It’s been years since I’ve seen a fundraiser held by the YW in my ward. I don’t know that it’s happened at all since we moved in here. On the other hand… my husband is in Scouts and showed me an email suggesting that the YW bake cakes which are then auctioned off to raise money for Scout camp. Ew ew ew.

Many parents in the wards I have lived in have their girls participating in Girl Scouts. It’s a shame that we don’t sponsor troops through the church, and that the Activity Days/YW program is so anemic.

Adam,
It’s not just funding for a single event (camp) that is the issue. It is the large support structure required to keep a Scout troop going year-round. It’s registration fees, uniforms, equipment, recognition, committees, advancement facilitators, handbooks, manuals, training, et cetera. When you compare side-by-side (not just the funding), there is nothing resembling parity between the two programs.

If, however, all the women who have ever passed through a meetinghouse in all the places you have lived were treated as equals (1) your local leaders weren’t following the program as prescribed and (2) you better tell Adam that your people are responsible for all the men are leaving.

You will be happy to know that in all the wards I have lived in, our young men and young women have all along been taught to be strong and independent sons and daughters of God, and to be kind and charitable and respectful, and to be diligent searchers after truth, and to be loyal to the gospel and full of faith in their Savior. I wish you could see the good that happens every Sunday and every Wednesday in the places I have lived. I hope it gets better where you live.

Adam Greenwood, I should point out to you that this post is not about men leaving the church, but thank you for being consistently predictable. Perhaps you can reread Dumb Reasons for Exclusively Male Priesthood and get back to me.

In the meantime, if you are suggesting that men are leaving the church because maybe, someday, the powers-that-be might consider bringing some measure of gender equality to the church—and that is just too painful for them to bear—then I have a better solution. Rather than telling young women they must remain passive, subservient, obedient, forgotten, and underserved in order to keep the YM around and interested, why don’t we teach the young men:

#1: To stop being whiny, entitled babies who gain their sense of worth by excluding women?

#2: They are children of our heavenly parents and that young women are, too, and that makes us equally valued—and that’s a good thing?

#3: A strong, smart, dedicated, hard-working, thoughtful woman is a better companion than a frail, helpless, dependent one?

Not only would the church be stronger as a whole, but the women would have exponentially better potential partners from which to chose—and the men would likely as well.

I admire y’alls ability to cut to the heart of the problem.

The first paragraph is actual church announcement, the rest is how I think it should have gone from there..

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints appreciates the positive contributions Scouting has made over the years to thousands of its young men and boys and to thousands of other youth. As leaders of the Church, we want the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to succeed in its historic mission to instill leadership skills and high moral standards in youth of all faiths and circumstances, thereby equipping them for greater success in life and valuable service to their country.

“But though we want the BSA to succeed, that is not the mission of the church. The church has an obligation to its youth and their parents to ensure that only organizations that uphold and teach our values are given a position of permanent influence. Our appreciation for past success does not alter the present fact that BSA is taking active steps away from strong moral positions and is openly accepting policies that support grossly immoral practices.

“It is therefore with great enthusiasm that we announce that the church is launching our new Youth program “[pick a fitting name]” that we believe will best serve the church’s all of our youth today. This program will be replacing the current Young Men and Young Women programs, will focus more on the spirituality of our youth, will continue to provide physical outdoor activities (camping/etc) and physical health, equalize the time/money/resources spent on the youth, and will allow youth to participate in those activities that best suit and support them and their family regardless of gender.

I am ever impressed with the energy of those who jump the shark with such enthusiasm, but the rant against my profession of humility totally missed the mark.

I would generally prefer to compare my comments to Boyd K. Packers talks, rather than the Zoramites. His sermons were controversial. The Zoramites all recited the same words and thought the same politically correct thoughts. Sorta like Smith’s rote recitation. And most of the posts in today’s Bloggernacle.

I suspect those who actually study the Holy Scriptures and the teachings of Church leaders might agree.

You speak of how you used to believe this was a place where your beliefs were tolerated, but ironically seem to really be saying that this used to be a place where any beliefs besides yours weren’t tolerated, and that you wish it would return to being that way.

You’re casting yourself as a victim because you cannot exclude and oppress the views of others, which seems to be a strange thing to do.

Why do you feel you need this?

Why do you feel threatened by disagreement? Why are you so afraid of being subverted to some other view if you are so sure yours is right? Who is persecuting you? How are you being visibly harmed by what Alison or anyone else is saying?

And are you “humbly striving to do [your] part” when you go around trumpeting your perceived superior righteousness to those around you? Ironically, is it every humble to say you’re doing something humbly? :)

Did you make covenants to mourn with those that mourn? If you cannot understand another’s grievances, how are you supposed to mourn with her? If another is not free to express how she is being hurt, how is she supposed to mourn herself?

It seems like that is the real thing you’re suggesting: make it so no one can mourn, so you don’t have to fulfill your obligation to mourn along with them.

What part of being an “avowed disciple” of Jesus Christ is that? Are you taking His name in vain?