Guess I don't know....

"Mothers who know desire to bear children. ... Prophets, seers, and revelators who were sustained at this conference have declared that "God's commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force." (LDS) President Ezra Taft Benson taught that young couples should not postpone having children and that "in the eternal perspective, children—not possessions, not position, not prestige—are our greatest jewels."

"Mothers who know are nurturers. ... Another word for nurturing is homemaking. Homemaking includes cooking, washing clothes and dishes, and keeping an orderly home. Home is where women have the most power and influence; therefore, Latter-day Saint women should be the best homemakers in the world. Nurturing mothers are knowledgeable, but all the education women attain will avail them nothing if they do not have the skill to make a home that creates a climate for spiritual growth. Growth happens best in a "house of order," and women should pattern their homes after the Lord's house."

Julie Beck
Relief Society
LDS Church

Normally I try and stay out of the religious issues regarding the place that I live...i.e. Utah. My motto is to let people live the way they see fit to run their lives even if that courtesy is not always returned back to me, but the topic above has been in the paper repeatedly over the last week and I just couldn't believe what I was reading. If this isn't contempt for any woman that does not fit this mold, I don't know what is. Apparently I don't know much of anything because I have not given birth, nor am I a nurturer because of the lack of little ones clinging to the edges of my skirt. I can consider myself lucky I don't have to listen to this drivel and take it as belief.

I understand this discussion has not been well received by most the LDS population as well (thank God!). It was a welcome relief to read Robert Kirby's column this morning and realize I did not go back in time to the Victorian era when I crossed the State line.

What is more strange about all this is that I caught a talk on KBYU not to long ago from another LDS woman who stated that all women, regardless of children or not, are all true nurturers of the earth. I was happy to hear this rather "liberal" (for most Mormon's anyway) view of women in their many different roles, and had begun to be seen as real people, not Leave it to Beaver Mom's. Obviously this recent discussion is a set back in this arena.

Since moving back here, I have found myself repeatedly running into folks that are leaving the church, have left the church, or no longer practicing. Now I know why.