Sean Carter, the author of this post, is in OW leadership. Read his profile here.
“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King said these words to remind us that we must always be concerned about the condition of the “other.” And not just to satisfy the lofty ideal of equality, but for the very practical reason that we are all inextricably linked in a web of mutuality. As a result, while the shackles of political and economic deprivation were placed directly on the limbs of black Americans during King’s day, they restricted the freedom and prosperity of ALL Americans.
It is this realization that causes me to struggle against the patriarchy that exists today in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At present, my beloved church restricts the office of the priesthood to worthy males. In doing so, it lessens the power of the priesthood for us all, as we are deprived of the administrative, healing and prophetic gifts of our sisters. And as a result, the work to which we have been ordained is being fettered by the chains of gender inequality.