Tag Archives: mother

Female parent. Heavenly Mother doctrine exists but is suppressed.

Mormon Leadership On Women

The LDS or Mormon Church has long articulated clear and restrictive expectations for women. Framed as divinely inspired guidance, these teachings portray a woman’s highest calling as homemaking, motherhood, and submission to traditional gender roles. While many women in the church find meaning in family life, the rigid and one-dimensional framework leaves little room for …

Continue reading “Mormon Leadership On Women”

You are to become a career woman in the greatest career on earth—that of homemaker, wife, and mother. It was never intended by the Lord that married women should compete with men in employment. They have a far greater and more important service to render - Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, Page 128, 1972 | wasmormon.org
You are to become a career woman in the greatest career on earth—that of homemaker, wife, and mother. It was never intended by the Lord that married women should compete with men in employment. They have a far greater and more important service to render - Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, Page 128, 1972
“This congregation is unique. I don’t see any mothers. Not one of us could be here without a mother, yet we are all here... Where are their mothers? Gathered in the kitchen of our home!” - Russell M. Nelson, as LDS Apostle, Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women, 1999 | wasmormon.org
“This congregation is unique. I don’t see any mothers. Not one of us could be here without a mother, yet we are all here... Where are their mothers? Gathered in the kitchen of our home!” - Russell M. Nelson, as LDS Apostle, Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women, 1999
Hi, I’m Nathanael. My mother’s ancestors were among the original pioneers of the church. My father was a convert from Protestant Christianity. My participation in the Mormon church defined my life… my identity, my aspirations, and my purpose. I believed it wholeheartedly. I did everything the church expected of me: I graduated from seminary, served a mission in Canada, attended a church university (BYU-Idaho) and graduated with a bachelor’s degree, and married in the temple. I was a Mormon. - Nathanael's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/nathanael-davenport/
Hi, I’m Nathanael. My mother’s ancestors were among the original pioneers of the church. My father was a convert from Protestant Christianity. My participation in the Mormon church defined my life… my identity, my aspirations, and my purpose. I believed it wholeheartedly. I did everything the church expected of me: I graduated from seminary, served a mission in Canada, attended a church university (BYU-Idaho) and graduated with a bachelor’s degree, and married in the temple. I was a Mormon. - Nathanael's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/nathanael-davenport/
Fast forward to the summer before my senior year of high school when my mother, my siblings and I moved far from Los Angeles to a sleepy little town on the central California coast. It was there that we began attending the local Mormon church, and it was a welcoming experience for all of us. I became involved in the Institute where I found a wonderful group of kids, several of whom became good friends. I felt that I was among my people. And I felt that I had a lot of catching up to do. - Christi's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/avilabeach77/
Fast forward to the summer before my senior year of high school when my mother, my siblings and I moved far from Los Angeles to a sleepy little town on the central California coast. It was there that we began attending the local Mormon church, and it was a welcoming experience for all of us. I became involved in the Institute where I found a wonderful group of kids, several of whom became good friends. I felt that I was among my people. And I felt that I had a lot of catching up to do. - Christi's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/avilabeach77/
I was baptized at 8 years old on the Fourth of July. But I wasn't active in the church until I was 18. As a result, I've always felt like a convert. I agreed to the baptism because I felt it was something my mother wanted, but I understood none of it, and in fact, what I was really looking forward to wasn't the baptism at all but the fireworks that night. Mormonism was just another religion to me because all my friends were Catholics or Baptists or nothing at all. I had been attending a Baptist elementary school since kindergarten, and I occasionally joined my friend for Saturday mass. - Christi's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/avilabeach77/
I was baptized at 8 years old on the Fourth of July. But I wasn't active in the church until I was 18. As a result, I've always felt like a convert. I agreed to the baptism because I felt it was something my mother wanted, but I understood none of it, and in fact, what I was really looking forward to wasn't the baptism at all but the fireworks that night. Mormonism was just another religion to me because all my friends were Catholics or Baptists or nothing at all. I had been attending a Baptist elementary school since kindergarten, and I occasionally joined my friend for Saturday mass. - Christi's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/avilabeach77/
“Bro W. Snow will loose some influence through that affair. The circumstances are like this Thomas Lewis was under arrest and on the way to the City to be taken to the penetentionary. They were taking him in the night and while passing Willow Creek some men came out and took him into the willows and took from him his stones in a brutal manner, tearing the chords right out, leaving him on the ground when it was covered with snow and a bitter cold night. He was out 48 hours before found and it is a miracle that he lived. He lingered a long time and now is gone crazy. What a severe trial to that good woman his mother Sister Lewis.” - Samuel Pitchforth, Diary, May 31, 1857 | wasmormon.org
“Bro W. Snow will loose some influence through that affair. The circumstances are like this Thomas Lewis was under arrest and on the way to the City to be taken to the penetentionary. They were taking him in the night and while passing Willow Creek some men came out and took him into the willows and took from him his stones in a brutal manner, tearing the chords right out, leaving him on the ground when it was covered with snow and a bitter cold night. He was out 48 hours before found and it is a miracle that he lived. He lingered a long time and now is gone crazy. What a severe trial to that good woman his mother Sister Lewis.” - Samuel Pitchforth, Diary, May 31, 1857
“While being transported to the penitentiary, according to his mother, Elizabeth Jones, Lewis “was taken out of the wagon a blanket put round his head & ... like a pig by taking his testicles clean out & he laid at this place in a dangerous state he was out two nights & part of two days before he was found.” Manti­ bishop Warren Snow had ordered her son’s castration... she asked the church president if her son’s punishment was “right and righteous.”... Though he condoned it afterward, it is uncertain whether Young had authorized Thomas Lewis’s castration in advance.” - John G. Turner, Brigham Young - Pioneer Prophet, 2012 | wasmormon.org
“While being transported to the penitentiary, according to his mother, Elizabeth Jones, Lewis “was taken out of the wagon a blanket put round his head & ... like a pig by taking his testicles clean out & he laid at this place in a dangerous state he was out two nights & part of two days before he was found.” Manti­ bishop Warren Snow had ordered her son’s castration... she asked the church president if her son’s punishment was “right and righteous.”... Though he condoned it afterward, it is uncertain whether Young had authorized Thomas Lewis’s castration in advance.” - John G. Turner, Brigham Young - Pioneer Prophet, 2012

