Join in “Bring Back Our Girls Day of Fasting and Prayer” this Mother’s Day

On By lisatorcassodowningIn OutreachLeave a comment

fast iconBefore going to bed last night, I checked to ensure the doors to my house were all locked so that my family would be safe against the darkness. As I glanced out the window, I thought of those sweet Nigerian girls and the night they were stolen. I thought of how the darkness into which they were herded must seem like brilliant light beside the hearts of the men who kidnapped them. Young girls, all of them, in pursuit of an education, a better life, a better world. Seen only as objects by evil men, creatures to be used and sold as punishment for the crime of learning. I turned from the window and called the one child I have still at home to me for evening prayer. After our nightly prayer, after the lights were switched off, I prayed again, this time alone, that our prayers–all of our prayers–matter . . .

I believe they do. So I was very excited to wake this morning and discover that Amy Isaksen Cartwright has acted on inspiration and organized “Bring Back Our Girls Day of Fasting and Prayer” to be held worldwide this Sunday, May 11th–Mother’s Day. Continue reading “Join in “Bring Back Our Girls Day of Fasting and Prayer” this Mother’s Day” →

The Mormon Historical Narrative and the 200 Year Pride Cycle

On By lisatorcassodowningIn Epistles to the Saints13 Comments

moroni-buries-plates

One of the essential lessons of the Book of Mormon is found in the 200 year pride cycle: Christ appeared to the Nephites on the American continent and, in the span of 200 years, they moved from being righteous to prosperous to proud and on to final destruction. The motif is repeated throughout the Book of Mormon. Believers often note that, at times, humility and repentance follow the season of pride and lead the people back to righteous living. Then the cycle repeats again. Admittedly, the pride cycle repeats in the Book of Mormon with relative frequency, but the 200 year pride cycle which began with Christ’s visitation and ended with the Nephite destruction dominates the book. Those of us who believe the Book of Mormon is scripture that is meant for our time see this as a warning to guard against pride.

We often think of the prophetic warning in political or governmental terms, as a warning that governments will fail once pride sets in, either with the politicians, their constituents, or both.  We use the pride cycle lesson as a way to encourage civic involvement, a vote-or-be-damned sort of mentality. The pride cycle certainly seems to apply in a political context, but scripture, as we all know, tends to have multiple layers and multiple applications. Because the pride cycle speaks of the faithful ceasing to follow God and falling away because of pride, I suspect one of those many layers must apply specifically to the organized Kingdom of God here on earth, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Continue reading “The Mormon Historical Narrative and the 200 Year Pride Cycle” →

The Right and Left of Mormonism; or How Can You Think That Way?

On By lisatorcassodowningIn Bridges, Inclusion, The Things We say20 Comments

Garran_LDS_Chapel_by_AEastNewsflash: I am a conservative Mormon … with an abundance of friends who are liberal Mormons, thanks largely to my connections in the Mormon literary and academic worlds. A few weeks back, a friend from my ward and I were enjoying an early not-quite-spring-yet afternoon in a north Texas park when I told her just that, that I have many practicing LDS friends who are liberal in their thinking. Hers palms landed on the picnic table. She leaned toward me, and, with her head shaking, said, “See … I don’t get that. How can anyone be faithful LDS and be a Democrat?” Continue reading “The Right and Left of Mormonism; or How Can You Think That Way?” →

Perspective and the Ordain Women “Problem”

On By lisatorcassodowningIn Epistles to the Saints, Inclusion81 Comments

woman-reading-on-computer-231x300I decided that, once the public action taken by Ordain Women (OW) at the April 2014 Priesthood session of General Conference was accomplished, I’d stay silent about the event. I figured there would be enough people talking about them and probably not enough people listening to them. In the aftermath, I read some very moving posts written by the OW sisters and their male supporters. Surprisingly, during and immediately after General Conference, my Facebook feed was almost absent of OW bashing. I was pleased.

However, about a week after the Priesthood session, a guest post from The Millennial Star, titled “Ordain Women: thanks for nothing” (sic), began appearing in my feed. I looked away the first few times it appeared, but its recurrence demanded I pay it some attention. Everything about that post stood in stark contrast to the things I’d read by OW supporters. It was angry when OW posts were reflective, jubilant, and sad. It was rude when OW posts seemed to go out of their way to forgive. And it was illogical, making claims about OW that were not recognizable to me and assumptions that should have been put on the Naughty Bench rather than online. But I haven’t an interest in discussing, much less debunking, the guest post. Read it here if you haven’t. Instead, I’d like to don my fiction writer/editor’s cap and discuss the difference between point of view (POV) and perspective, why and how that knowledge can help us, and what perspective has to do with the Ordain Women “problem.” Continue reading “Perspective and the Ordain Women “Problem”” →

