Happy Birthday, Relief Society!

On March 17, 1842, the Relief Society – a women's organization that is an auxiliary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – was officially created. Because I am a woman and a member of the LDS church, I am privileged to be a part of it.

Several years ago I was assigned to prepare a presentation on the history and value of the Relief Society. As part of this presentation I wrote the following essay:

          Tonight we address two questions: what does the Lord think of you as a woman, and what does he want for you in your life?

          For most of the history of the world, women, individually and as a group, have been poorly thought of, badly treated, and severely limited in their freedom. For thousands of years, it was illegal for women to own property. A woman could not get an education, was not allowed to study the scriptures or be taught the gospel. A woman frequently had little or no choice about whom she married, and once she was married, had no rights or freedom. It was legal for a man to beat or otherwise abuse his wife – she had no right to stop him. A man could divorce his wife for reasons ranging from unchastity to burning a meal, but a woman could almost never divorce her husband. Although she was expected to do the work of taking care of children, she did not have the right to decide how her children would be raised and taught.

          In ancient Jewish society, public life excluded women, often forcing them to cover their heads and faces in the presence of men. A rabbi could not speak to a women in public. Woman had no legal, financial or civil voice. Some Jewish men repeated daily the infamous prayer: “Praised be God that he has not created me to be a woman.”

          This kind of treatment seems incredible to us, but for the lawmakers and other men of the past it was the only way to treat women. In fact, they believed that women didn't have the ability to make the kind of decisions more freedom would require. The well-respected philosopher Aristotle taught that the male by nature is superior and the female inferior, and believed that the female state is one of deformity.

          Another famous philosopher, Socrates, said that being born a woman is a punishment from God, since a woman is not fully a person, but is halfway between a man and an animal.

          When Augustine, a religious thinker and teacher, came to power he wondered how a man could possibly love his wife, knowing what she is and what she represents. He thoughtfully concluded that he should love her as a Christian is commanded to love his enemies.

          In summary, it is fair to say that a low view of women was common, even predominant, during ancient times. With this type of thinking being held by all men, there was little hope for any change for the better in women’s lives.

          Then came Jesus Christ.

         Christ completely deviated from society in the way he treated women. For the first time, women saw a man who would teach them, heal them, respect them. Christ treated women with respect regardless of their station. He taught the woman at the well, insisted on fair, even merciful treatment of the woman caught in sin, and healed a woman who, having an issue of blood, was considered unclean and therefore untouchable. He showed the world a different way to think and act.

          Even after the Savior’s death, Christian men, following His example, had greater respect for women, and women did enjoy more rights, more freedom, more spiritual growth for a time. But as the truth and the priesthood left the earth, so did man’s true vision of woman. Women were again mistreated and unable to share their talents. The only work available to them was menial or even immoral.

           With the passing of time, there was some small improvement -- in many cultures the blatant abuse of women became less acceptable. But at the beginning of the 1800s, for the most part, things were not a whole lot better. Women were still denied access to higher education. Their career choices were extremely limited. They had no voice in government – they could not vote or hold public office. 

          Then came Joseph Smith, the restoration of the gospel, and the birth of the Relief Society.

          In March 1842, when the Prophet Joseph Smith established the Relief Society, he said to the women:

“You will receive instructions through the order of the Priesthood which God has established, through the medium of those appointed to . . . direct the affairs of the Church in this last dispensation; and I now turn the key in your behalf in the name of the Lord, and this Society shall rejoice, and knowledge and intelligence shall flow down from this time henceforth.” 1

The Prophet told them that the organization would be “a charitable Society, and according to your natures,” and then he added, “If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates” 2

Over one hundred years later, in 1945, President George Albert Smith said to the women of the Relief Society:

“You are . . . more blessed than any other women in all the world. You were the first women to have the franchise; the first women to have a voice in the work of a church. It was God that gave it to you and it came as a result of revelation to a Prophet of the Lord. Since that time, think what benefits the women of this world have enjoyed. Not only you belonging to the Church have enjoyed the blessing of equality, but when the Prophet Joseph Smith turned the key for the emancipation of womankind, it was turned for all the world, and from generation to generation the number of women who can enjoy the blessings of religious liberty and civil liberty has been increasing.” 3

          Could this be true?  Could it be that the Relief Society – that key turned for the emancipation of womankind – has really made the difference in the lives of women around the world since then? A look at history suggests that it certainly is so.