Bishop Warren S. Snow’s Teenage Brides and The Castration of Thomas Lewis

In 1857, just as tensions with the U.S. government were escalating toward the Utah War, a dark and largely forgotten episode of Mormon frontier justice played out in Manti, Utah. It involved a young man named Thomas Lewis, potentially an unnamed teenage girl, and Warren S. Snow, a high-ranking Mormon bishop and militia leader. What …

Continue reading “Bishop Warren S. Snow’s Teenage Brides and The Castration of Thomas Lewis”

In 1851, his mother and family went with C. C. Rich and A. M. Lyman to settle San Bernardino. Previous to going she gave her negro slave Green Flake (one of the Pioneers of 1847) to the Church as tithing. He then worked two years for Pres Young and Heber C. Kimball, and then got his liberty and settled near Union. - William J. Flake, February 14, 1894 | wasmormon.org
In 1851, his mother and family went with C. C. Rich and A. M. Lyman to settle San Bernardino. Previous to going she gave her negro slave Green Flake (one of the Pioneers of 1847) to the Church as tithing. He then worked two years for Pres Young and Heber C. Kimball, and then got his liberty and settled near Union. - William J. Flake, February 14, 1894

LDS Leadership on Appearances: “Put on a little lipstick,” “Even a barn looks better painted”

Sexism, Patriarchy, and the Lingering Legacy of Polygamy in the LDS Church Two statements made by high-ranking LDS church leaders reveal more than just outdated social attitudes—they expose the deeply entrenched gender roles and patriarchal frameworks that continue to shape the church’s view of women. In a devotional, President David O. McKay once said, “Even …

Continue reading “LDS Leadership on Appearances: “Put on a little lipstick,” “Even a barn looks better painted””

Steven Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight

Steven’s story is one of resilience, self-discovery, and finally—freedom. Raised between worlds, with a non-religious mother who distrusted the church and grandparents deeply embedded in it, Steven was surrounded by conflicting messages about Mormonism from a young age. His early life was marked by both devotion to the church and personal trauma, making his eventual …

Continue reading “Steven Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight”

Church Admits Gender Inequality in the Church – Absence of a Reason Give No License to Change

At a recent stake-level women’s conference in California, LDS Apostle Dale G. Renlund addressed gender inequality in priesthood ordination. Note that while we’re a full report or transcript of his actual talk is not available, we have the following summary from the Salt Lake Tribune. Renlund addresses gender equality Speaking at a women’s conference this …

Continue reading “Church Admits Gender Inequality in the Church – Absence of a Reason Give No License to Change”

