I think I’m alone on the female side of the bloggernacle, but I have no major issues with the Church. I like going to the temple and find it stimulating (assuming I’ve had enough sleep recently) and lifting. I really need to go more often, but that’s an issue of apathy, not an issue of doctrinal conflict. I’m not bothered by anything taught there and don’t find it painful or sexist. Sure, Adam and Eve are a bit cheesy, and sometimes it gets a little warm in the room once you’ve got everything on, but that’s the worst I can come up with.
I’ve had a bishop lie to me before, and it was over an issue that was incredibly significant to me and led to a lot of emotional distress for a while, but it didn’t lead to inactivity. I really didn’t like him or trust him after that and was glad it was a student ward so I only had to deal with him for a couple semesters, but it wasn’t faith-threatening. He was an idiot, but idiots come in all religions and all situations; I can’t fault the Church or the doctrines of the Church for his personal foibles. Maybe it helps that I’m a bit of a misanthrope, so I have low expectations.
I’m single, but I don’t worry about my place in the eternities. I know I only need worry about my own choices and things will work out in the end if I (key word: I) live what I know. I guess I actually believe God is just. Women can’t be exalted without a husband, but men can’t be exalted without a wife. I fail to see a huge discrepancy. Okay, sometimes I feel that twang of loneliness, but I see that as just how life is and would be no matter my religion, so I can’t fault the Church there.
Sure, people at church are sometimes annoying (remember my misanthrope comment above), and I can’t remember the last time I went to Enrichment/Homemaking (I think I made it once in this millennium). I’m not a Molly Mormon by anyone’s standards; I work in the sciences as a writer, and my friends/coworkers and I enjoy feeding off each others’ bitterness and subversion (it’s really a lot of fun, trust me). My house is a cluttered mess with piles of books everywhere and two cats who whine loudly until you scratch their necks. Sometimes I spend Sunday School deep in my mind with an exciting daydream involving a distant planet or me ruling the world (I’ll be a benevolent dictator, really) rather than listening to the lesson.
But I love the scriptures. I have a testimony. In general, church meeting are a good fellowship experience, if not always doctrinally enlightening (that’s what personal study is for). Fellowship and friendship and a ward community are important to me (I’m not entirely misanthropic). I really like President Hinckley and the others in the Quorum of the 12 and find their messages helpful and inspiring and I enjoy the spirit that seems to emanate from them. I love my calling and I seem to be contributing good things there.
My lack of significant issues with the Church can’t be due to lack of knowledge; I’ve been involved in apologetics, and thus exposure to the difficult issues, for a number of years now (oh my… I’m getting old). I find it a lot of fun to study the doctrines of the Church, not a faith-shattering experience.
This isn’t to say I never wonder or question or find specific things confusing. What fun would the bloggernacle be if these things couldn’t be discussed? But these things are not leading me away from the Church or the gospel, probably because I have that testimony that goes above it all. Within that testimony, where I have experienced things that lead me to firmly believe this is the right church, I can study and wonder and question, comfortable in knowing that I’ll have the full explanation eventually.
Then again, maybe I’m just subtly subversive and use passive-aggressive resistance, so that helps me deal with things I don’t like, and I don’t even notice.
So there you have it. I’m okay and the Church is okay. And I think that makes me an oddity in the female side of the bloggernacle. But that’s okay.
(NOTE: I in no way mean to imply that the issues others have are not real or are insignificant. This post is just meant to be my experience and perspective. I believe you all when you write of your struggles and pain and frustrations. I’m actually grateful for you opening my mind to your different perspectives, as I hope it makes me more aware of others’ concerns and struggles in the 3-dimentional world, and thus hopefully allowing me to respond a bit more charitably than I would if I remained in ignorance.)