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Log On and Sound Off: Impressions and Interpretations from Meridian
Readers
Edited and compiled by Kathy Green
Put Them All Together, They
Spell “Mother.”
Read
Article Here
Jane Clayson Johnson: I am
a Mother, by Maurine Proctor
Thank you for this article. I admire
Jane for her courage, and her devotion to her family.
I grew up tending myself in the 1940's and 50's while my mother
HAD TO WORK. I was commonly known as a Latch Key Kid. There is nothing
more wonderful than a "Stay at home
mother." Visiting other kids or relatives that had mothers
at home I knew there was such a difference in their children. Their
children grew up more sure of themselves. I knew my mother loved
me dearly and I had the Gospel, and I was protected at times by
the Holy Spirit while my mother was at work.
When my mother stayed home one summer, I will never forget that
time I had with her. She sewed my clothes for the fall semester
of grammar school while she was off work. I was an only child, lonely
at times. That was a wonderful memory I have never forgotten. My
mother is now 90. I am a caregiver: She deserves that.
I love her dearly.
Marilyn Curtiss
Murrieta, California
**
As a father of four daughters and spouse
to a full-time mother who is also a part time business professional,
your article really struck a chord with me. I am much appreciative
for women like Jane Clayson Johnson for making this significant
and brave choice in her life and then sharing it with others as
an example. While I haven’t read the book, it is my opinion
that we as parents need to more actively extol the virtues of motherhood
to our young daughters so one day they will proudly list motherhood
as their foremost accomplishment.
Mothers can do this in quiet gentle
moments with their children, particularly as they enter their formative
teenage years. In front of their daughters, fathers need to praise,
compliment, and point out directly and indirectly the many wonderful
blessings and opportunities their mother has received. But I think
mostly we do this by the way we show them how we live and treat
each other with love, appreciation, admiration and respect.
My point is that mothering does matter.
It mattered to me as a young boy growing up when my mother had to
go back to work and it matters to me today because I want my girls
to be happy and know that being a mother is the most wonderful responsibility
in the world. It has been an eye-opening experience these past 18
years as I have witnessed and marveled over my wife’s innate
ability to teach, coax, encourage and in her own way love our children.
Education opens up many wonderful opportunities
to each of us. I strongly believe it is imperative that my daughters
get a good education so if in the event they need to take care of
themselves or their family some day they can do so. In my church
work I have directly seen the sad consequences which the lack of
education has resulted in, in the lives of woman with children who
for one reason or another find themselves without a husband, home,
thrust out into the job market with nothing better than minimum
wage employment prospects. However, the clarion call of our society
and culture continues to entice many young women into the job market
to post-phone marriage.
For many who do eventually marry and
have children they abandon them to be raised in child care institutions.
Our young woman need to know much earlier, in their teenage years,
that mothering does matter and that there is no more important role
they could ever have in life once they make the decision to bring
these precious lives into this world. I hope more mothers with similar
experiences and our youth leaders will more vigorously encourage
our young women in this vital and significant role motherhood truly
is.
Anonymous
**
How timely for me was this wonderful
article! Mother's Day is so fraught with evaluating myself as a
mother and trying to pretend away all of my mistakes. Unfortunately,
sometimes Mother's Day can lead me to feel I have failed in achieving
the high expectations I promised myself I would carry out, just
like Jane explains her terrific plan for how her life would go.
Her statement, “The day-in-and-day-out of daily mothering
is invisible, because so much of what we do doesn’t last"
really hit home. Obviously, she is speaking of the everyday physical
tasks of motherhood, not the long lasting emotional and spiritual
fruits of motherhood. But oh, how I needed to hear that in someone
else's life as a "mom," there are tasks that keep getting
repeated (scrubbing floors, for example!) that literally don't last!
So Jane, just for today I will clean the island in our kitchen —
again! — with the expectation that when my four kids return
from school, it will be cluttered with cereal crumbs, dirty bowls
and spoons, backpacks, and flyers. And tomorrow, I will do it again.
