Women and the Priesthood

Ooh!  Controversial topic!  This post is only coincidentally being written on Father's Day.  What bothers me about the subject of women and the Priesthood most of all is not the fact that women at this time don't have it; I do believe that they should have it and that they some day will have it.  What bothers me most is actually the attitude of people I've encountered toward the very idea that women could some day have the Priesthood.

All I've encountered are knee-jerk reactions to the supposition that women could one day receive the Priesthood, and those reactions are that it will never happen, how could we think that, that would be preposterous, that wouldn't make any sense.  People (sorry, but I've mainly seen men) don't even take the time to even consider the possibility.  Use your imagination, please!  It's good to imagine alternate options and realities, I think; think of "what if?" even if it sounds ridiculous.  What if pigs instead of cats were common house pets?  What if lizards could fly?  What if popcorn were poisonous?  How would these situations change how we live?  It seems that to some people, questioning what if lizards could fly sounds just as ridiculous and pointless as asking what if women had the Priesthood.

I think questioning this is so scary to people is because it would shatter the explanations/rationalizations/illusions that people have created to explain the situation and would force you to admit that instead of the truth, they are merely explanations/rationalizations/illusions.  I will readily admit that I could be wrong and that only men will forever have the Priesthood in the church; but none of the reasons people use for why that could be are official doctrine—they are merely explanations created without any authority.  Some of these explanations include that motherhood is equal to the Priesthood (when, logically [and yes, you could attack my use of logic and quote Isaiah 55:8 and say that logic is myopic compared with God's view], wouldn't it be equal to fatherhood?  Also, any fertile woman can have children, but being ordained to the Priesthood requires worthiness.)  I will say now that I do think motherhood is divine and that honestly, given the choice, I'd rather be a mother than have the Priesthood. 

Here is an example from a website I am fond of, the 100 Hour Board.  Someone asked if the writers thought that there could ever be a female apostle, which, to me, is also implying the question of do they think that women could one day have the priesthood?  Three writers and one commenter answered, and only one of them was female.  One male writer did admit that if revelation came, that women could theoretically receive the Priesthood; but then it seems he was quick to dismiss that that would ever happen.  The commenter, I have found out, is one of the managing directors of Newsnet, which is apparently over the 100 Hour Board.  I find it worrisome that there was only one female voice in this matter (and that she was the only one who believed in the same thing I do), and that an older man felt the need to add a comment to refute her belief.  I don't think you can prove through logic or reasoning indefinitely whether or not it will happen, because we have an open canon.  But why all the explanations against it then if it can't be proven?

This post is probably to be continued because there is so much to write about; I feel like everything I write has so many counter arguments that it's like trying to kill off a hydra.