Mormon church tells women's group not to protest

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Mormon church tells women's group not to protest

7:30 AM Tuesday Mar 18, 2014

United States

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The Mormon church is warning a group of women pushing for gender equality that it will not be allowed to protest in Temple Square next month during a biannual conference.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints told the members of Ordain Women in a letter sent Monday that if they insist on going forward with their plans, they'll need to protest in a zone set aside for protesters on the street.

The church says activist events detract from the sacred environment of the weekend conference in Salt Lake City.

The group's founder Kate Kelly says members will go forward with lining up outside the meeting of male priests and ask to be let in. She says they are discouraged by church leaders comparing them with outside protest groups.


Read more: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11221661

[Ilsa]

1. Well hell, they are in the Mormon church.

Did they expect something different from being treated as outsiders?

I wish them luck, though. I just don't see much changing in that church until women start controlling the purses at home and then in the church.

[davidpdx]

10. I agree

The men have historically controlled the church and I don't see changes in that coming anytime soon. At least some of them vote for Democrats though.

[closeupready]

2. And they'll need to ride side-saddle, or be cited for ...

for something.

[JimDandy]

3. Good for them. Male and female gender roles

in religious organizations are unnecessarily and unreasonably discriminatory. Can't think of one good reason for them.

[yuiyoshida]

4. Biiiiiiig Mistake!!!

Telling a group of women to sit down and shut up. No...no.. no..and double no!

[justhanginon]

7. That's never going to end well!

And well it shouldn't! I hope they stick to their guns, raise "holy hell" and get a decent response. I shan't hold my breath.

[Zorra]

5. Leaving the church, leaving the men, and splitting for Seattle with the kids

would be more fun, rewarding, and effective.

[SoapBox]

6. The old, angry, white, males...have spoken.

And now, the women are gonna make you eat your words.

[sherihah]

8. This is such a non-controversy

If you read the article, you will see this is a bit sensationalized. First, the church didn't tell them not to protest, they asked them to "Please reconsider" protesting inside the conference grounds to preserve the sacred nature of the event--a completely reasonable request. They did also direct them to the adjacent and adjoining property where they could protest.

The group said they will "will leave once they are asked" which is also a reasonable response. They just don't like the idea of being treated as run-of-the-mill protesters.

The church basically wants the limited seats for the men's conference reserved for the target audience and asks the women to instead watch the live broadcast. As mentioned in the article, there is a standby line of men who wish to get a seat in the conference center. This group of women wants to also sit inside and many of us women in the church (yes even us liberal ones) do consider that a rather petty argument, although to be fair it is mostly symbolic of their demand that women be ordained in the priesthood.

The seating policy at the conference isn't meant to exclude women, but rather to include the men who wish to attend. There is a conference directed at the women of the church the week before where the limited number of seats are reserved for the women. I think if men were protesting that they want seats inside the women's conference that the church would make similar requests that they keep it off the conference grounds.

So while you may have legitimate arguments against mormons, you should be able to see past this particular article as nothing more than a sensationalized headline.

[bravenak]

9. Ridiculous!!

What utter nonesense!! You basically just said they are not excluding the women, they just need ALL of the seats for the men.(so in effect, they are excluding women) So the women need to watch on teevee, and can only protest in an area that is not quite so bothersome to the men.

Fabulous!!