Mary Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight

Mary Kathryn’s journey out of Mormonism is one of transformation, resilience, and self-discovery. A devoted believer, she followed the prescribed path—attending BYU, marrying young, and having eight children by age 35. She dedicated herself fully to the faith, shaping her identity around the church’s teachings on womanhood, family, and service. However, as life unfolded—with personal …

Continue reading “Mary Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight”

Rosanna Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight

Growing up in Utah within a devout Mormon family, Rosana inherited her parents’ beliefs but soon found herself grappling with the suffocating pressures of conformity and cultural expectations. Despite her upbringing in a community steeped in faith, Rosana’s experience with church rituals and teachings left her feeling disconnected and disillusioned. The rigid standards imposed by …

Continue reading “Rosanna Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight”

“Earning a few dollars more for luxuries cloaked in the masquerade of necessity—or a so-called opportunity for self-development of talents in the business world, a chance to get away from the mundane responsibilities of the home—these are all satanic substitutes for clear thinking. They are counterfeit thoughts that subvert the responsibilities of motherhood.” - Bishop H. Burke Peterson, of the Presiding Bishopric General Conference - April 1974 | wasmormon.org
“Earning a few dollars more for luxuries cloaked in the masquerade of necessity—or a so-called opportunity for self-development of talents in the business world, a chance to get away from the mundane responsibilities of the home—these are all satanic substitutes for clear thinking. They are counterfeit thoughts that subvert the responsibilities of motherhood.” - Bishop H. Burke Peterson, of the Presiding Bishopric General Conference - April 1974
“I beg of you, you who could and should be bearing and rearing a family: wives, come home from the typewriter, the laundry, the nursing, come home from the factory, the café. No career approaches in importance that of wife, homemaker, mother—cooking meals, washing dishes, making beds for one’s precious husband and children. Come home, wives, to your husbands. Make home a heaven for them. Come home, wives, to your children, born and unborn. Wrap the motherly cloak about you and, unembarrassed, help in a major role to create the bodies for the immortal souls who anxiously await.” - Spencer W. Kimball, LDS Church President - As Living Prophet, 1977 | wasmormon.org
“I beg of you, you who could and should be bearing and rearing a family: wives, come home from the typewriter, the laundry, the nursing, come home from the factory, the café. No career approaches in importance that of wife, homemaker, mother—cooking meals, washing dishes, making beds for one’s precious husband and children. Come home, wives, to your husbands. Make home a heaven for them. Come home, wives, to your children, born and unborn. Wrap the motherly cloak about you and, unembarrassed, help in a major role to create the bodies for the immortal souls who anxiously await.” - Spencer W. Kimball, LDS Church President - As Living Prophet, 1977
Speaking to thousands of Latter-day Saint women gathered in the Marriott Center on the BYU campus, and tens of thousands more watching online, President Johnson counseled women to look to reliable sources like living Prophets and the Holy Ghost for answers, establish priorities, cultivate testimonies of foundational truths, and not neglect or dismiss the sacred responsibility of parenthood. - Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society General President BYU Women's Conference - May 3, 2024 | wasmormon.org
Speaking to thousands of Latter-day Saint women gathered in the Marriott Center on the BYU campus, and tens of thousands more watching online, President Johnson counseled women to look to reliable sources like living Prophets and the Holy Ghost for answers, establish priorities, cultivate testimonies of foundational truths, and not neglect or dismiss the sacred responsibility of parenthood. - Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society General President BYU Women's Conference - May 3, 2024
“Contrary to conventional wisdom, a mother’s place is in the home! I recognize there are voices in our midst which would attempt to convince you that these truths are not applicable to our present-day conditions. If you listen and heed, you will be lured away from your principal obligations. Beguiling voices in the world cry out for "alternative life-styles" for women. They maintain that some women are better suited for careers than for marriage and motherhood. It is a misguided idea that a woman should leave the home.” - Ezra Taft Benson, LDS Church President - As Living Prophet, 1981 | wasmormon.org
“Contrary to conventional wisdom, a mother’s place is in the home! I recognize there are voices in our midst which would attempt to convince you that these truths are not applicable to our present-day conditions. If you listen and heed, you will be lured away from your principal obligations. Beguiling voices in the world cry out for "alternative life-styles" for women. They maintain that some women are better suited for careers than for marriage and motherhood. It is a misguided idea that a woman should leave the home.” - Ezra Taft Benson, LDS Church President - As Living Prophet, 1981