Archives for June 2026

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of youbut to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” –Micah 6:8.
Why I’m a Mormon Feminist
I’m a Mormon feminist because I take seriously this verse in Micah.
In my mind, to do justice means to recognize the dignity of every human being, and to work towardsa world in which all people, regardless of sex, race, or class, are treated with fairness, respectand afforded opportunities to progress and contribute. As a Mormon feminist, I hope for the daywhen women’s voices are equally included and valued in Church settings. I hope for the day whenMormon women have a greater sphere to act and contribute within the Church. I hope for the daywhen any vestiges of hierarchy between men and women, vestiges which linger in our Mormonpractice, culture, and ideas, disappear. I hope for the day when Mormon women embrace theirlimitless selves without regard to any artificial or constraining ideas of what it means to be a woman.
For me, to act towards these ends is to do justice to my fellow human beings and to do justice to thevision which God has for God’s children. To do so, also, in my mind, is a living expression of kindness,as exemplified by Jesus Christ, who reached beyond the boundaries of his culture to love and includeand feel the pain of those forgotten or despised by the rest of society.
As I journey forward as a Mormon feminist, I also hold closely to my heart that third requirementmentioned in Micah: to walk humbly with God. I interpret this to mean being open to God and theSpirit in my life. I am drawn to the concept of God working within me, working within each of us,prompting us to choose the better part, prompting us to love fearlessly, prompting us to look out for theconcerns of the downtrodden, prompting us to recognize the divinity within ourselves and others. I lovethe idea of God helping us to transcend our petty selves, our narrow constraints, to reach out in radicalfellowship to all.
Because I am drawn to these concepts mentioned in Micah, I am a Mormon feminist. It’s what I believeGod wants me to be.

https://www.ldswave.org/?p=521

One of the women in our Mormon feminist lunch/book group set up a meeting with our Congressman, Jeff Flake.  Kay, Holly, and I met with Rep. Flake to discuss international women’s rights issues. Specifically, we were supporting three bills in the Foreign Affairs committee (on which Rep Flake sits).  Most of our  information came from CARE, an international NGO.

Part of the reason we decided to do this lobbying was because we read Half the Sky for our book group and realized how badly women in the third world are faring.  When we met with Rep Flake we asked him if he’d heard of the book, Half the Sky, and he hadn’t. So, I promised to give him my copy when I get it back from my friend.  He seemed genuine in his interest to read it.

Holly talked about the MOMS bill, which seeks to address issues of maternal mortatlity rates in third world countries. She told a gripping story of a woman in Africa who, after miraculously getting to a hospital 75 miles from her house, was cared for by inexperienced workers who jumped on her belly to get her baby out. This action ruptured her uterus and without the money, the doctor refused to treat her and after three days of bleeding out, she died.

I didn’t realized that in many countries, 1 of 8 women die in childbirth. It’s incredible. This bill seeks to address the importance of these issues. Of course, with Rep. Flake, and many other legislators, the issues are about funding.   “Such sums as necessary” is the phrase used in this bill and that can turn off many a sympathetic Congressman.

Kay discussed a child marriage bill that would require the UN to begin reporting statistics for child marriage, which is any marriage in violation of the country’s own laws. It’s a fairly new bill, without money attached to it, but it could pick up steam if it caught broader attention.

During my few minutes, I discussed the International Violence Against Women Act, which has been introduced every year since 2007.

How can human suffering be prioritized and categorized by greater need? And does it work personally for the advocate to belittle their interest in one issue because another issue might be more pertinent or have the potential to affect the a greater number of people?

What does that process look like for you? And do you ever feel discouraged?

Recommend charitable organizations in the United States addressing social justice topics:

http://www.givewell.org/united-states