Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Coug
Ironically, I think your own statements cross the line from "encouragement to be a mother" to "discouragement to being a professional."
You said if a woman "has to work, so be it." This is a common refrain in the church (and at BYU). This doesn't suggest "we encourage you to explore motherhood and the enjoyment and value that comes from staying at home," but it suggests "only in the worst possible scenario should you consider not staying at home." Those are entirely different statements with entirely different values attached to them. Those who DO work, then, are often made to feel as though they are doing wrong and often feel compelled to demonstrate why the acceptance of work was "necessary" and not just desirable.
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Possibly. But this isn't new, and it certainly isn't isolated. These are feelings anyone gets when they make choices that appear to go against church counsel, like the boy who chooses not to go on a mission. Or a little less dramatic: the person who chooses to see R-rated films, or to gamble. Or to be truly trivial, witness the flap over Hinckley's "one earring" comment.
That doesn't excuse those who try to make others feel guilty about these things. That's wrong too. But it doesn't mean the church is coercing them or institutionalizing the guilt. No one will (or ought to) be denied a church calling, or a temple recommend, or be told to stop taking the sacrament because they see R-rated films or wear 2 earrings in one ear. Ditto mothers working outside the home.
They will instead be counseled to avoid it, and then it's up to the individual to decide how it applies to them.