by Lindsay Hinmon
Recently there’s been a change in church policy, specifically the hiring practices of the Church Education System (CES). I’ll break it down for you. In the old policy if a CES employee got pregnant, she got fired--even if married in the temple. If a CES employee went through a divorce, he/she couldn’t be hired. If the person was hired already, he/she was fired, regardless of the reason or how long ago the marriage ended. However, if one were to volunteer her time, the church had no direct mandate for her love life or procreative choices. The new policy states that women can make their own decisions about work/life balance and divorce is not a disqualifier. I’m just going to say it:
The new policy is fair. The old policy was blatant sexism and discrimination.
From time to time, this happens. The church goes through changes like this one. A policy is created or a practice develops that seems only natural, but time marches on, shedding light on what becomes increasingly recognizable as injustice. Polygamy was once a commandment and is now prohibited. The 1978 revelation extending priesthood to all worthy males was whiplash enough for some to leave the church altogether. For whatever reason it took until 2013 for a woman to offer a prayer in General Conference. Truth is eternal. How that truth gets applied to mortal existence, on the other hand, is another story.
Recently there’s been a change in church policy, specifically the hiring practices of the Church Education System (CES). I’ll break it down for you. In the old policy if a CES employee got pregnant, she got fired--even if married in the temple. If a CES employee went through a divorce, he/she couldn’t be hired. If the person was hired already, he/she was fired, regardless of the reason or how long ago the marriage ended. However, if one were to volunteer her time, the church had no direct mandate for her love life or procreative choices. The new policy states that women can make their own decisions about work/life balance and divorce is not a disqualifier. I’m just going to say it:
The new policy is fair. The old policy was blatant sexism and discrimination.
From time to time, this happens. The church goes through changes like this one. A policy is created or a practice develops that seems only natural, but time marches on, shedding light on what becomes increasingly recognizable as injustice. Polygamy was once a commandment and is now prohibited. The 1978 revelation extending priesthood to all worthy males was whiplash enough for some to leave the church altogether. For whatever reason it took until 2013 for a woman to offer a prayer in General Conference. Truth is eternal. How that truth gets applied to mortal existence, on the other hand, is another story.