And to mothers everywhere who have teenage sons who are "really
on the edge," from personal experience I can say that "being
next to him" is the exact place you should stand fast. We don’t
know what is going to happen, but we can always hope. Jane, you
have given me a bit of hope today that I know will get me through
my day. Thank you.
A Reader in Oregon
**** **** **** ****
Problem-free Philosophy
Read
Article Here
The Art of Procrastination
by Carolyn Allen
This article really encouraged me to
try to stop worrying about my weight. Mine is only a vanity issue
and I am fit and able to do anything I want, including rock climbing
on vacations. It has been difficult for me to not look the way I
used to, but putting my energy into my three homeschooled children
and other obligations is more important than taking the initiative
and time to try to look like I was 23 again. Thanks for the reality
check-list about evaluating what our bodies can do at their current
weight.
It is a great measure of where we are
in life.
**
A Reader in Calfornia
Oh my goodness! I have been in the
biggest rut over my weight and feeling completely defeated. And
then here is this article. Hope Springs Eternal, as my grandmother
used to say.
I too am a breast cancer survivor, 2 1/2 years. Six months after
my last treatment I had a hysterectomy and I had then been on my
cancer medication for 6 months. Boy did I start getting a bigger
me. The weight has continued to pile on no matter what I do. I,
just a few days ago, decided oh well, eat and be happy, for no matter
what you will gain and be depressed.
I am a mother of five, grandmother
of 15, great grandmother of 1. My lap is much more taken up by me
than a grandchild. They usually say they will sit beside me because
there is no room for them. You know the adage, “Ewes not fat;
ewes is fluffy”? I am fat!
You give me hope. I am so touched I
am having a problem reading what I am writing. Thank you, someday
I will write and say, the weight is gone, I am healthy, happy and
content. Today I write on my calendar, "Today I have lost weight
and found my way!"
Perhaps that will help my cloudy mind
as well.
Patty Ryker
Montana
**** **** **** ****
Name That Tune
Read
Article Here
Saints and Angels: Readers
Raise Voices and Questions, edited and compiled by Kathy Green
Is there any way to let that brother
know that others were moved by the closing hymn?
My teenage sons returned from the priesthood
session, and I waited for their usual quiet response to "how
was it?" Instead, they both immediately lit up and said, the
closing song was amazing. What was it?
How do we get to hear it? If two young
boys could be so moved by it, it must have been wonderful!
Thanks for all the great articles.
K. Lewis
Minnetonka, Minnesota
**** **** **** ****
In Memorium
Read
Article Here
We Will Remember Our Friend,
Davis, Bitton, by Maurine and Scot Proctor
I was so sorry to read of Brother Davis
Bitton's death in the Salt Lake Tribune's obituaries this last week.
His column will be missed. His topics were always so interesting
to me. A special prayer to his family and friends.
Valerie Sorensen
Salt Lake City, Utah
**
Thank you thank you thank you, for
the wonderful and brilliant article by the recently deceased David
Bitton, "How Important is History?" It further clarifies
the fact that we alone, are responsible for what we do now, and
how we live in accordance to our Lord and Savior's will.
You have fully strengthened my personal
testimony and helped wither a way any lingering guilt trips over
past issues and past statements made by others: others who will
not be the ones to judge me in the end.
We are all fully mortal, imperfect
yet such beloved children of our Heavenly Father. This alone is
so reassuring when the premise of our mortality becomes crystal
clear. We depend alone on our Father and trust Him. We are, then,
safe!
Thank you for all the wonderful articles.
Meridian, as always, is the best support center ever conceived for
all LDS members! Thank you for your faith-promoting articles, your
astonishing learning center for the sharing and gaining of strength,
laughter, and for the energizing of one's endurance to the end.
name withheld by request
**** **** **** ****
Two is Company
Read
Article Here
Childless and Content, by Kathy
Kidd
I read the article and felt like it
should be me. I have unfortunately become bitter over the inability
to have children. The article did make me realize that I am not
alone and will survive the heartache.
