He stated that though men are also responsible to choose the good, women have always "been blessed with a unique moral compass--the ability to distinguish right from wrong... to discern truth from error, to be society's guardians of morality".
Are righteous women really so important to the survival of society? This question has made me think about women's role in the settling of the American West. On the whole, it was good women who tamed the "Wild
West". Who can deny that it was the influence of righteous women that replaced saloons and brothels with farms, schools, churches, hospitals, and most importantly, homes. It was only when the women came West, spreading civilization and culture, that real towns were established. The "wild" days of degenerate society where the man with the fastest gun ruled, taking and doing whatever he wanted, was no match for the righteous women. Women did indeed lift the cowboys and miners out of their immoral mire bringing beauty, faith, and goodness to the West. It was brave, good women who made the West into a peaceful, "tamed", place where families could be raised.
When I was young in the not quite so "olden days", the 1950's, I think women seemed to have a stronger influence on society. Being a woman meant that you stood for goodness and culture. Most women tried to set an example of righteous living, and men were expected to shape up their behavior if a "lady was present".
Things seemed to have changed a lot since then. In 1982 there was a TV series that was based on the classic 1954 musical, 7 Brides for 7 Brothers. In the 1954 movie, the new bride demands that her 7 brothers-in-law eat with manners and not "like hogs". In the series made about thirty years later, the bride instead acts like "one of the guys" and joins in the food fight.
Though women have now, finally, gained more employment opportunities and equal pay, I feel concerned that at the same time women seem to be losing their long established role of uplifting mankind. Perhaps, it has been the result of pressure to fit into the previously "man's world" of business, or maybe it has been succumbing to the relentless insinuations of advertising and other media which tell women that their value lies in their being a mere "Barbie doll", or it might be the consequence of living in a world where people are afraid to be identified as being "good".
Have we forgotten who we are? If we women forget our role; if we let the light of our beacons go out; if we allow ourselves to sink down into the mire even to the point where we murder our unwanted almost born children; what will happen to society? As the world is growing darker, more violent, and ugly, women's sense of morality is needed more than ever to light the way and bring hope to the world.
* President Russel M. Nelson https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/10/36nelson?lang=eng
video - women of courage and examples of righteousness
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