3. Burden of Proof and the Status Quo

Brian Smith and Kristin Coffin offer a dialogue-style collaborative piece dealing with five subtopics as follows:

1. The ramifications of an all-male priesthood.
2. Systemic sexism in the Church.
3. The burden of proof and the status quo.
4. Doctrinal arguments.
5. The role and purpose of the clergy.

This is the fourth piece in the series: Women as Ordained Priests (or Not). -Editor.

Kristin, speaking on the burden of proof

I’ve heard several people voice the following in the last few years: given the gravity of the consequences, if the General Church persists to exclude women from its spiritual leadership, there had better be very good reasons for doing so. Both sides of the debate tend to agree that our best understanding of doctrine needs to come before any consideration of convenience or natural pragmatism

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2. Systemic sexism in the Church

Brian Smith and Kristin Coffin offer a dialog-style collaborative piece dealing with 5 subtopics as follows:

1. The ramifications of an all-male priesthood.
2. Systemic sexism in the Church.
3. The burden of proof and the status quo.
4. Doctrinal arguments.
5. The role and purpose of the clergy.

This is the fourth piece in the series: Women as Ordained Priests (or Not). -Editor.

Kristin, speaking on systemic sexism

You’ve expressed your doubt that my grievances can be conclusively linked with the all-male priesthood. All I can say is, I perceive it to be so. I won’t spend many words trying to convince you; maybe our readers can offer some evidence one way or the other. I agree that it is an oversimplification to say that all the sexism in the church can be blamed on this policy.

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