I had never thought of the bonus of
not having kids. I see only the things that I have missed. It's
hard when others relish the life of someone new and you dread to
see, hear or even talk about a child. I love kids. I just can't
stand being around them therefore I know people think that I hate
them.
Thank you for opening my eyes and I hope that one day I will feel
like you!
JoAnn
St. Joseph, Missouri
**
Kathryn Kidd apparently has a firm
grasp on her self worth — although I catch an undercurrent
of concern about her size.
A tiny little thing like her —
which she would be if standing next to me.
I weigh 370 pounds — down from
470 pound 16 months ago. I lost all that weight in one year and
then stopped, for some reason. Now I'm starting to lose again.
But, as I said last December, I've
found my niche in the world. I am a jolly, professional Santa who
looks the part every day of the year. I could starve and manipulate
myself into a smaller costume, but why?
I'm overweight, morbidly obese by some
counts, but my blood pressure is surprisingly normal, my cholesterol
is 125 and — except for a crippled knee, I manage to get around
pretty well.
Which isn't to say I don't get a lot
of stares and some unthinking comments... but who is going to be
foolish enough to jump in there and really antagonize Santa Claus?
Kathy, it doesn't matter whether you're
big or small, or if someone makes comments. What matters is that
you're a child of God and he loves you no matter how much of you
there is to love.
Be happy with who you are and what
you will one day be, God willing.
A really chubby brother in Christ,
John Degel
Montana's Santa
P.S. This is me one year ago.
**** **** **** ****
Dinner Invitation
Read
Article Here
Dinner and a Mormon,
by Whitney Johnson
M. Russell Ballard, “Creating
a Gospel-Sharing Home,” Ensign, May 2006, 84–87.
As a bishop I just shared with my ward
council Elder Ballard’s talk “Creating A Gospel-Sharing
Home,” in which he speaks to the point that sharing the gospel
is not a program but rather a way of life. I challenged each member
of the council to have the missionaries into their home that week
so that they may find specific ways to create a “gospel-sharing
home.” As we had the missionaries in our home we set with
them the goal to have a least one neighbor a month into our home
for dinner. We’re making our first invite tonight as part
of our Family Home Evening.
Bishop Reeve
London, Ontario,Canada
**
I enjoyed Whitney Johnson's first article
"Dinner and a Mormon," and think her comments should make
all of us think about the impression we are making as members of
the Church. I would also like to see her (or someone else) address
the question of what do we do when our fellow members are not good
members. I am a bookkeeper and replaced a man who let everyone at
the workplace know he was a member, then proceeded to embezzle several
thousand dollars, which almost destroyed the business. I was hired
to replace him without my knowledge of his crime and without my
boss knowing I was a member.
To his credit, he has not held that
against me, but I have spent five years making sure every business
decision I make is representative of the values I hold as a member.
I know that every time the former employee's name is mentioned,
the unspoken question is, "And he still belongs to your church?"
My boss does not automatically think
Mormons are good employees. We want the world to see what the Restored
Church can do for people, but it also puts the Church into the spotlight
when things go wrong.
If only we all remembered our every
action is observed and we as a church are judged by the actions
of our members.
JD
Southern Oregon
**
Wonderful article! When I was in college,
I had a roommate who was not a member of the Church. Because she
had known that she was moving into an apartment of Mormon girls,
she had written me a letter beforehand, as I was the only roommate
whose name she knew. She told me that her boyfriend was LDS and
that anything she wanted to know about our church, she could find
out from him, that she drank beer, and basically that she didn't
want us trying to convert her.
I shared the letter with the other
roommates before she moved in, and we agreed that we would respect
Diane's feelings. I think the most we ever did was invite her to
a dance now and then that was held at the Institute. She always
declined when she found out it was going to be held in a church
building. We eventually backed off on even those invitations. We
had two apartments of recently-returned missionaries who lived nearby,
who were salivating over her as the unbeliever among us. I don't
know how many times I answered the question for them. "Isn't
that your non-member roommate?"
"She has a name, you know. We
just call her Diane."
She didn't tell any of us when she
started attending a Courtship and Marriage class at the Institute
with her boyfriend. He wasn't very involved with the Church, but
he thought that class might be helpful in building their relationship.
