ASKS SOME QUESTIONS

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Office of the First Presidency published an open letter on June 28, 2014.  Newrightasecension reprints the letter with some comments.
 
In God's plan for the happiness and eternal progression of His children, the blessings of His priesthood are equally available to men and women. [who have men available]  Only men are ordained to serve in priesthood offices [currently – for revelation goes on and on]. 
 
All service in the Church has equal merit in the eyes of God.

[A nice sentiment.  It reads well and sounds appreciative and inclusive . . .  but really?   Will either we or God put the service of J Reuben Clark and Harold B. Lee and the service of the laziest female teacher in primary in equal merit?]  
 
We express profound gratitude for the millions of Latter-day Saint women and men who willingly and effectively serve God and His children. Because of their faith and service, they have discovered that the Church is a place of spiritual nourishment and growth.

We understand that from time to time Church members will have questions about Church doctrine, history, or practice. Members are always free to ask such questions and earnestly seek greater understanding. We feel special concern, however, for members who distance themselves from Church doctrine or practice and, by advocacy, encourage others to follow them.

[Therefore, Ordain Women does not particularly impress newrightascension.   It has yet to take serious action to get what it wants.]
 
Simply asking questions has never constituted apostasy. [Beware: if you ask upity questions, it will not win you friends among your ward or your stake leadership either. ]

Apostasy is repeatedly acting in clear, open, and deliberate public opposition to the Church or its faithful leaders, or persisting, after receiving counsel, in teaching false doctrine.

[The placement of “faithful” in the sentence is illuminating, to say the least.    If an “unfaithful” church leader has generated public opposition for his sins, the wording makes clear that it is obviously his own neck.]

The Council of
The First Presidency and
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Official Web site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
© 2014 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All Rights Reserved

“Simply asking questions has never constituted apostasy.”   Given that opening, rightascension has some questions. 

1.  What percentage of the church membership is adult male?  Is adult female?  

2.   What percentage of the active church membership is adult male?  Is adult female?   I admit that this question is interesting to ask but unanswerable because of ambiguous definitions.

3.   If –  for the sake of an example number – say, 53 percent of the active adult membership is female, should 53 percent of the ward-level, stake-level, and general membership decision-making leadership be female?

4 From a organizational function analysis point of view, if half of an organization’s membership cannot achieve the highest leadership roles from the beginning, does this make the organization more or less strong and secure?

5 What is the real difference between being consulted in a decision and in making the decision?

6.  If God will discuss church leadership only with males, what does that tell us about God?

7.  Should we expect an answer?

This editorial does not make recommendations.