Recently at General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there was a protest. It was not the first time the group calling themselves "Ordain Women" had protested and it likely won't be the last. One of the leaders of this movement, Kate Kelly, was excommunicated this June (2014). This will probably only incite more protests.
I have mostly avoided writing on this topic because I have a feeling that these women don't want to hear what a man has to say on this issue. The fact of the matter is that in the Church men are more friendly to the idea of ordaining women than most women are. I don't think the Lord is going to change the operation of his church to ordain women. It may happen and I'm OK with that, but I would not hold my breath.
In the Church there are many opportunities to serve. Some of them require priesthood offices or keys but most do not. Some require a female touch and can't be done by a priesthood holder. Actually about half the callings are that way. There are no auxiliaries for women or girls in the church that are presided over by men. The Primary, which includes boys, is presided over by women in every congregation in the church and in the church as a whole. The priesthood quorums are presided over by men because they are composed of men and boys. There are a few examples of men presiding over both genders, such as Bishops and Sunday School Presidents. I will stop the litany of callings at this time except to say that most other callings in the Church are available to be held by either gender.
I think there are many reasons why individuals in the world think it is important to ordain women. In the history of the Christian churches throughout the world and throughout time priests have used and abused their positions to get gain or power over others. In our religion this is referred to as a sin called Priestcraft. The scriptures tell us that "no power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood..." (see Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-46). The priesthood in our church is NOT a sign of higher status, but is a service opportunity.
Another pressure point has to do with the history of court decisions. In the US the supreme court has said the separate is inherently not equal. The idea is that if you can't have equal things you can't be equal. There is no such thing as equality in this mortal existence. Miss Kate Kelly is an attorney, so I can see where she was blind to this fact. Often attorneys get confused on this because their whole profession is based on taking people who are unequal and making things equal. They don't realize there is no way to make everyone perfectly equal in this life. All people are equal before God, who is the only true source of justice. This doesn't mean they are equal in things. The more we try to make people equal the less equal they tend to be.
The thing that "Ordain Women" misses the most is that women are treated better in our church than in most churches or organizations in the world. They think they want equality, but they already have the closest they can get. Priesthood would be a step downward and we don't want to do that to the women we love.
