I've read all of her books. She really speaks her truth and it resonates loudly with me.
This little excerpt is from a fantastic interview in 2005, It is my dream to have her talks turned into lesson manuals.
This little bit is talking about why she stays in her religion. I relate so well... I struggle and struggle with so many issues and have for more then 30 years. Also I'm very drawn to and incorporate many Buddhist teachings in my life as well.
Chieko Okazaki: I stayed because it was God and Jesus Christ that I
wanted to follow and be like, not individual human beings.
Greg Prince: And you saw them within this church?
Chieko Okazaki: I did.
Greg Prince: Isn’t that what it comes down to?
Chieko Okazaki: It does. But you know what? I brought Buddhism
with me. Buddhism teaches love for everybody. The Buddhist val-
ues are not limited just to the people in the Buddhist faith. They
include the whole wide world. When you talk to the Dalai Lama,
you can feel a love that he has for all human kind. He doesn’t
preach,“You must belong to my church.”He preaches,“You must
become better people because of what I am telling you.”Chris-
tians, Muslims, Buddhists go to listen to him, and they become
better Christians, better Muslims, and better Buddhists because
of the values and morals that he teaches. He makes you think, “I
can become a better Christian because of what I heard.”He is a
messenger or a disciple of God, in a different way.
I came to the Church having all these values. The Church did-
n’t teach me that.
Greg Prince: And you didn’t have to discard any of them.
Chieko Okazaki: I didn’t. I brought them with me, and I live them,
and I’m grateful that I have them. I can easily relate to Jesus Christ
and God, because they have it.
She is amazing and it makes me feel angry how overlooked she (and other women) are within our church. I love that she asks "Where are the women, where are the women!" And points out how we are far to often overlooked. And sadly it seems she is right that far too many of us "already know their place" and "become clams."
Greg Prince: Do you see that as perhaps coming from beneath?
That as you have new generations of women who are the wives of
bishops and stake presidents, and who are ward and stake Relief
Society and Young Women leaders, that they are going to grasp
the reins a little bit stronger than their predecessors?
Chieko Okazaki: I have to say that, in my sixty-four years in the
Church, I sometimes see a little bit of a change that the women themselves
prompt, but most of the time, I haven't seen women who would make
that change possible. Wherever I go, I think that they already know
their place. Maybe they'd be able to be more open if there were open-
minded bishops or stake presidents who would listen to some of the feelings
and the ideas of the women. But when women get the message that their job
is to be supportive and just agree with the decisions of the bishop, they
become clams.
