he followed with, “but there there’s no agitation for that.” Perhaps if we take the prophet at his word, we could receive the blessings he suggests are available.
The story behind the site — A while ago, my oldest daughter (five years old) asked me, “Why don’t girls get the priesthood?” I had no good response. We have no scriptures or revelations prohibiting women from the priesthood. In fact, we believe in a God who “denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female…and all are alike unto God” (2 Nephi 26:33). I hope my daughters have the opportunity to receive the same blessings, privileges, and responsibilities as my son. This site is my attempt to work toward that hope in a way that is consonant with both the gospel and the church.
What can I do on AF? — Add your name to the list of church members who support gender equality. You can do that by creating an account at http://agitatingfaithfully.org/new-account . Once you have an account, you can also respond to questions on the site at http://agitatingfaithfully.org/questions .
Do you really think AF will change the church’s policy regarding the priesthood? — No.
Then what’s the point? –– Two points. First, solidarity. I hope that encouraging feminists in the church to “come out” publicly will help other members with similar perspectives who feel alone discover that they really are not alone — and perhaps even inspire them with the confidence to express their own beliefs. Second, I want my daughters to know how I feel. In a sense, this project is my testimony to them, that I feel they deserve the same blessings and opportunities that are available to the men in the church.
This isn’t a place for airing grievances. It isn’t a place to bash the church, its leaders, or its members. It’s not a protest or activist movement in the traditional sense. It’s just a place for people to stand up and be counted in the continuing conversation about gender equality in the church.
Who can I ask if I have any questions? — danelaverty@gmail.com
If you go to the site, you may see that I, Bored in Vernal, have signed my real name and my ward. This is not something I generally do. In fact, I’m not quite sure why I did it now. I don’t know if I even believe in extending the LDS Priesthood to women. There’s a bit of gender essentialism in my feminist thinking. I conceive a female “Priestesshood” as being different than male Priesthood in its manifestations. And I haven’t cogently formulated in my mind exactly what this means. But I do feel that gender equality in the Church is not where it should be. I think that Joseph Smith’s vision of women in the early church has not been optimized. I’d like to give some support to the effort to maximize leadership opportunities among LDS women. And I want to see what President Hinckley meant by saying that women could possibly receive the Priesthood.
I put up this post to start a discussion on the type of activism represented by this website. The past couple of years has seen similar projects such as Mormons For Marriage, What Women Know, Seeking Forgiveness, Signing for Something. No one really believes this grass-roots type of agitating will change LDS policy, do they? And yet, in the long run, I believe it may have some effect upon the collective Mormon attitude toward equality.
One of the questions asked on the site is: “Aren’t you afraid of retribution from the church for agitating for change?” It is true that in the past, I have been afraid. I do value my membership in the Church and I don’t want this action to have repercussions. But as a participant in the Bloggernacle, I’ve come to see that enough people feel strongly about this issue that I doubt that any of us will be redressed for our support.
Will you sign this petition? Why or why not?
Wheat & Tares 
My personal approach is at: http://adrr.com/living/ss_5.htm
So does that mean you won’t be signing?
Otherwise http://www.wheatandtares.org/2010/10/28/on-being-heard-revisited/
I generally don’t sign off on things where I’m not sure I believe them. If I were in a different place, I might spend time in coordinated and steady prayer and other activities that have succeeded in other areas.
Yesterday I spent an hour on the phone with the widow of a good friend. The night before, more than an hour with friends who just discovered their teenage son who had said he was bi-sexual has been going out for full throttle hard-core sex with older men.
Sunday, well, I’m fully invested in a number of things, as much as I have strength for.
This morning I helped my wife prepare breakfast for the guests in our house for the funeral today that they are attending. She is compassionate service leader, two funerals since her surgery last month. She will, in theory, be cleared to return to work next month.
As for the effort to maximize leadership opportunities among LDS women. And I want to see what President Hinckley meant by saying that women could possibly receive the Priesthoo I very much support that. I know that President Hinckley had it very much on his mind, the need to more fully utilize women and their leadership.
I trust he is still engaged in that effort. Though I do think I will follow up with some friends on the topic.
Guess I will
# Why is gender equality important to you?
Because it is very important to God and I honor God.
#Don’t you know that change in the church comes from the top down, not the bottom up? Aren’t you “steadying the ark”?
At some times, as noted, there is a need for the members to become ready for a change in order for God to allow them to have it.
#Aren’t you afraid of retribution from the church for agitating for change?
There is no shortage of idiots. I know people who have suffered retribution for paying tithing or following the CHI. However, generally, it is a matter of how something is done, not if it is done.
#By agitating for ordaining women to the priesthood, aren’t you fighting against the decrees of God?
I suspect not any more than by giving the priesthood to people who are not of the Tribe of Levi or the house of Aaron
# Why do you stay in the church if you disagree with its teachings? Shouldn’t you just go find some other church to join?
Since the Church is ordained of God, yet peopled by imperfect men, and because God has called upon us to perfect ourselves and the Church, it is obvious that if I want to honor God I will (a) stay in the Church and (b) seek its perfection
#Don’t the scriptures teach that priesthood is for men only?
Not particularly
#Can’t men and women be equal, even if they have different responsibilities?
Yes
BTW, you picked such a beautiful quote:
Do I care if women have the priesthood? Not at all! Will I sign? Probably not. It’s not what I want for myself as a woman. And since I’m secretly selfish, I worry about the day when the bishop calls me in and asks me if I want the priesthood….”Um..no thanks bishop. I think I’ll stick with my current responsibilities that I still struggle to complete every day”
I do support gender equality, but this specific priesthood issue isn’t a big deal for me
I’m trying to phrase a parody comment to Awwwshizzle’s that doesn’t sound too crude, but I can’t really pull it off.