Eventually she began to have some questions and would sometimes
stay after class and talk with the teacher for a few minutes. There
is a "made-for-seminary-video-happy ending" to this story.
Diane joined the Church, realized the lack of commitment of her
boyfriend, dumped him, and beat all the rest of us to be married
in the temple. But the point of the story is that she was a person
first, our friend, not defined by whether or not she belonged to
our church.
When we were first married, my husband
and I made friends with the young couple who lived next door, who
were not members of the Church. Later our elders quorum president
"assigned" us to be friends with them. We laughed about
it and told him we were already friends with them. Obviously, we
were ahead of the game, and he was proud of us. We traded babysitting
with them after we both had babies close together.
The elders quorum president was constantly
asking for updates on our "friendship" with them. We lived
in fear that in his over-zealousness to bring them into the fold,
he would slip and say something that would make them think we were
friends with them only because of orders from on high. When we were
counseled to invite someone to the open house for the Jordan River
Temple, I mentioned it to her, feeling the relationship was close
enough that I dared ask. She responded by declining, thanking me,
and mentioned that it was the fifth invitation she had received.
Again, I was worried she would find out that we were working on
an assignment.
Our friendship never resulted in them joining the Church; it just
resulted in us having a couple of wonderful friends.
I've worked in offices in Salt Lake
where there was kind of an "us" and "them" atmosphere.
Before clean-air mandates, it started with some pregnant ladies
requesting a smoke-free break room, and soon there were two breaks
— the non-smoking break, and the smoking break, which, of
course, became the "Mormon break" and the "non-Mormon
break," even though many in the second group didn't smoke.
(I guess enduring second-hand smoke was considered preferable to
hanging out with the Sunday school crowd.) Every once in a while,
even at the risk of my health, I would go on a smoking break, just
to blur the lines a bit.
I've had friends who stopped going
to church, but that did not mean that my friendship with them ended,
but for most it did. If we truly want to help our Mormon presidential
candidate, the best thing we can do is make more genuine friends
and move outside our self-imposed boundaries. I recently became
aware of a program that feeds homeless people every Sunday evening
at the Salvation Army nearby. Six different religions have banded
together. I have decided to become involved, because our religion
is not one of the six represented. Because our Church has so many
great programs, it is too easy for us to be insular. I'm grateful
for the reminders contained in this article, and I look forward
to reading the rest in the series.
Susan Curtis
Hawaii
**
Very good article and look forward to the rest.
Our life though, is just the opposite
of the article; most of our friends being non- LDS (but good Christians
for the most part).
We can honestly say that of the last
five people/families we have spent time with, none are LDS.
We, as members of the one true church
need to get our noses out of the air and start acting more like
Saints and less like Pharisees!
C. Marvil
Sharpsburg, Maryland
**
I agree wholeheartedly with this idea.
But in practice it is very difficult. I yearn to become more a part
my community. My son is the only LDS person in his high school.
When we lived in Utah we were able to really contribute to city
government and community activities. There were more people to share
the load at church. But here in Ohio, church responsibilities are
so overwhelming that I, quite frankly, don't have time to enjoy
neighbors. I don't feel like we adequately care for the needs of
the members — let alone reach out to our neighbors. It is
a frustration.
Lynn Watkins
Ohio
P.S.: I may not have emphasized that
you also very appropriately point out that members of the LDS community
stand to gain much from associating — even bonding —
with their non-member acquaintances, who also stand as spiritual
brothers and sisters to them.
**
Thank you for this excellent article
that could serve as a reference in terms of PR and missionary work
for the Church.
I live in a country — France
— that counts a good number of second and third generation
Mormons but relatively few new converts. This is partly due to the
fact that missionaries have developed the habit to by-pass the native
French and focus their efforts on Third-World immigrants —
primarily from Africa — who have legally or illegally moved
to France in search of better living conditions.
