you and I think a lot alike.

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.. thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee… in the celestial sphere there will be no sweat to eat bread, nor will there be any husbands ruling over their wives. Both of these curses will be removed.

I find stereotyping to be hard to swallow whether directed toward women or men. There seems to be an implied assumption that both men and women are both so carnal as to require an institutional role to redeem them. Men are said to “need” the priesthood and its attendant responsibilities to make up for our selfish natures whereas women “need” motherhood to give them a redeeming role in the society of men. I disagree with both assertions.

I think there has to be a way to acknowledge that gender is an essential characteristic of individual identity and purpose while recognizing that we are all children of Heavenly Parents (a Father and a Mother) with a divine nature and destiny.

I think its important to remember, while supporting the central place of the family in the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of his children, that the most important family we belong to is the one in which we are all offspring of Diety. That is the only family relationship that remains constant regardless of upbringing, marital status, social standing, the number of or lack of children that we have, the faithfulness of our spouse, parents or children.

I don’t pretend to know the mysteries of the roles our Heavenly Parents employ in the eternities. But I think it’s fairly safe to project statements from The Family proclamation to them.

I believe that our Heavenly Parents “love and care for each other and for their children … rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.”

I believe that our Heavenly Parents are married and ” honor marital vows with complete fidelity” and that our heavenly family is “established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.”

I believe that our Heavenly Father preside[s] over [our family] in love and righteousness and [is] responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for [His family].

I believe that our Heavenly Mother is “primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.”

I believe that in these sacred responsibilities our Heavenly Parents “help one another as equal partners” and that extended family members may lend support when needed.

I believe that Divine beings are unique in their character despite being one in purpose and glory, which leaves open the possibility of individual adaptation in marital and family relationships in the eternities as they do here in this life.

I think that we tend to overly simplify the character of our Heavenly Parents just as it’s easy to artificially simplify and distinguish the characters of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ by assigning stern justice to the Father and loving mercy to the Son. I believe these Beings we worship are much more complicated than that, but that sorting all of this out is going to take a lot more prayer and study and fasting.

It’s helpful to me to see myself as a child of God first, a disciple of Christ and a member of His Church second, and a husband and father third and fourth.

We welcome comments which disagree with our positions. However, we won’t tolerate insults or name-calling (see our comment policy). As long as you feel able to restrain yourself from calling your interlocutors “stupid” or “scum,” please feel free to contribute your thoughtful critiques.

Sounds like you men are kind of grumpy and in need of an extra strong dose of purification. Maybe you could try to work your masculine wiles on a woman who is extra-spiritual and who possesses purification superpowers and convince her to marry you. Or maybe you want to wait until the next life when we men will be assigned to righteous women as rewards for their righteousness. Then we will have the privilege of being brother-husbands. If that idea kind of makes you sick, well, welcome to the club.

Good point, Lynnette. Heck will freeze over before we hear a talk praising men for their spirituality and telling them how they should sanctify and purify women.