Do you remember how big an issue The Equal Rights Amendment was back in the 70\u2019s?\u00a0 I remember how BYU campus was empty of students as everyone was glued to a TV set to watch the Donahue Show where Sister Barbara Smith appeared with Sonia Johnson.\u00a0 Sis. Smith was the President of the Relief Society at the time and Sonia Johnson was an excommunicated member of the church, \u00a0and an outspoken feminist, there to challenge her.\u00a0 Sis. Smith did a commendable job in a very difficult situation.<\/p>\n
As huge of an issue Equal Rights was at the time, what ever became of it?\u00a0 Women certainly get better pay (yet that is an ongoing problem), women are more visible in various positions, more women came out of the closet, and many more women went to work.\u00a0 Was there a price to pay?<\/p>\n
Pres. Boyd K. Packer gave a talk called \u201cThe Equal Rights Amendment\u201d back in 1977.\u00a0 In his talk, he read the official statement of the First Presidency of the Church, which reads in part:<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 1842, when women\u2019s organizations were little known, the Prophet Joseph Smith established the women\u2019s organization of the Church, the Relief Society, as a companion body of the Priesthood.\u00a0 The Relief Society continues to function today as a vibrant, worldwide organization aimed at strengthening motherhood and broadening women\u2019s learning and involvement in religious, compassionate, cultural, educational, and community pursuits.\u00a0 There have been injustices to women before the law\u2026However, we firmly believe that the Equal Rights amendment is not the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pres. Packer goes on to give an example of how legislation gets interpreted:<\/p>\n
\u201cAn excellent example of how things can get tangled up is the regulation issued under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.\u00a0 The intent of that act was to prevent sex discrimination in federally assisted educational programs.\u00a0 As passed by Congress, Title IX was stated in twenty-seven words.\u00a0 The Department of Health, Education and Welfare, charged with its enforcement, published extensive regulations to enforce those twenty-seven words in Title IX.\u00a0 The regulations put together at sublevels in the bureaucracy amounted to about 20,000 words!\u00a0 Those who made these interpretations are neither known to be representative of the general feelings of the public, nor to understand the far-reaching effect of the regulations.<\/p>\n
“Those 20,000 words of regulation are now being vigorously applied as law.\u00a0 They involve issues that Congress neither acted upon nor intended.\u00a0 Some of the results must be termed as preposterous: others of them surely must be unconstitutional.\u00a0 One interpretation, for example, caused the prohibition of schools from sponsoring father-and-son activities of any kind, or mother-and-daughter activities of any kind.\u00a0 It took a presidential order from a very irate president of the United States to get some sense into that.\u00a0 But the rest of it is still being imposed.\u00a0 And the requirements seek to compel all public schools to abandon standards of personal morality and conduct.\u00a0 Should the Equal Rights Amendment pass, those few words would be open to interpretation.\u201d<\/p>\n
This example reminds me of the probabilities of Proposition 8, and all the other issues, that are bound to come up as our government continues catering to the minority voice.\u00a0 We need to keep our eyes and ears open, we need to be aware of the issues that come up, we can\u2019t depend on the media to give us a true report, we must study it out ourselves and understand all the ramifications. The truth of the matter is that families are being threatened, pulled apart, dismantled, and falsely glued together.\u00a0 This disintegration destroys marriages, but worse, it puts our future generation at great risk.<\/p>\n
Pres. Packer continues, \u201cAlready, children\u2019s rights emerges as an issue.\u00a0 The ugly specter of child abuse, a malignancy that is spreading itself through our society, has social workers, educators, clergymen, political and government leaders restless and anxious and disgusted. Before any careful diagnosis of what causes this sickening problem, some, no doubt, will try to solve it through sweeping legislation.\u00a0 And they\u2019ll do this before we recognize the fact that child abuse is a pure symptom of broken down families or disturbed relationships between fathers and mothers and between parents and children.\u00a0 The cure for it lies in the strength and stability of the American home in the spiritual and moral and emotional health of families.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said to begin with that I was here to speak my own mind and give my own feelings, and they are that the Equal Rights Amendment is not the answer.\u00a0 One might ask then, if you are against the Equal Rights Amendment, then what are you for?\u00a0 I am for the equitable enforcement of existing laws.\u00a0 There are sufficient of them to protect the rights of women and of children and of men.\u00a0 Or to enact judiciously and wisely any needed legislation to correct particular circumstances.\u00a0 I am for protecting the rights of a woman to be a woman, a feminine, female woman, a wife and a mother.\u00a0 I am for protecting the rights of a man to be a man, a masculine, male man, a husband and a father.\u00a0 I am for protecting the rights of children to be babies and children and youth, to be nurtured in a home and in a family.\u00a0 I am for recognizing the inherent God-given differences between men and women.\u00a0 I am for accommodating them so that we can have physically and emotionally and spiritually stable, happy individuals and families and communities.\u00a0 Without that, when the floods come, in the end what will really be worth saving?”<\/p>\n
Indeed, Sis. Smith spoke up in defense of woman-kind. Heavenly Father has a way of planting people where they are most needed, and making them big enough for the job. Many of our foremothers have been there to speak up and stand strong. Our generation must do likewise.<\/p>\n
When we look at our families, what do we see?\u00a0 What kind of parents are we?\u00a0 How do I treat my spouse? How do I treat my children?\u00a0 Where are my own priorities?\u00a0 How well am I living the gospel, and what does that say to my family?\u00a0 Who am I more concerned with pleasing, my peers, or my god?\u00a0 Heavenly Father has given women all the rights they need.\u00a0 As I listen to the prophets, I will hear their prophetic warnings and do what I can to preserve the sanctity of my family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do you remember how big an issue The Equal Rights Amendment was back in the 70\u2019s?\u00a0 I remember how BYU campus was empty of students as everyone was glued to a TV set to watch the Donahue Show where Sister Barbara Smith appeared with Sonia Johnson.\u00a0 Sis. Smith was the President of the Relief Society […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,373],"tags":[131],"class_list":["post-441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conference-talks","category-history","tag-confpackerera"],"yoast_head":"\n