What Is This Person Saying? Zelophehads Daughters

[debrand]

zelophehadsdaughters.com/2010/03/10/through-the-looking-glass-the-worth-of-men/

 

I know very little about Mormonism except that some of their beliefs are a bit odd. Following some links from another blog, I stumbled upon an article on this site. It's as if I discovered an alien language that is English. I have no idea what the writer is trying to say. Please, someone explain this to me.

 

 

Quote

Men have a sacred role in the purification and sanctification of women, said a member of the Coven of the Sixty-six at Tuesday’s devotional.

 

Whether a father, husband, brother or son, men have the divine nature to love others and the destiny to complete women, said Elder Gwendolyn L. Petunia.

 

Woman’s ability to obtain the purification needed to get back into the presence of Goddess is dependent on her eternal marriage to her spouse, she said.

 

 

What does this mean?

 

This next quote made me laugh

 

 

Quote

If all women had the perspective of seeing men the way a mother sees her sons, “respect for and treatment of a young man during her dating years would improve significantly,†Elder Petunia said.

 

There would be no future children if people start seeing the opposite sex as their own children. The idea of having sex with someone you view as your son or daughter is pretty disgusting. Bleck!

 

Is this normal Mormon thinking ? This article confused me. Is Mormonism that different from traditional Christianity?

 

I think that the author is trying to make a feminist statement using Mormon theology. It ends up sounding odd.

[debrand]

As I read through the comments, it sounds as if the writer is trying to make a point to her fellow Mormons by making diety feminine, but it still comes across as strange and somehow antiwoman. This leads me to believe that Mormonism must just naturally be unfriendly toward women. I'm still very confused over this post.

Woman’s ability to obtain the purification needed to get back into the presence of Goddess is dependent on her eternal marriage to her spouse, she said

This confuses me the most. Even if I switch the genders( which is what I think the writer is doing) it still sounds pretty horrible. Why would another person's worth be dependent on being married? And why would anyone want to belong to such a faith?

[Rachel333]

I think this is actually pretty funny if you're familiar with Mormonism. That blog is a liberal feminist Mormon blog, and this post, though I didn't get it at first, is satirizing the condescending patriarchal attitudes about women by reversing everything people say about women and applying it to men (and vice versa).

Men have a sacred role in the purification and sanctification of women, said a member of the Coven of the Sixty-six at Tuesday’s devotional.

Whether a father, husband, brother or son, men have the divine nature to love others and the destiny to complete women, said Elder Gwendolyn L. Petunia.

Woman’s ability to obtain the purification needed to get back into the presence of Goddess is dependent on her eternal marriage to her spouse, she said.

She's making fun of how Mormons claim that women are important even though they have no leadership roles. They claim that women are there to help men, basically, and that women are needed for men's glorification and vice versa. It comes across really condescending, and by reversing it and saying it about men instead, she's showing how ridiculous it is.

If all women had the perspective of seeing men the way a mother sees her sons, “respect for and treatment of a young man during her dating years would improve significantly,†Elder Petunia said.

Here she's mocking the "remember that every girl is someone's daughter" idea.

It definitely took me a minute to figure out what she was doing, but I like this post.

Edit: Okay, she's spoofing this: http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/5 ... women.html

It definitely is pretty gross, and it upset a lot of the more liberal Mormons. The LDS church has a long way to go.

[myanimus]

Could be way off but Mormons need to be sealed together in the temple to be with eachother and their family for eternity. If you are not you will not know them in heaven. Also, if you are not sealed you will go to a lower level of the kingdom of heaven, there are 3. I of course will be in the lowest. FYI, Mormons will wait for the non believing family members to pass away and immediately start doing baptisms for them so they can at least get into heaven.

Kids start doing this in youth group around 12ish if I remember correctly, you go to the temple and you yourself are baptized for the dead.

I disagree with much of mormonism but will say, my husband and I were young and broke, no money for a wedding and the bishop of my parents church married us in the church building for free. (I couldn't do it at the court house because my parents wouldn't sign for me to be married unless I was at least married in there church).

[MamaJunebug]

I'm not Mormon but I know a little more about them than does the average bear, probably.

Yes, as said before, the blogger is switching pronouns for a darkly humorous effect.

