I’ve been involved publicly with Ordain Women for more than three years. It has been a life-changing and testimony-building experience, and probably not in the ways most people would assume. Over these years, I have had the opportunity to speak with countless individuals, in person and online, about the question of religious gender equality, women in Mormonism, and my own Mormonism. Over the next few weeks, I will share the most common questions I encounter and my own personal answers. I hope this can spur thought regarding these questions and encourage conversation about how you might answer them.
1. Why don’t you just join another / start your own church?
Because this church is my home. For those of us who still testify of the gospel, this church is where we find it. For those of us who may have stepped away from the church, that does not mean we no longer care. We care about the friends and family who remain in the church. In short, we don’t all join another church or start our own church because we are part of this church and we care about it.
An invitation to leave this church because I struggle with a part of it suggests that we, as a church, cannot handle honest discussion. It also implies that only people with no questions and no points of concern are welcome. I do not believe that is how the Savior operated when He was on the Earth or how Joseph Smith did either. I also do not accept that seeking knowledge and growth is grounds for leaving a church built on a foundation of seeking knowledge and growth.