Living in Utah has made me privy to some ideologies that make me nuts. Maybe that's the wrong word, but I don't want to call them heresies either because that's a bit harsh. Here's my qualms.
I'm tired of women being blamed for the wrong deeds of menfolk. Lately there's talk of the reasons why men take advantage of women and it being because of their apparel. Friends of mine that are women roll their eyes each time they're asked what they learned in Relief Society on the first Sunday of each school semester, because consistently, every year, Bishops and other priesthood leaders make it a habit of warning them to dress modestly because otherwise they are distracting to the men and cause them to have inappropriate thoughts. Two reasons why you should never listen to this fallacy. Number one, God has never said this is why he likes it when women are modest and chaste. He said it in the scriptures Jacob 2:28 For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts.
In fact this entire time Jacob is yelling at the menfolk for acting like prepubescent teenagers without a single braincell because they're breaking the tender hearts of their wives.
Additionally this makes menfolk to look like nothing but sex crazed rage beasts! That we don't have deeper thoughts that what's under a shirt, so women better wear an iron maiden and a turtleneck for good measure because you don't want to give men the wrong idea.
Now certain prophets and apostles have mentioned that this is an added benefit of chaste and modest women being it helps the men, but instead members of the church have this infuriating habit of taking a few words and making it doctrine. It's like when my sister was being taught in Young Womens, over and over and over again, get married in the temple at all costs, that's what you want, get married in the temple. Instead it should be BE WORTHY to get married in the temple, be READY to get married in the temple, but you have people going in that ought not to and then after their married never go back!
Here's my humble opinion. Women should be chaste and modest not because men are pigs, but because it makes God happy. And if there's anyone that you should care about is happy, it's Him. If you upset the whole world, it matters little if you've at least made God happy, because frankly only He matters.
Now men, stop being pigs. And I mean this in the sense that some of us say, "Well I can't help it, it's in my nature." Yknow I'm tired of our society perpetuating a culture of acceptance in the sense that we simply let things go for that same excuse, 'I can't change who I am and I should be proud of who I am.' The natural man is an enemy to God, and that's the laziest excuse I've ever heard. What you're giving is a thoughtless cop-out to allow yourself to be whatever you want regardless of how damaging it is around you. Whatever you naturally are is found when you're living to your fullest potential. And what's worse about this lie of "I can't change who I am," is people around you start to believe it because it's easier to rationalize than be hurt. I had a woman whom I was very good friends with tell me she doesn't blame her husband for leaving her and her kid. "It's the natural order of things, the male of a species is supposed to procreate as much as possible, it's a survival tactic, and he can't do that if he's tied down. I have no shame in that." I gagged. Maybe it was a survival tactic when we were still classified as Afarensis! Before we had cogent sentient thought and feelings and emotions. What is wrong with a world that's ok with zero accountability and complete and total acceptance of everything, for good or ill? You're talking about entropy and I believe in a higher power than that.
Ok I'm done ranting. But sisters try and see my point of view. Be modest because it pleases God. He's told us that much. Not because of what menfolk may think if you dress otherwise. And menfolk, stop blaming your carnal urges on womenfolk and how they dress. It's called read a book. Do some pushups. Meditate, something that will get your mind off it, and you'll be a better man for it.
Operator Out.
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