Priesthood & Motherhood

This is for encouragement, ideas, and support for people going through a faith transition no matter where you hope to end up. This is also the place to laugh, cry, and love together.
Post Reply
User avatar
Hagoth
Posts: 7076
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2016 1:13 pm

Priesthood & Motherhood

Post by Hagoth » Mon Aug 08, 2022 11:24 am

When I was growing up in the church, from the time I was 12 years old, I was told that I possessed the greatest power in the universe: The Priesthood! This was the power by which the universe was created, by which I would someday create entire worlds and galaxies, by which I could heal the sick and raise the dead. Not bad.

Women, by comparison had an equal but different power: Motherhood. Women could never create planets or galaxies or heal people, but their power was, we were assured, almost as good as priesthood. Well, third in line. Priesthood first, then being a supportive and obedient wife to a priesthood holder, THEN motherhood. Not good enough to let you do really important stuff like preside over meetings, collect fast offerings, or bless the sacrament, but not bad.

The really hilarious thing about this is when you finally wake up to the realization that only one of these powers is even a real thing. Spoiler: it ain't priesthood. We can see women all around us every day performing the truly amazing power of growing a human being inside their own body, then bringing it out into the world, and nourishing it and raising it.

Where do I go to see an actual, physical, visible demonstration of this greater priesthood power by which universes are created and the dead are brought back to life? I'll tell you where you won't see it. A funerals and hospitals attended by LDS prophets.

Here's the other reason motherhood would be vastly superior to priesthood, even in an imaginary world where priesthood was a real thing. Motherhood is reliable. It happens whether a woman has drank a cup of tea or laughed a baudy joke. Priesthood, on the other hand, despite being the most powerful thing in the universe is more fragile than a snowflake. They talk like it's a nuclear furnace but it's really a feeble flickering candle that can be blown out by the tiniest draft. This is verified by scripture:
D&C 121:37 ...when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.
Remember Vaughn J. Featherstone's talk about how if your child dies you can resurrect them with your priesthood power UNLESS you have looked at porn or masturbated, in which case your child will DIE?

Secretly, even the most admired priesthood holders are always living in constant terror of finding themselves in a situation where people expect priesthood miracles from them. Ether they know, deep down inside, that priesthood is imaginary, or they fear they are not (nor ever could be) worthy to exercise it.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

Wonderment
Posts: 450
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2017 3:38 pm

Re: Priesthood & Motherhood

Post by Wonderment » Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:11 pm

Points well taken. I never understood the excuse given to women: "Well, you don't need the priesthood, because you can have children." I never bought into that. There's no equivalence there. Any male of a certain age who follows the rules and does everything the church tells him to do, can automatically then be promoted to the priesthood. But not every single female can produce children. As a woman, what if I cannot produce children? And, even if I can, it doesn't give me any more freedom to determine my own fate in the church. I'm still expected to remain silent and submissive in the face of priesthood authority. -- Wndr.

User avatar
alas
Posts: 2357
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2016 2:10 pm

Re: Priesthood & Motherhood

Post by alas » Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:24 pm

Motherhood is also very fragile and just as out of the woman’s control as the priesthood supposedly is. 20-30% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, often before the woman even knows she is pregnant. And if you as a pregnant woman take the wrong medication, drinks too much alcohol, has too much of any number of substances, or catch some disease, or a dozen unknown things can cause birth defects. Then there is the “not living through it” problem, that you just don’t have with priesthood. Or the throwing up, or having to pee every half hour because somebody is kicking your bladder.

The anti abortion people want to claim that if women don’t want to get pregnant, they should just not have sex, and then even refuse to make abortion available for rape victims. But then they never do explain how married women are supposed to handle the problem of “just don’t have sex”.

So, yeah, there is just no comparison between motherhood and priesthood.

User avatar
nibbler
Posts: 904
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:12 pm

Re: Priesthood & Motherhood

Post by nibbler » Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:10 pm

Another thing you can add to your list...

The priesthood had to be restored. If they're so equivalent, why didn't motherhood need to be restored?
We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.
– Anais Nin

Wonderment
Posts: 450
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2017 3:38 pm

Re: Priesthood & Motherhood

Post by Wonderment » Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:17 pm

nibbler wrote:
Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:10 pm
Another thing you can add to your list...

The priesthood had to be restored. If they're so equivalent, why didn't motherhood need to be restored?
Another excellent point ! Thank you. And many thanks to Hagoth for the OP.

User avatar
wtfluff
Posts: 3629
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2016 3:20 pm
Location: Worshiping Gravity / Pulling Taffy

Re: Priesthood & Motherhood

Post by wtfluff » Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:44 pm

Let's think logically for just a millisecond about what the male "equivalent" to motherhood would be...

Um...

Fatherhood?



Motherhood = Priesthood - just one more way for the Corporation to gaslight.
Faith does not give you the answers, it just stops you asking the questions. -Frater Ravus

IDKSAF -RubinHighlander

You can surrender without a prayer...

User avatar
Hagoth
Posts: 7076
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2016 1:13 pm

Re: Priesthood & Motherhood

Post by Hagoth » Tue Aug 09, 2022 8:51 am

alas wrote:
Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:24 pm
Motherhood is also very fragile and just as out of the woman’s control as the priesthood supposedly is. 20-30% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, often before the woman even knows she is pregnant. And if you as a pregnant woman take the wrong medication, drinks too much alcohol, has too much of any number of substances, or catch some disease, or a dozen unknown things can cause birth defects. Then there is the “not living through it” problem, that you just don’t have with priesthood. Or the throwing up, or having to pee every half hour because somebody is kicking your bladder.

The anti abortion people want to claim that if women don’t want to get pregnant, they should just not have sex, and then even refuse to make abortion available for rape victims. But then they never do explain how married women are supposed to handle the problem of “just don’t have sex”.

So, yeah, there is just no comparison between motherhood and priesthood.
Great points, Alas. Even if motherhood were AS fragile as priesthood, no one could make the argument that it's not a real thing. At least, not anyone who has ever been born or known anyone who was born.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 45 guests