LDS teaches that a woman only gets to the highest heaven (there are 3), aka the Celestial Kingdom (CK), by being temple-married/sealed to a good LDS man.

That good LDS man only gets to the CK by fulfilling all the rules and requirements of Mormonism.

LDS doctrine differs from mere Christianity significantly.

LDS teaches that the god of Earth was once an everyday man who kept the requirements and earned his own world.

Christianity teaches that God is and always has been God and rules over all creation, not just planet Earth.

LDS teaches that Jesus and Lucifer are brothers - sons of this world's god - and that one chose the right, the other chose the wrong.

Christianity teaches that Jesus is and always has been God and that Lucifer is a created angel who chose the wrong.

LDS teaches that Jesus' life, death and resurrection are important in our salvation but by no means are the only thing -- we must fulfill all those rules and requirements, etc.

Christianity teaches that Jesus' life and works are the only thing that saves us; that our good works are merely done in gratitude, but that they have no bearing on where we go after we die.

And of coruse Christianity teaches one (1) heaven and the same number for hell.

exmormon.org, while obviously not an official LDS site, still has lots of info and links to LDS theology.

As does lds.org (or perhaps mormon.org), the official LDS church site.

[ridethekick]

The satire is quite good and really shows the WTF thinking behind those beliefs. It's amazing how much twisted thinking slips under the radar because it's couched in the patriarchal thinking that our society was built on.

[Rachel333]

Not that any of this is wrong, exactly, but I have a few clarifications.

LDS teaches that a woman only gets to the highest heaven (there are 3), aka the Celestial Kingdom (CK), by being temple-married/sealed to a good LDS man.

That good LDS man only gets to the CK by fulfilling all the rules and requirements of Mormonism.

That's a little misleading, since both men and women need to be sealed to make it to the CK. It sucks for single people, but they usually say God will work it out in the end, and they'll be sealed to a stranger after death, or something like that. Comforting, I'm sure.

LDS teaches that the god of Earth was once an everyday man who kept the requirements and earned his own world.

Christianity teaches that God is and always has been God and rules over all creation, not just planet Earth.

That's no longer an official teaching, and they're moving away from that. You can certainly find Mormons who believe that God was always God.

LDS teaches that Jesus and Lucifer are brothers - sons of this world's god - and that one chose the right, the other chose the wrong.

Christianity teaches that Jesus is and always has been God and that Lucifer is a created angel who chose the wrong.

They teach that we're all God's children, but Jesus specifically volunteered for his mission on earth, and so he is special and part of the godhead. He's also the only one whose physical body was begotten by God. Satan, on the other hand, led a rebellion against God, and those who followed him are demons.

LDS teaches that Jesus' life, death and resurrection are important in our salvation but by no means are the only thing -- we must fulfill all those rules and requirements, etc.

Christianity teaches that Jesus' life and works are the only thing that saves us; that our good works are merely done in gratitude, but that they have no bearing on where we go after we die.

And of coruse Christianity teaches one (1) heaven and the same number for hell.

This is a bit misleading, since they teach that all you need to be saved is Jesus's sacrifice, but there's more required to be fully exalted. I think both sides tend to misunderstand the other on this, since LDS exalted is not the same as Evangelical saved.

And yes, LDS theology does not include hell at all, which I think is one good thing about them. There is an outer darkness, but it's not the same thing, and almost no one ends up there.

[Hane]

Christianity teaches that Jesus' life and works are the only thing that saves us; that our good works are merely done in gratitude, but that they have no bearing on where we go after we die.

Speak for yer own denomination, sisterfriend. ;)

[debrand]

Okay, I think my problem was that Mormonism is apparently very different than the type of Christianity that I know.

I suppose that an entire thread could be started as to why liberal, feminist stay in a religion that they believe is unfair to their sex.

[Rachel333]

I feel that way about most religions--Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, etc. I guess the answer is that they believe, and if that's the case it's not easy to just leave.

[ChunkyBarbie]

I feel that way about most religions--Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, etc. I guess the answer is that they believe, and if that's the case it's not easy to just leave.

Yes.

ETA. The pressure to stay from family members and the Church can be overwhelming.

[demgirl]

And yes, LDS theology does not include hell at all, which I think is one good thing about them. There is an outer darkness, but it's not the same thing, and almost no one ends up there.

Yeah, it's the one part of the Mormon theology that I really like.