My name is Aaron. I am a husband, a son, a brother, a runner, a climber, a student and a Mormon. I know it is hard for the average male to understand the exclusion experienced by gender. We, as men of the Church, enjoy a certain amount of societal allowance that is so intrinsic to our naturally born gender that it is difficult not to take it for granted. The power of the priesthood in the Church and the privileges it provides offer a command of personal power with the message of eternal potential…if you are a man.
I grew up with a devoted mother, and a steadfast father, both of whom still cling to the iron rod. After their divorce, my mother had to decide if she wanted to bounce from man to man, or to establish a right to thrive on her own, with her children. She faced the discouragement of many friends and family as she completed her bachelor’s degree and then master’s, sometimes living in squalid conditions to ensure she could provide for herself, and her children. Never losing faith in her God or her ability to succeed spiritually and intellectually. I believe my inspirational wife and our future children deserve the same sustained confidence from their church and its members.
I believe that every person, exclusive of gender, needs the opportunity to be given an exercised message of equality, and empowerment. The Church understands this greater than most modern churches because of its own heritage. It is painful to think that some of our most cherished sisters, mothers, daughters and wives have been given the message that in their most important endeavor, they were born with a role that is lesser-than, and placated to when that role is questioned.
I do not believe that ordaining women will be the ends of inequality in the Church. I don’t believe that women and men are the same, without natural gifts to be offered by choice. I do, however, believe women should be ordained.