May 25 2011

Solved: The Mystery of the “Divine Potential” of LDS Young Women.

Poor Wayfaring Man

In the previous post, I focused on the fact that 12 year-old young women in the Church are taught, in YW Lesson Manual 1, Lesson 5, to find joy in their mysterious “divine potential”.  It is mysterious because Lesson 5, despite using the term repeatedly,  never reveals exactly what that “divine potential” is.  The mystery is rendered non-mysterious and solved, however, by reading through the group of lessons in the manual that follow Lesson 5.  Lessons 6 – 8 seem to flesh out the concept that Lesson 5 merely hints about.  Here is the whole group of lessons, in summary form: Continue reading


May 23 2011

The “Divine Potential” of Young Women in the LDS Church

Poor Wayfaring Man

In the previous post, I asserted that young women in the LDS Church receive messages that essentially accord them second-class status to young men.  It is clear, based on the words of Church leaders and the contents of the YW and YM curriculum, that the Church understands that these messages are there, and that they are psychologically harmful to girls.  Instead of repudiating and changing these messages, however, the Church reaffirms them as divine truth.

As an example of this, I will use Lesson No. 5 in the current YW Lesson Manual 1, titled “Finding Joy in our Divine Potential“.  Here is the stated objective of Lesson 5:

OBJECTIVE:  Each young woman will understand her divine potential and learn how to find joy in it. (emphasis added)

Clearly, a young woman’s “divine potential” (whatever that happens to be) is not something she would be happy with naturally.  The Church recognizes that she needs to be persuaded and taught, from a young age, how she can adjust her thinking to eventually feel okay about it.   Continue reading


Feb 14 2011

Youth in the LDS Church

Poor Wayfaring Man

The LDS Church has developed gender-segregated youth programs to educate and socialize (read: indoctrinate) boys and girls in the Church as they reach adolescence and grow into adulthood. The programs start when they reach age 12 and generally end at age 19, at which point they join the gender-segregated adult programs. The girls’ program is called the “Young Women organization“, and the boys’ program is called the “Aaronic Priesthood“. Continue reading


Feb 13 2010

About the Kids

Poor Wayfaring Man

A reader posted a comment recently, asking two questions. Good ones. I answered the first one in my previous post, and the second one here.

Mormon Woman Wondering asked:

Please help me understand how you…speak with your children, with integrity to your beliefs and with sensitivity to their need for something to hold onto in this world.

This is a tough question, particularly for somebody like me, with a spouse who is active in the Church, and who wants our kids to be active too. Obviously, my solution is a compromise, and could possibly have been different if she felt differently.  But I think this solution does take into account the potential need for kids to have something to hold onto as they develop their own worldview. Continue reading


Oct 24 2009

My Testimonies: Example 2

Poor Wayfaring Man

I have had experiences with testimony. Lots of them. Here is Example 2:

When I was 18 years old, I realized that I was mere months away from high school graduation, and that I was expected to follow through on my lifelong plan to go on a two-year mission for the LDS Church, during which time I would work to persuade people to join the Church. I decided that I should prepare for my mission by making an effort to learn more about the Church than I had learned in Sunday school and daily seminary classes.

I found a book on my dad’s bookshelf titled Indian Origins and the Book of Mormon. Continue reading


Oct 19 2009

Jack Mormons and Apostates

Poor Wayfaring Man

There are basically two kinds of people who leave the LDS Church. I will call them “Jack Mormons” and “Apostates”. Apostates are people who leave (or are excommunicated) because they have stopped believing in some or all of the religious tenets of the LDS faith. Jack Mormons are people who leave (or are excommunicated) for reasons other than non-belief, like being unable or unwilling to follow the rules, or because of interpersonal conflicts with other community members.

Continue reading