Today my family attended a Bat Mitzvah service in a reconstructionist congregation. Before the service began, the rabbi explained that the prayers in the service were amended from the traditional ones to be gender inclusive. Also, when a prayer offered a blessing on the Jewish people, a clause was added to extend the blessings to …
Author: Jana
Teaching our Children
A rather random comment from my not-Mormon brother-in-law was a catalyst in changing my feelings about raising my children in the church. He said something to the effect of: 'I would never allow my daughter to participate in an organization or an institution that discriminated against her because she's a girl.' What he said kept …
Glass Grapes
An LDS friend showed me his shot glass collection recently, glowing with pride as he pointed to the Nauvoo Temple glass that sits front and center. The shot glasses reflect his travels and hobbies, and don’t appear to be used for imbibing hard liquor. I wondered at the irony of his prominent display, musing about …
Mormons and Disability
At the 2004 SLC Sunstone Symposium, there was a session sponsored by Dialogue titled 'Persons with Disabilities and the Church.' On this panel sat several people whose lives were affected by a family member with a disability. However, there were no ?¢Ç¨Àúpersons with disabilities' included in the panel. As a person with a disability I …