Doubt, Mormon Women Stand, and Traction

On By lisatorcassodowningIn Epistles to the Saints, Inclusion19 Comments

17I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in early December of 1978, six months after the church lifted the ban prohibiting black men from ordination and one week before my 17th birthday. Oddly, two years earlier the ban was, in large measure, what led me to scrutinize the Church. As an eighth grader, I was so upset to learn that a church would blatantly discriminate that I spent several lunch periods boring my friend and fellow Catholic, the bespeckled and knock-kneed Maria Campagne, with my tirades. The ban put the “Mormon Church” on my radar screen and, shock of shocks, in no time I was trembling under the weight of a newly-found, but solid, testimony. Continue reading “Doubt, Mormon Women Stand, and Traction” →

The Parable of Convict Lake

On By lisatorcassodowningIn Epistles to the Saints, Inclusion4 Comments
Laurel_Mountain_Convict_Lake
Laurel Mountain at Convict Lake

Lucky me, I spent my honeymoon trout fishing.

It was August of 1986, a miserably hot summer, even in the Sierras. My new husband and I had opted out of a Hawaiian honeymoon in favor of a cash gift, so we spent the post-nuptial week at my parents’ condo in Mammoth Lakes, California. Today, Mammoth Lakes hops with summer activity, but not so much then. Mostly we fished. My father, an avid angler, had advised us to hit the beautiful St. Mary’s Lake, but I confused its location with another and inadvertently directed my fledgling husband to one of the ugliest lakes known to man. Or so I thought at the time. Convict Lake. Continue reading “The Parable of Convict Lake” →

HEADLINE: Ordain Women Shoots Self in Foot

On By lisatorcassodowningIn Epistles to the Saints, Inclusion50 Comments

pictures_of_jesus_woman_wellLast week I composed a few words (read here) asking the Mormon faithful to look at LDS feminism and, specifically, the Ordain Women movement through a more measured and Christ-like lens. The response was, not surprisingly, a mixed bag. Happily, many took to heart the “make love, not war” message. Regardless, I spent much more of last week immersed in the discussion of female ordination than I could have predicted. When a friend pointed me to the recent Feminist Mormon Housewife podcast with Kate Kelly, founder of Ordain Women, I listened to about 30 minutes of the two hour discussion before my Internet glitched and that was that. So, admittedly, I haven’t ingested the entire interview, but I listened long enough to hear Kelly explain that OW’s public action at the Priesthood Session of April’s General Conference is intended to “communicate to the leaders of the church and to the Lord” that his daughters are, essentially, ready and waiting to be given the blessing of the priesthood. And I thought, “Sister Kelly, that ain’t gonna work.” Continue reading “HEADLINE: Ordain Women Shoots Self in Foot” →

Today’s LDS Feminism and Ordain Women: An Epistle to the Saints

On By lisatorcassodowningIn Epistles to the Saints30 Comments

man-and-woman-symbolIt seems to be an unfortunate reality that, if I am to speak of gender issues to traditional Latter-day Saints, I must, at the outset, announce that I am not a member of Ordain Women. So here it is: I am not a member of Ordain Women. But I am a practicing and faithful Latter-day Saint who is disturbed by the depiction of the group as a small cluster of angry women who intend to usurp the positions of authority in the church. I’ve come across too much of that kind of rhetoric over the past few weeks to remain silent. And so I decided, in preparation for the 184th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which will be held the first week in April, I’d share with you my observations about what today’s LDS feminism looks like from where I sit, which, admittedly, is the cheap seats of the organizational hierarchy. My focus will remain on female ordination even though Ordain Women, as well as LDS feminists outside that group, have an interest in other women’s issues.

Continue reading “Today’s LDS Feminism and Ordain Women: An Epistle to the Saints” →

The Meaning of True: An Epistle to the Saints

On By lisatorcassodowningIn Christ, Epistles to the Saints4 Comments

one-true-church The Church is true. The church is the true church. I know the church is true. These are expressions I counseled my children not to recite when they gave talks or bore their testimony because they are traps. Continue reading “The Meaning of True: An Epistle to the Saints” →

Mormons and the Bible

On By lisatorcassodowningIn Bridges1 Comment

bible candlelightYesterday, I had the delightful opportunity to have lunch with a long-time friend, a devout Christian, I haven’t had a chance to talk to (beyond Facebook) for years. As we chatted, I found myself saying that the Mormon faith probably “has more teeth in its mouth” regarding obedience to commandments, and she nodded agreement. At the moment (and certainly afterward), I wondered if, in saying this, I hadn’t fed into misconceptions about Mormonism. Had I reinforced the idea that Mormons think we earn salvation by works, or via compliance to commandments? The question got me thinking about how many ways its possible for Mormons and Christians to miscommunicate. Continue reading “Mormons and the Bible” →