Feminism: the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. (dictionary.com)

feminism is easy to define, but so much harder to quantify. I hear all the time, especially since getting to college, about feminine rights. However, there is a point, in my opinion, where it becomes too much. I have a friend who is a self-proclaimed feminist, who gets upset if a boy opens a door for her. "I am strong enough to open those doors - if they open them for me, they are calling me weak". This isn't feminism - it's politeness. I open doors for boys - does that mean that i'm implying they can't? No, i don't think so.
Another form of feminism that i've heard protested is the fact that we have to wear skirts to church.. this impliest that we are "unequal", because we are held to a different dress code.
One of my favorite things about our religion is that men and women are not "equal". We are complimentary. To be a feminist, to fight for women's rights, is NOT to be promoting equality. There is absolutely no way that we could be equal - we are essentially different from men. We are, however, given the same "rights" in the church - the ability to have the priesthood in our lives, the ability to grow and raise families, etc.

you know, doing these posts is a lot more difficult than i would have thought.. it's a lot harder to come up with topics for me to talk about .. surprising, isn't it? typically, i have no problems finding things to say :)

So, i wrote my government paper - a lot quicker than i should have, granted, considering i finally got the book the day the paper was due. but, i really like my paper. i ended up writing it on how the government, in order to be a righteous government, has a duty to provide it's people with agency, and how the people have a duty to use that agency, especially when it comes to choosing righteous leaders.

okay, so now it's confession time. I didn't vote in the last election. the presidential one. I felt uninformed, and alot like my vote didn't help anyway. After reading these talks, though, by our general authorities, my view has changed a bit. Mostly i was lazy, and that part hasn't changed, but the "i hate politics, i hate government, i hate voting" sentiments aren't nearly as strong. We have been counseled to stay involved in politics, because it is our country. I always knew that from a "civic duty" point of view i should vote, but i had never looked at it from a religious point of view.

the constitution was instituted by the Lord. the constitution is set up to give us the right to vote, so that, too, was set up by the Lord. Righteousness cannot come under the rule of a King (see previous posts). So, therefore, in my mind at least, it is a commandment that we vote. It's part of the way of fulfilling the Lord's plan, to prepare the promised land for the coming of Christ.

looking at it in that light, what excuses do i have now? none. i need to vote, and i wish there was a way to go back and change my decision. Granted, i do need to become more informed from now on, but that's not difficult. It's part of both my religious and civic duty to help insure that we have a righteous leader, one that will prepare the world for the second coming of Christ.

two-house = equality

Random Sidenote: I've realized that most of my posts have to do with the Gospel vs. the Government, and this is yet another. I think this is because while i don't care much for government, and i don't know it as well, i understand and love the Gospel, and so relating the two helps me learn alot more. Funny how that works.

Anyway, i was reading the federalist papers for class, and i came up on a line that said "I will add, as a fifth circumstance in the situation of the House of Representatives, restraining them from oppressive measures, that they can make no law that will not have it's full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as the great mass of society." I've always realized the importance of this - it's why we have checks and balances, so that no one man or group can become tyrannic - but i'd never really applied it. This, once again, got me thinking about gospel examples. The first to come to mind was King Benjamin. King Benjamin claimed that one of the reasons that he was such a good king was that he worked for his country. He wouldn't put taxes on the people that he himself didn't pay, and he wouldn't force his citizens to do work that he himself wouldn't do. He was humble and righteous, because he worked alongside his people. The nation was one of peace and happiness. Then, i started thinking about the unrighteous kings. Each of them established laws that they didn't apply to themselves. They started having slaves, and putting high taxes on the people, while they sat on their thrones and did nothing. These men were fat, lazy, idolatrous, and unrighteous, and in almost every case led the nation into despair and wickedness.
Lastly, i thought about when Christ comes. The scriptures say, in doctrine and covenants 88, that when Christ comes, the saints will have all of his power and glory. We know that this will be the best time in the work, when Christ reigns as King, and what makes it that way? We will have a faithful, just ruler, who works along with us. Because we can recieve all the Christ has, and all that the Father has (D&C 84), we will be equals with our King, as in the day of Benjamin.

Now, relating this back to government, i can say that i'm really grateful for the way our government is run. I never realized just how good of a system we had set up, but, judging by the book of mormon, the only system that works is one in which the people are equal to their rulers, and there aren't laws that exclude the rulers themselves. Freedom wouldn't be able to survive. We really do have a remarkable system in the United States.