Must read of the week
Claudia Bushman’s speech at the recent FAIR conference: “If we lose our female LDS world, we will have lost a lot.”
More voices you might enjoy:
- Jana Reiss’ original musings about a Sunday in Relief Society — don’t bother with the ensuing comments (they degenerate pretty fast).
- Marjorie Conder: “Many wonderful things have happened worldwide because of the Relief Society, but I think they are only a shadow of things to come.”
- Margaret Young: Mother’s Blessings
- Tracy promised this would make me laugh. She was right. Speaking of Tracy, go read her lastest BCC post.
- Kathy provokes a good discussion about women, the body, and sacrifice.
- Do you own glass grapes?
- Bloggernacle commenter Tatiana put together this inspiring collage.
- Finally, Cheryl (“Bored in Vernal”) is back in business at a new address. Read her powerful poem.
I LOVE what Claudia Bushman says! The other posts are thought-provoking as well. I should apologize for my rather rash request that my post on T&S about Mothers’ Blessings be deleted when the discussion appeared at risk of becoming an argument. I have visceral reactions to the Sean Hannity type of reductive insults which have become so common, and I tend to overract if I think there’s even a chance that a discussion I’ve started could degenerate into that kind of thing. When Julie, who is a very thoughtful person, asked why I had chosen to use such a didactic tone in my post, I wasn’t sure how to respond. (“Well, I chose to be didactic because my conversations have consistently shown me that nobody else has much of anything worthwhile to say…”) Rather than waiting for a little while to find a GOOD response, one which would encourage discussion rather than shutting it down, I decided I didn’t want to risk a Sean Hannity show. It was a rash decision. The issue is very personal to me, and it’s one I feel extremely strongly about. And Claudia Bushman, among others, gives me much reason to continue the conversation.
I had already read Jana’s excellent post, but because you suggested we not read the comments, I had to read them, of course. How sad to see such rudeness among people who should be open to diverse opinions! I think Jana’s response was remarkably civil. But even after her response, the rudeness continued.
Margaret: I came home to an amazon.com package in my mailbox containing “Elegies and Love Songs” and two wonderful comments. I’m looking forward to reading your book over the holidays.
The comments on Jana’s post should make you feel better about the relatively mild reactions yours generated! I was baffled by the vitriol from some respondants. It’s not always easy to write about personally close subjects and press “publish.” Tracy’s juggling that right now on the BCC post I linked to.
But I love that so many Mormon women are blogging about their lives. And speaking their minds. Claudia’s talk is outstanding — I wish we could break it into eight sections to post and discuss. This week’s “round-up” reminds me that the conversation about LDS women and their present/future role in the church is happening all around us.
Thanks for the nod and the link Deborah…
Oh, and Margaret- I thought your post was just lovely.
Deborah,
First off, I never have commented on one of these threads, but I love your weekly Oases. Thank you for doing this each week.
Second, thanks for pointing to Claudia’s talk. I loved it and I love the idea of breaking it down for in depth discussion.
Michelle: You are very welcome. Please keep coming by!