Guest Post by Jess

Jess is an unconventional leaf on a family tree that includes an unbelievably strong mother and two fantastic brothers. She is a PhD student in psychology. When she’s not doing school-ish things she likes to hike, knit, and bake…and then eat what she bakes. 

I normally love my calling teaching Gospel Doctrine in my singles ward. It is a great opportunity to really dig in and study, and to learn from my fellow ward members. But this year has been a struggle. Church history brings up a lot of feelings for me, and most of them are not positive. Things came to a head as I was preparing my latest lesson: The Restoration of the Priesthood. The more I read, the more upset I became.

First of all, the relationship between women and the priesthood is something I have been struggling with lately, and I still have not figured out where I stand. Teaching about something that one is unsure about and uncomfortable with is really hard. Second, the only time women were mentioned was in a section titled “Blessings of the priesthood for all people,” where the question was asked, “how can women and children benefit from the priesthood?”  (Infantilize women much?) There was not a single feminine pronoun in the whole lesson. The restoration of the priesthood was a big deal for everyone, not just men. Lucky for me, when I asked The Exponent’s own Spunky for help, she sent a ton of great resources, articles, and ideas of ways to balance things out. I went in to class on Sunday feeling well prepared and ready to teach.

Happily, my bishop does not insist that we stick to the lesson in the manual. In fact, he encourages us to follow the spirit in our lessons. So, I decided to focus on the importance of priesthood authority in terms of ordinances like baptism and the temple endowment.  Those are things that are important to all God’s children right?

A friendly reminder about Exponent II’s Fall 2012 Political issue…we’ve also decided to extend the deadline from this Wednesday (yikes! how did that happen so fast?) to July 1st (Sunday).

Specific topics we hope people will explore include:

• How I became a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green Party, Tea Party, Socialist, etc.
• What volunteer work do you do in the political sphere? Personal experiences of political action.
• How does your religious belief inform your political leanings? Does your Mormonism affect your party affiliation?
• For Mormons outside the US, what does Romney’s nomination mean for you? Is his religion noted in the press? How do members of your ward feel?

A few books that have been banned at some children's schools

Remember that cute story in the Friend about the eight-year-old who read some bad words in a children’s book she checked out from the school library?  She went home and talked to her parents about it.  They explained what the words meant and why they chose not to use such language.   They also talked about why the characters in the book used such words. Maybe the characters were struggling to choose the right.  On the other hand, maybe they came from a different background where such words weren’t taboo.  They talked about how they could maintain their own language standards while showing tolerance and respect for people with different standards. They used the book as a tool to reinforce their family’s values while gaining new  insights and appreciation for the perspectives of others.

You don’t remember the story?  That is because I am telling it wrong.  In the actual story, the girl got the book banned from her school.

These delightful censorship stories pop up pretty regularly in our church magazines.  Sometimes good Mormons are banning books, other times they are boycotting community plays, and  frequently they are demanding that all of their friends and colleagues stop swearing.

The American Library Association’s Banned Book Week is coming up soon.  At this time each year, the Library Association takes a few minutes to remind us of the dangers of censorship.  If the kinds of things we brag about in our church magazines are any indication, we Mormons could use the reminder.

I won’t demand that Church Magazines stop printing stories promoting censorship.  That would violate my own principles of literary freedom.  Instead, the next time I see one of these bothersome stories in my kids’ copy of the Friend, I’ll talk to my children about it.  I’ll explain the dangers of censorship and why I choose to fight it.  I’ll also explain why some members of our faith think they need to censor things.  Maybe they don’t know how to choose the right when confronted with other influences.  Maybe it hasn’t occurred to them that banning books that make them uncomfortable prevents everyone from benefiting from the books’ messages. I’ll explain to my kids how we can stand up for literary freedom while showing tolerance and respect for people who write church magazine articles favoring censorship. I’ll use that Friend article as a tool to reinforce our family’s values while gaining new insights and appreciation for the perspectives of others.

For more information about Banned Book Week, see http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm

Guest Post by Aimee Hickman

While preparing and teaching this lesson I would suggest doing whatever you can to keep the discussion from revolving around a notion of “talents” befitting a talent show. As a teacher, I would make this explicit at the start of the class, by creating a working definition of the word “talent” which does not necessarily denote a skill (musical, artistic or otherwise) generally thought of as something to entertain others. As this topic has the potential to help us truly “evaluate ourselves to find our strengths and abilities,” as the manual states, keeping the discussion relevant to every member of the class, not just those with a recognizable talent that entertains others is essential. Perhaps emphasizing the words from the manual of “gifts and abilities” rather than “talent” will further drive home this point.