          Remember, the Lord, through Joseph Smith, established Relief Society and thereby pronounced the blessings of liberty on women in 1842. Seven years later, in 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell graduated from medical school, becoming the first woman in the U.S. with a medical degree. A few years after that, the first woman graduated from dental school. In 1870, the Mormons settlers in Utah gave women voting rights – the first state to do so. Other states soon followed.

          In 1869 the first woman lawyer was granted admission to practice law. In 1873 the first woman to be admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology earned her bachelors degree, and became the first female professional chemist in the U.S. In 1887 Susanna Salter became the first woman elected mayor.

          Remember, all these firsts occurred within less than fifty years of the day Joseph Smith ‘turned the key’ to open the door for the freedom of women.

          I found a detailed list on the internet documenting the achievements of women throughout history. There were hundreds of landmarks of women’s progress on the list, and virtually all of them happened after 1942. A few examples: The first woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.  The first woman to serve as governor. The first woman Senator. The first woman member of a presidential cabinet. The first American woman to serve as a director of a major corporation. The first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. The first female Supreme Court justice.

          Can you see the huge upward turn in freedom and opportunity for women? Can you doubt that this is more than coincidence?

          Some of you remember the "woman's movement" of the 1970s. It was in many ways a controversial issue, and I have heard people say that “women's lib” was that work of the adversary; an idea that Satan started as part of his plan to destroy families.

          I have a different theory. I believe that it was Satan’s work that persuaded men to oppress women for so many years. Fearing the influence and power a righteous woman can have, Satan did his best to make sure that that influence would not go far. This was his work for thousands of years.

          The evidence shows that it was God who started the women’s movement on that day in 1842 when He consecrated women’s work through the birth of the Relief Society. Satan, knowing the wonders that educated, knowledgeable, joyful women could do, did his best to stop it, but the key had been turned. There was no going back.

          So Satan took a different tactic. You will notice that one of his favorite tricks is to take a good thing and mix in some evil. I believe that this is what happened to the women’s movement. While God said, “You are equal to men, but you have different gifts and different roles,” Satan said, “In order to be equal to men, you must be just like men.” Where God says, “You are free to choose whom you will marry, and how you will love and nurture you children,” Satan says, “You are free. If you marry and have children, you will be a slave.” This was a two-pronged attack: on the one hand, the evil one persuaded many women to reject their divine roles and become more like men. On the other hand, he made many good women see the progress of women – the so called "woman’s movement" as an evil thing, instead of a wonderful God-given blessing. This confused some woman and led them to limit their own growth.

          We started out tonight with two questions. The first was "What does the Lord think of you as a woman?" I hope now we can see the answer more clearly. Heavenly Father loves His daughters as much as his sons. He knows we have marvelous potential on the earth and unlimited potential in the life to come.

          The second question was “What does the Lord want for you in your life?” It is my testimony that He wants the very best for you. He wants you to enjoy and excel in all your roles. While recognizing that you can do many things well, he pleads with you to remember which of your responsibilities are most important. He wants joy, growth, and freedom for you – and He wants those things for men, as well.

Our dear President Hinckley said, “Stand a little taller and work a little harder and value a little greater the marvelous blessing which you have as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” and I would add, as a member of the Relief Society.

          Can we do this, sisters?  Go we go forward in so great a cause?  I believe that we can. As members of the Relief Society, the organization that has blessed the lives of millions of women, whether they know it or not, our potential is enormous.

          Tonight you have come to a birthday party. We have food and decorations and cake to celebrate the birthday of the Relief Society. You did not purchase and wrap a gift to bring. But I am suggesting that you can still give the Relief Society a birthday present. On that wonderful March day in 1842, Joseph Smith prophesied, “If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.” That is the gift you can give the Relief Society. After all it has given you – all the learning, all the comfort, all the service, all the opportunities, and all the privileges – you can commit tonight that you will more fully live up to those privileges. What a marvelous birthday present that would be, if we would all make that commitment.

          I am grateful to be a woman. I am grateful to be a member of this church. Tonight, I am certainly grateful to be a member of the Relief Society. I am grateful to live in a time and place that gives me liberty and opportunities. I am grateful for the many choices I have had the freedom to make: to get an education, to choose a career, to choose a husband, to choose to have, rear, and love my children.

          I know this church is true. It has blessed the lives of millions. It has blessed everyone in this room. I pray that we will never forget that, and that we will stand as women of God, women who, at all times and in all places live up to their God-given privileges.

1 (History of the Church, 4:607).

2 (History of the Church, 4:605). 

3 (Relief Society Magazine, Dec. 1945, p. 717, emphasis mine)