The missionaries claim that the French
are not receptive to their message, but I suspect that the primary
reason for this trend is an application of the law of least resistance:
while the native French tend to be defensive towards missionaries
— nothing extraordinary in Western Europe — native Africans
welcome them into their homes and provide them with a good number
of teaching hours and baptisms. However, few of these people make
solid converts while many turn into welfare cases for local Church
leaders. Growth for the Church in France has thus been characterized
by the coming to the world of "Mormon" babies from those
native French who have been converted into the Church several decades
ago.
I only see two ways to return to Church
growth through new converts. One would be for missionaries to receive
new directives that would help them to refocus their efforts towards
quality converts — especially the native French — and
away from statistics only. The other approach would be the one you
so well describe. While President McKay once asked every member
to be a missionary, most French members tend to limit their social
interactions with other members of the LDS community.
Maybe too much focus was placed on
sharing the gospel with family members, friends and neighbors and
not enough on just being good friends towards them. For example,
my parents did not make a special effort to keep in touch with the
rest of the family after they joined the Church in the early 60's.
My sisters and I are now attempting to rebuild — with a measure
of success — these precious family ties, regardless of their
attitude towards the Church. Further, my wife, who is not LDS, has
cultivated solid friendships with most of our neighbors. A natural
consequence of this is that these good people have become well-acquainted
with our Church without any proselytizing effort taking place.
I therefore believe that your suggestions
are key to the exponential growth the Church should know in the
coming decades.
Charles Defranchi
Paris, France
**** **** **** ****
Don’t Tell Brother Goddard
Read
Article Here
Resisting God in our Lives
and in Our Minds, by H. Wallace Goddard
Where did you get this man? His articles
are so unbelievably good. Just when I thought I had read the best
article I had ever read, he writes another that is way better. My
fear in saying this is he will become proud that he's humble. I
guess you'll have to not tell him.
Anyway I just thought I'd tell you
this in case you were crazy and were thinking of dropping him from
your list of writers. His articles have done me and my family a
lot of good. I have used parts of them in Priesthood lessons; I
use his quotes all the time. Thank You, Thank you.
Kim Whatcott
Queen Creek, Arizona
**** **** **** ****
Infant Immortality
Read
Article Here
Arizona Easter Pageant Marks
Historic Firsts
Thank you for the wonderful article
on the Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant (3/15/07).
The Easter Pageant is the perfect way
to celebrate the Easter season and rejoice in the miracle of Christ's
life and resurrection. For six years I played the role of the Savior
in the Easter Pageant. It was a marvelous opportunity to share my
testimony of Christ and it was a tremendous blessing for both me
and my family. Since I moved to Utah in the summer of 2002, it has
been one of my biggest regrets to not be able to be around this
production and take part in sharing Christ's message.
In reading your article, I discovered
one small error, however. The article states that this is the first
year that the actor portraying Christ has had his own son also portraying
Christ. In my final year in 2002, my son Tommy was only 2 months
old and he and another baby portrayed the infant Christ on rotating
nights.
Thanks again for the great article
on the Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant. I wish I were there to watch
it too!
Matt Hale
Sandy, Utah
**** **** **** ****
Why Ask Why
Read
Article Here
If God Loves Me, Why This,
by Kim A. Nelson
The Cricket and Seagull Fireside Chat, with Steven Kapp Perry
Hello, boy; could I feel out this question
of "why" or I should say 20 years ago I would have asked
why. I liked the article so much I would like to have the book.
Things happen in our lives for a purpose;
yet at the time when something traumatic happens, as humans we don't
think that.
In 1973, our Regina died at age 2 1/2
years and I was pregnant at the time. Three months later Renee was
born. I also had an older daughter Rhonda. In 1980 our house burned.
Rhonda, who was then 11 1/2 years old and Renee, at 7 1/2 years,
died and I survived.
In 1999 my husband, David, took sick
and in 2001 had to go on disability.
In 2002 we lost our home and had to
move into an apartment. But in 1987 the most wonderful thing in
our lives happened. We found the Gospel. I worked with a woman who
was a member of the Church and we would talk and talk about God,
faith and religion. One day as I was studying different faiths and
thinking of going to a meeting, David who had never ever said where
I could go to church, this time said “Why don't you see about
the Mormons and give Marge a call?”
