Perspectives

I'm in an amazing religion class right now (I'd say that's what everybody always says about religion classes, but that is NOT my case. I've had some pretty lame religion classes. This one really is good because the teacher is awesome.)
Anyway. We had to write a sort of research paper on any topic we wanted, except that all we had to do is write on paragraph and then just show our 20 quotes and resources. Not too bad eh?
And it turned out to be a lot of fun! I chose a topic that's been on my mind a lot, for several reasons. My beat in the newsroom this semester is families, so I've been dealing with controversial subjects like abortion, teen pregnancy, gay rights... And I recently came upon a blog that can certainly be very extreme sometimes, but also brings up some very interesting points. I've been thinking a lot about the role of women, specifically in the gospel. Some bible verses certainly don't sound very flattering;

"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." (Timothy 2:11-12)

Really?! No thanks! I'm going to speak and I have a lot to say. Maybe sometimes we misunderstand the scriptures--I'm sure that happens a lot. Take Eve for example; many religions consider her to be the ultimate sinner and temptress, but I love this perspective:

"We and all mankind are forever blessed because of Eve's great courage and wisdom. By partaking of the fruit first, she did what needed to be done. Adam was wise enough to do likewise." Nelson, Russell M. 1998 "Constancy amid Change" in Perfection Pending, and Other Favorite Discourse. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book.

I really liked this quote:

"Perhaps it is no wonder that the women were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. They had never known a man like this Man—there never has been such another. A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronized; who never made arch jokes about them . . . who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend." Dorothy Sayers.

Food for thought. More to come soon, but I have class.