What is the point?

Just as a note this post does not have a whole ton to do with my pregnancy or about Davy but instead has to do with my views on the LDS Church and their views on gender and families.

Today on Facebook one of my friends posted a link to a news article regarding a Mormon Feminist group "All Enlisted" who is urging LDS Women to wear pants to church this Sunday to protest gender inequality. Here is the link to the article: LDS Women urged to wear pants to protest gender inequality
I would like to quote one of the comments that was made in response to this article "It isn't about the actual clothing, it is about the disenfranchisement and marginalization of women in the church. It is about the fact that the church leaves women out of the highest leadership roles. It is about conference talks regularly attempting to guilt us into having more children and giving up another 18 years to raise that child. It is bringing to light the pain we feel attempting to raise our daughters to be strong, independent women and yet still going to church and having sacrament meeting led by men and blessed and passed by boys 1/3 our age. And all of this begins on Sunday morning with the dress or skirt we put on while our husbands put on a suit and tie."

Truthfully, women like the person who made this comment are really missing the point of the gospel. So what is the point? What is the whole point of coming to this earth anyway? Is it to live our life, fulfill our dreams and do everything we ever imagined we could do? Is it to become equal to each other in every way? Is it to get everything that everyone else has? What is the point of this life?

My answer to these questions has been a good long time in coming. Yes I could have told you the basic answer long ago as a child, but I didn't really understand what it all entailed at that point. I don't know if it has come through struggling for so long to have a family, or from the struggles and trials I have gone through in my life, or from just having children and having that family that I have always wanted, or maybe even from teaching seminary and thus coming closer to Christ and Heavenly Father. However I got to this point I do get it now.

The answer is: The point of coming here to Earth is to gain a body, experience life in such a way that we can grow to become like our Heavenly Parents, and then one day return to them and progress to become like them. The answer really comes down to another question, "What are we anyway?" We are children of God, literally. We are gods in embryo, or maybe rather in childhood. I suppose that our pre-mortal spirit life could be compared to being in an embryonic state and coming here to Earth is now our childhood of sorts. We learn, we grow and we learn how to act and be and the choices we make now will affect our next progressional phase in becoming like God. We are basically toddlers. And like toddlers we seem to be really good at throwing fits when things don't go our way. 

So what does this have to do with pants, women and inequality? Well if we consider the comment above about how it isn't about pants, it is about disenfranchisement, etc, etc, what we get from it really is, "I want to live my life the way I want to live it and I don't like the leaders in this church telling me that I should have children and can't do the stuff that the priesthood holders do. I want to have those special abilities too!" Now imagine it all being said by a toddler that doesn't realize that they can't always get what they want. Yep, it suddenly looks very familiar to a day with Davy. We are children and until we get through our heads that this world, this life and what we achieve in it doesn't really matter we are going to have problems like the lady above. It doesn't matter what callings we hold, it doesn't matter if women never hold the priesthood and it doesn't matter what we wear to church. But one thing that does matter that she mentioned, children. Families. Why is the church so focused on families? On having more children, on "giving up" years of our lives to raise those children? Is it because they want us to give up our dreams and our lives for our children? Well, yes, because that is really part of the whole point. If we are part of a Heavenly family then wouldn't it seem to make sense that learning how to be part of a good and productive family would be part of our earthly training to become like our parents? Family is important, and raising that family right is also important. Important enough that we have been commanded to have children. Some people are not able to do this for one reason or another, and that is part of their struggle in life. And it is a difficult struggle, I know from experience. 

But I do believe that those who do not have the chance to have a family with children in this life will be given the chance after this life. Why? Because I believe that raising a family is an essential part of becoming like God. And that brings us back to gender equality. The genders were never meant to be the same. Men provide for their family different things than women do. And that is important, studies have shown that children develop properly when they have a father and mother in their life. It isn't always possible, but when it is possible it is important to have for children. Trying to make women like men doesn't make things better for children, it doesn't help things. The truth is, though some parts of feminism are good, there are other parts that are just ridiculous and have pushed the whole movement into the ridiculous side of things. This is one of them. Anyway, that is my say on the matter.