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I& #39;m getting some good messages in my inbox, & enough of them that I want to answer some things here. In light of Fiona, was I afraid to speak about Heavenly Mother in a church setting, when that was the setting that got her in trouble? Or did it make me want to do it more? Both.
Absolutely both. It& #39;s the 1st time I& #39;ve felt afraid to talk about Heavenly Mother in YEARS. I usually don& #39;t feel afraid about it. I think was also nervous that the person I love who asked me to do it could get in trouble too, since the person who asked Fiona also had fallout.
I do still worry, but hope she& #39;ll be ok.
For myself, I don& #39;t want to be afraid. There is also less the church can do to me. They could discipline me if they wanted to, & maybe one day they will, but they do not give me my paycheck. So now I do want to be even louder.
For myself, I don& #39;t want to be afraid. There is also less the church can do to me. They could discipline me if they wanted to, & maybe one day they will, but they do not give me my paycheck. So now I do want to be even louder.
To say things more explicitly that Fiona felt she couldn& #39;t. For one: I ALSO THINK HEAVENLY MOTHER IS THE HOLY GHOST. (This @TheExponent magazine article starting at pg 25 convinced me many years ago: http://exponentii.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Fall-2010.pdf.)">https://exponentii.org/wp-conten...
And on the question of prayer? Eliza literally named her poem "Invocation, or the Eternal Father and Mother." SHE SAW IT AS A PRAYER. She directly addresses both of them! "Father, Mother, may I meet thee?" etc.
More on Fiona& #39;s particular situation. I knew she had gotten huge pushback from a fireside she gave & learned that it was given to a single& #39;s ward, but I did not know until @religiongal& #39;s article that it the HARLEM single& #39;s ward. I know that ward. I know the bishop, Walter Rane.
& chances are you at least know his work. He painted this famous painting of Joseph & so, so many other ones you would recognize. That& #39;s who was released as bishop almost immediately after hosting Fiona on this important topic.
That info also told me something else. I probably knew the Stake President that released him, too. & confirmed that I do. I had been asked to speak on Mormon feminism for a regional Singles Conference in his stake, mostly attended by Ivy league students.
The Stake President insisted on coming to my apartment in New Jersey & interviewing me in my home for FOUR HOURS before he would agree to let me speak at the conference.
This was after Elder Gong (*the* Elder Gong) had personally approved the topic of Mormon feminism.
This was after Elder Gong (*the* Elder Gong) had personally approved the topic of Mormon feminism.
He wasn& #39;t an apostle yet, but was the regional GA over the area & had to pass off on everything.
Ultimately was given the stamp of approval by the Stake President to let me speak. It was w/ @EmmaTueller & is still one of the most memorable speaking experiences I& #39;ve ever had.
Ultimately was given the stamp of approval by the Stake President to let me speak. It was w/ @EmmaTueller & is still one of the most memorable speaking experiences I& #39;ve ever had.
So it all made sense that it would be THIS guy, who would take so seriously the handbook& #39;s call that he personally gets to give authority to allow outside speakers from the Stake & that he& #39;d be so mad if he didn& #39;t stamp it.
But as one of the attendees of the special zoom fireside told me, it had been announced every Sunday for 6 weeks. He could have intervened beforehand & didn& #39;t. So just SO many feelings on every level.
I love Fiona & am so sad & sick for her, that she was treated so poorly.
I& #39;m so sad for the Harlem ward that they lost their remarkable bishop for hosting a topic that people in his congregation were starving to hear.
I& #39;m so sad for the Harlem ward that they lost their remarkable bishop for hosting a topic that people in his congregation were starving to hear.
I& #39;m sad for the whole church that this carryover fear by a few men in authority had the power to do this.
But this topic of Heavenly Mother is not something that can go back to being quiet. It won& #39;t, because I & others won& #39;t let it.
But this topic of Heavenly Mother is not something that can go back to being quiet. It won& #39;t, because I & others won& #39;t let it.
One of the things I ended w/ last night was that there are close to a dozen Instagram pages dedicated to sharing & learning more about HM. They range from sharing GA quotes, to their own poems, to research on the Divine Feminine in scripture & other cultures.
They have 1000s & 1000s of followers, w/ the biggest pages having more than 10,000. More than 10,000 Latter-Day Saints see something in their Instagram every day reminding them to think about their Heavenly Mother, bc they wanted to. Bc they followed. This will not be stopped.
I also knew about Fiona& #39;s situation when the terrible Hank Smith days were happening on Twitter, so it made me even more enraged to see the way he treated other religions & his own co-religionists (including his former student) so cruelly & w/o correct knowledge.
I knew she was getting in trouble for GOOD research & that he was not getting trouble for his LACK of research or his lack of kindness.
This is 100% not about me, but knowing it was happening when few others did was very lonely. But I didn& #39;t feel like I could talk about it, bc I didn& #39;t get the sense that she wanted to blast it out in the way that some others do when they& #39;re disciplined. I wanted to respect that.
But I am So glad the info is out now, even though it& #39;s sad & bad, bc if Schoolhouse Rock taught me anything as a child, it& #39;s that "Knowledge is Power." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVKN_hwf890">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