So I did and David gave permission
for me to study. David decided he would sit in on the lessons to
see what he got me into. Well, as Paul Harvey says, "here is
rest of the story.”
David and I were baptized June 24,1987,
and sealed on the same date one year later. So asking “If
God loves me, why did all this happen to David and myself?”
as I said, there is a purpose to life. Heavenly Father knows that
and we humans just have to be hit on the head to find this out.
in having The Gospel in our lives, in reading this article. I could
have aswered, "Why" isn't important any more.
The blessing of having Joseph Smith
to Gordon B. Hinckley as Prophets, the Bible and Book of Mormon,
Priesthood Leaders and sisters are important. What more could a
person want in life than having Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus
Christ who atoned for our sins? Feeling the gift of The Holy Spirit
by the laying on of hands, .saying our prayers and reading scriptures
daily, we as children of Our Heavenly Father can understand the
"WHY."
That's not to say we won't still ask
why. I know without a doubt that in our daily lives "WHY"
will still be there. Yet with all we have been given and taught
from Joseph Smith to scriptures, we can handle "WHY" in
our lives.
Gloria Jackson
Shawano,Wisconsin
**** **** **** ****
Where Can I Turn for Peace?
Read
Article Here
Lord, How is it Done? by Darla
Isackson
This article is so very relevant to
my struggle. I too have wondered for so long, "Lord, How is
it Done?"
I'll have to look and see if I can
find the "Lord's Yoke" article. Another scripture that
I consider somewhat of a companion scripture is the one where Christ
promises "peace," i. e. "My peace I leave with you,
my peace I give unto you."
I haven't yet been able to access the power of Christ through either
of them to find the peace I have been seeking for so long.
I'm about 80 years old, and have raised a family of six children
who have all been married in the temple. I have been an active member
all my life.
I won't go into the home environment
that had a great influence on my life, much of it negative, because
I don't want to blame anyone for my tribulations. I've come to understand
the principle of agency more clearly in recent years and firmly
believe that no matter how dark the night we are still free to choose.
We are not robots.
I had feelings of insecurity, and irrational
fears from early teens which later became full blown anxiety and
depression. I've had my share of physical pains but they are as
nothing compared to the afflictions of mind and spirit. This compounds
a hundred fold my battle to exercise the faith Hannah Smith speaks
of. I've had the faith to press on and endure the pain and sorrow,
but not yet the faith to find peace. I've read the Book of Mormon
16 times in my scriptural search for strength. My continual prayer
is that I will be able to win the battle in this life.
President Hinckley's father, Bryant
S., refers to our battle to overcome our weaknesses as "a holy
war," and indeed it is. I will continue to battle!
Fay S. Parker
Orem, Utah
**** **** **** ****
Pet Peeve
Read
Article Here
ERA: Old Dogs Never Die, by
Maurine Proctor
Thank you for your recent update on
the plan to attempt to resurrect the defunct Equal Rights Amendment.
You are quite right. It is very dangerous. For those too young to
remember, it was a divisive issue. Those who opposed it were termed
ignorant, sexist and chauvinist pigs if they were men and ignorant,
downtrodden, browbeaten and a number of other unflattering terms
if they were women. Proponents were pictured as modern, far-thinking,
being for women's rights and who only wanted what is best for women,
like equal pay for equal work. It sounded good until the ramifications
became clear.
As a young mother in 1973 who had worked to help put my husband
through college, I thought the Equal Rights Amendment was something
that everyone should support. It only made sense and seemed so fair.
Then, someone gave me several issues of a newsletter called "Stop
ERA" by a woman named Phyllis Schlafly. I had never heard of
her, but with a smattering of journalism experience, I knew that
someone could take things out of context and make black seem white.
Her assertions that the ERA would turn our world upside down and
cause men and women to share the same public restrooms and a whole
laundry list of other issues (like women being forced to serve in
combat) went against all common sense. I decided to go to the sources
of the quotes that Mrs. Schalfly used to support her arguments against
the Equal Right Amendment so that I could prove her wrong.
