Even though mostly my blog is unread and unknown except to my children and family, I find this blog post really scary to write. Why? Because I don't agree with the homosexual movement, feminist movement, and intellectual movement (not talking about individuals here--I mean the movement, which attempts to make all people including all homosexuals toe their line), and they are notorious for being close-minded, selfish, aggressive, and CRUEL--very cruel--about any ideas that go counter to their own. They hold grudges, they are intellectually rigid and refuse to consider other views (especially "faithful" views), and they find no shame in publicly smearing and attempting to outright destroy anyone who speaks anything against their current agenda. And I hate conflict and hate fighting. It's very upsetting to me to be vilified because I disagree with powerful, aggressive people who feel compelled to SQUASH any dissent, instantly and as viciously as possible.
And no, I'm not trying to do that myself. I'm trying here to let my children know what I think about those movements. They can believe what they want--and I don't have to to agree. Even if they think that kind of dissent from their doctrines is dangerous and must be suppressed.
Personally, I think forcing any one view on the majority is extremely dangerous, and I'm disheartened that the people who espouse "tolerance" and "free thinking" are the most aggressive as putting down and destroying anyone who disagrees with them.
So I post this in fear and trembling. But I want to say it anyway.
I have been thinking a lot (still) about how offended people have been that Elder Packer said that three dangers to the Lord's work (or the church?) are intellectuals, feminists, and the gay-lesbian movement.
It so fascinates me that the people who were most offended publicly said (and continue to say), "I am not a danger to the church." And then they go about actively trying to destroy other people's faith, publicly fighting against the church, and otherwise trying to show that the church is actually a danger to them. (And I still can't figure out why they don't just bow out if they don't believe, instead of trying to force the entire organization to validate their own beliefs and follow them instead).
Mostly, though, I've been thinking about how they treat the idea as a new idea that is offensive to them. But none of these three are new dangers to the work of God. The scriptures are full full full of examples of these dangers. Korihor, for example, teaches things that I identified at BYU as the core beliefs of most of my feminist professors. The scriptures talk about "silly women" and warn of the dangers of the homosexual movement teachings being at odds with the gospel.
Not only that, despite the pronouncement being baffling to those heavily involved in the three "warning" groups, it is pretty clear to a lot of the rest of us that those really are dangers.
Like the internet, these philosophies are pleasing to our minds, easy to get lost in, and distracting. They allow us to limit our views in ways that make us feel and seem powerful, without any understanding that it's all smoke and mirrors, or that being powerful in an echo chamber just means you're shouting louder than the next guy. It reminds me of the story of Narcissus, so enamored with looking at his own reflection that he died. It's just tempting to see our reflection in other people and limit our lives to interacting with addicting philosophies and the people who reflect our own ideas back to us. It's comfortable. It's the very thing the feminists and intellectuals claim they're trying to save us all from--and they are doing it, too. Maybe more.
Every time the mormon feminists and their intellectual buddies start throwing yet another public tantrum (polished and beautiful, but still a tantrum) to try to convince the brethren (sometimes) or the other member (usually) that they (the feminists and intellectuals) are right and the church must change to acknowledge this, I just want to cry. The church is working so hard to do so many difficult and important things. It's really shameful to see a bunch of intelligent, gifted, tireless, hard-working women wasting their superpowers attacking the church, and insisting on wasting the brethren's time with things that have already been addressed and that really are not as important or pressing as the feminists and intellectuals insist they must be.
It seems like it would be so much more valuable for the feminists and intellectuals to turn their prodigious energies and talents to helping God with his work instead of fighting. I know they think they are doing God's work, fighting for His will--but against the church? How can they not see that it makes no sense? (If you believe in the church, then you acknowledge the authority and therefore shouldn't be fighting it this way; if you don't believe in the church, then why are you fighting it? For example, I still cannot comprehend how the Ordain Women people can be so aggressive about fighting to be ordained to a priesthood that they don't respect or believe is actually valid!)
I just wish they would back off, turn around from their tight circles of friends who all smile and agree with each other, and start serving the people around them, including the "stupid" people and not just the people who have been offended or have disenfranchised themselves. The world is full of people to love and work to do, and I don't get the impression that feminists or intellectuals are very interested in loving and understanding--they fight to be right and to be heard, not to love more.
Somewhat ironically, the very changes the feminists and intellectuals are thrilled about did NOT come from aggressive people throwing fits. They came from righteous women who turned outward, served selflessly, and pointed out problems as they saw them in appropriate ways and times. You don't get power in God's kingdom by agitating. You get it by serving.
Every time the mormon feminists and the intellectuals speak, I want to show them D&C 121, and hope they understand that dominion is not something we grab or fight for--it's something that willingly comes to us when we righteously serve, truly love, and forget ourselves and our needs, putting ourselves, our desires, our needs second to God's.
Every time they open their mouths to complain from their place of privilege about one more philosophical hangup, I want to turn them around and say, 'Forget yourself and get to work.'
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