Taking a break from the My Beliefs posts. I have a habit of reading all my religious blogs on Saturdays, and one of them is a group blog called Wheat & Tares (it's in my sidebar). Yesterday, Bored in Vernal posted about a website called Agitating Faithfully. The site is "devoted to gender equality in the church", the idea being extending the priesthood to the women of the church.

Over 50 people (at the time of this writing) have signed their names to the list, apparently including one in the next stake over from mine. The name of the website comes from an interview with former prophet Gordon B. Hinckley. In an interview, someone asked him if it would be possible for the rules to one day change, allowing women to hold the priesthood. His answer: "Yes. But there's no agitation for that. We don't find it." Basically, it's possible that someday women will have the priesthood, but there hasn't been much said about it.

I think it'd be nice to have some sort of authority to use the laying on of hands in an official capacity to bless someone who needs help. For example, if my husband is having a really bad day, which happens often with fibromyalgia, it'd be nice if I could give him a blessing of comfort. Or if we have kids one day, I'd like to be able to give them a blessing if the husb weren't available. (Where he'd go with all the pain he's in I don't know. It's just wishful thinking, after all.)

At any rate, I wish Agitating Faithfully the best of luck in getting people to talk about one of the big questions facing the church today. I may one day add my list to the names.