It was fairly easy to do, even in those pre-internet days. Several
phone calls brought me the documentation she had quoted in the articles
I had read. I was stunned to find that she had not taken anything
out of context, and that indeed, the ERA would end all differentiation
in the treatment of men and women under the law. No matter how sensible,
any law that allowed for differences based on gender would become
illegal.
Either a law would have to be changed
to apply to both men and women or it would have to be eliminated.
My sources included studies by State Attorneys General in several
different states who had evaluated how passage of the ERA would
affect their own state laws, from support laws to work issues such
as lifting limitations for women and others. Some were innocuous,
but many were not. I was appalled to learn that it would gut all
protective legislation. My support of the ERA quickly evaporated.
Since my home state of South Carolina had not yet ratified the Equal
Rights Amendment, I decided to join the fight to defeat it. I met
a number of people and soon joined Stop ERA in South Carolina. We
had no funding. Someone donated office space in a building across
from the state capital. Another businessman allowed us to park in
his parking lot whenever we needed to visit the State House. We
accepted donations to cover the telephone and stamps. My mother
offered to pick my child up after school on the days I was volunteering
in our office. We spent many days and hundreds of hours lobbying
the legislators across the street. When the state Senate decided
to hold public hearings, we invited Phyllis Schlafly to testify.
We participated in many radio and television debates.
I heard many reasons why people supported the Equal Rights Amendment.
I learned a lot. In studying the background and history of the passage
of this proposed amendment to the Constitution, I learned that the
proponents were adamantly opposed to any wording other than what
was proposed because it might then allow for reasonable differences.
I learned that there were a number of proponents who privately acknowledged
the changes that would be brought about if it were ratified, but
in public they called our assertions "scare tactics."
I learned that there were people who
wanted those changes badly enough that they did not care what it
would do to women and families. I learned that even greed was a
reason to support it. I learned that there were some good people
who opposed the ERA but would do nothing to help us in our efforts:
not a phone call, not a letter, not a dollar. The phone calls and
letters were much more critical than the dollars, but they said,
"God won't let that happen to us," and they did nothing.
I also learned that people of different faiths can band together
in a common cause and learn to respect one another. I learned that
almost all of our legislators appreciated a handshake and "thanks
for serving our state." I learned that kindness and a smile
go a long way towards earning the respect of those with whom you
do not agree. I learned that there were good people all over our
state who were willing take a day off from work to fill buses and
come to Columbia, even when they had to pay their own way. I learned
that some friendships forged in adversity become forever. I learned
again that there is mighty power in prayer. I learned that hearts
and votes can be changed, even on the floor of the Legislature.
While many legal and social issues that passage of the Equal Rights
Amendment would have created have come to pass without it, legislators
(both Federal and local) still have the right to pass laws based
on reason, not mandated by absolutes. The Congress of the United
States of America still has the right to not require women to serve
in combat. Individual states still have the right to pass a state
ERA with any wording that they choose. Churches still have the right
to ordain whom they will and to marry whom they will.
What is it about the Equal Rights Amendment that is so important
for it to be ratified? Social and legal changes for better or for
worse have accomplished many of the goals that were stated when
it was proposed. What is left that cannot be achieved by piecemeal
legislation? The destruction of the traditional family comes to
mind.
The current attempt to resurrect the proposed Equal Rights Amendment
and bring it back with 35 states having already ratified it is not
totally unexpected, but is ludicrous to me. The amendment as it
was written had a time limitation for passage. That time limit was
declared legal by a Federal Court. It is dead. But anything can
happen these days, so we must be aware and be alert. The old sayings
are true. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance and the only
thing necessary for evil to prevail is that good men (and women)
do nothing.
The forward motion of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment stopped
with South Carolina thirty years ago. May it stay that way, but
if it does come back to haunt us, may we have the courage and strength
to battle it once again.
Treci Senecal
Lexington, South Carolina
© 2007 Meridian
Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
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