Anyway, the gist of it was something like: I don’t think it’s about getting more responsibilities, or whatever. But rather, it’s the idea that with responsibility should come some kind of authority or power. But for all the responsibility that women have (that yes, they can struggle to complete every day), somehow, they don’t have authority to show for it.
Maybe I’ve got it all wrong. After all, I’m not a woman.
no, haha, I’m sure you’re also right. I guess for me, I don’t need THAT kind of authority…I have authority I care to have. 🙂
and now I WANT to see your crude comment…thanks a lot!
here goes nothin’. (In before massive downvoting)
Thank you for posting about this BiV. I really respect your opinion. I’ve been thinking about this since it was posted on Exponent II yesterday, trying to evaluate where I am on it. A year ago I would have been afraid to sign it. Now it’s more a question of whether or not I care enough to sign it, and that startles me. Because, really, I don’t want to stop caring, but caring brings responsibility, and it’s been so nice in the past year or two to stand back from the Church and not feel responsible. So, I’m still thinking. I suspect the introspection this has brought on is a good thing, albeit uncomfortable.
Yes, I knew it would sound that way…hahaha…thank you!
I signed, but I’m shocked at how unafraid it makes me. Like you said, I feel safety in numbers and don’t think anything will be done about it. I’m not even sure I think it will have any effect in measurable change. But I think it’s powerful and important to add our names so that others see they aren’t alone in this particular belief, one that is often carefully avoided even in feminist discussions.
And I agree about essentialism to a degree. I think women holding and using the priesthood should look very different from what the men do right now. I think we need to be freed to organize separately and to perform the roles that we as a group used to fill. I think we need to start exploring what that will look like based on what we know.
I will not sign, because I feel that movements like that do more harm than good.
Signing your real name does show commitment, but it is undermined if you don’t know what you believe about the issue in the first place. Solidarity is often about making us feel good about NOT addressing a problem more than it is about solving the problem.
As a pastor in the Community of Christ,I called women to the priesthood, and I decided it was God’s will that I not call others. I take it seriously. I expect to be held accountable before God for making the calls or not. I expect the women to be held accountable before God for their response. So I am not happy with the notion of messing with the lives of individuals to use them as political props.
#15 – In what sense, SilverRain?
I signed it because I feel that it is time for this conversation to be had. I also feel that President Hinckley invited, through his comment shared on the site, members of the church to say something if they feel strongly about it. I don’t see the site being a demand or a threat but more of a statement of interest so the leaders of the church known that its something members care about. I believe that is needed before the leaders really take the time and consideration needed to actively seek God’s will on the topic.
I don’t care so much if the goal of the women and the priesthood is accomplished, I do care about members of the church uniting so their concerns are heard.
” No one really believes this grass-roots type of agitating will change LDS policy, do they? And yet, in the long run, I believe it may have some effect upon the collective Mormon attitude toward equality.”
The institutional church likes to portray itself as a rigid hierarchy that can not, and should not be affected by the opinions, beliefs, intellectual or spiritual insights of its members. Be that as it may, when something becomes important to the members of the church it does get discussions started in the church office building. That in itself has a level of value, even if the end result is not exactly as compassionate and as spiritually insightful as we would like.
There was a time when I thought that typical activism that one may engage in in other spheres should not be done in the church setting. The thing is, in the last few years the church has done a great deal to show us the extent to which it is a political and economic institution of the most traditional sort. In that context no one should have any qualms about activism.
But even if this were not the case, what of our agency? What of our spiritual insights and concerns? Should not any institution have a thoughtful and meaningful response to the way it uses its spiritual, intellectual, economic and political authority / influence / power? I should think that anyone who puts any thought into would give a resounding “YES!”
Beyond that, if one needs a specific religious example, just re-read the OT. Its a book full of prophets who challenged their communities and their ultimate authority / leader, God himself; and they didn’t always do it in the most thoughtful or kind way! If the prophets can pose challenges to God, can not we pose thoughtful, spiritually insightful challenges to our prophets?
On a more pragmatic level, the idea that men and women are spiritually separate but equal is a concept that lacks in spiritual and intellectual integrity. In other churches where women have the priesthood they do great things and become powerful spiritual leaders. I have tremendous gratitude for the women clergy I know and have had the privilege to work with. God bless them! It is my hope that we in the Mormon community will be able to reap the great blessings that come with women being given the priesthood.
I have thought about this issue and see only three possible bases for the movement:
1) you believe God wants women to hold the priesthood but the leaders of the LDS church are going against His will;
2) you believe God does not want women to hold the priesthood but if enough people want it He’ll change His mind;
3) you believe God is ambivalent on the issue and enough people will persuade Him to allow it.
Am I missing a fourth option? I don’t mean to be condescending; my question is sincere. I don’t see how you can support this movement and also believe that the LDS Church is the Lord’s church. Help me understand.
In response to Tim’s comment, here is what I left on the agitating faithfully website. Hopefully it answers your question…
I think of the word “agitate” and think of it as an itch, a prick, or a stirring; something that can apply to a collective consciousness. In this regard, faithful agitation is essential to raising awareness from within the church.
But I also think of how this type of agitation, the kind that nags at your consciousness (think of a question you are seeking an answer to) and I think of the method for obtaining that answer. If we seek the answer from God, we pray. But we don’t just sit back and wait for something to come to us in the form of revelation. It takes more than that. The Bible Dictionary expands on this under the heading of Prayer:
“The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them.”
Perhaps equality in the church is something God is already willing to grant to us but we need to put out “effort on our part” or “work” for it in order to obtain it. Perhaps we need to show Him that equality in the church is our righteous desire, which makes faithful agitation seem like an avenue to be considered.
http://agitatingfaithfully.org/discussion?id=9