In the movie “Good Will Hunting,” Psychiatrist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) is assigned to assist a young and troubled Will Hunting (Matt Damon) as he comes to terms with his tumultuous life. At one point during the film, Hunting makes an ignorant and flippant critique of one of the paintings in Maguire’s office. McGuire tells Hunting that while he may have read every book ever written about Michelangelo, the fact remains Hunting has never been to the Sistine Chapel or stared up at it’s beautiful ceiling. In his monologue, Maguire emphasizes that just because he may have done a little research on a topic doesn’t mean he has a clue as to what he is actually criticizing. Maguire could have very well been speaking to recent critics of the LDS church’s attempt to excommunicate the leader of Ordain Women Kate Kelly.

Kelly, who has been a vocal leader of the Ordain Women Movement over the past few years, was recently notified that the church would be conducting a meeting to discuss her possible excommunication for her involvement with the group. In recent months, there has been a deluge of condemnation from media outlets and blogs that accuse the LDS church of suppressing free speech and not being sensitive to the plight of LDS women who want to have the same priesthood rights as men. These critics are using current societal trends and what little knowledge they have about the LDS church that they may have gleaned from Google searches to support their claim. Much like Will Hunting, however, they often don’t understand what they are denouncing. They seem to be confusing the LDS church with a democracy; it is not. They seem to be under the impression that the LDS church is held to the same standards the government is held to regarding equal rights, which they are not. Just because these critics have read a few blogs about how the LDS church conducts their business doesn’t mean they have a clue about LDS culture and theology.

The biggest critique against the LDS church for attempting to excommunicate Kelly is that they are suppressing her right to free speech because her views differ from the LDS church. They are both right and wrong in this regard. The LDS church wants to excommunicate Kelly because of her very public and constant demands that women be able to hold the priesthood. However the LDS church is not trying to suppress her right to free speech. If she is excommunicated, Kelly will still have the right to express her opinion, just not as a member of the LDS church. As a member of the LDS church she certainly has the right to express her opinion reasonably, both privately and publicly, without fear of being excommunicated. However in Kelly’s case she has been very publicly pushing her agenda for the last few years and making demands of church leaders that are unreasonable according to LDS doctrine.

Quite frankly the LDS church has shown a tremendous amount of restraint and patience over the last few years in Kelly’s case, considering that they are a private institution, and really aren’t any different from a business. Critics sometimes refer to the church as LD$ or LDS Inc., which is meant to be a divisive term, but is actually an apt comparison. If these critics are comparing the LDS church to a business then critics shouldn’t be surprised that LDS church is acting like one. How long would a business like Verizon continue to employ someone who insisted publicly telling co-workers and customers that Verizon should match T-Mobile’s pricing structure? What if that employee began to recruit people to picket in front of Verizon’s headquarters and demand that they change their price structure? Verizon would probably fire them and suggest that they go work for T-Mobile. Why should the LDS church be held to a higher standard?

When critics try to make this a social issue it simply goes to show that they are ignorant of LDS doctrine and practices. Former president of the LDS church Gordon B. Hinckley had this to say about role of woman in the church, “In this Church the man neither walks ahead of his wife nor behind his wife but at her side. They are co-equals in this life in a great enterprise.” Leaders of the LDS church have made it clear that there are different roles within the church and that one role isn’t greater than the other. For members of the LDS church like Kelly her stance is understandable but completely misguided in how she voices her dissent. If Kelly understands LDS doctrine then she should know that trying to coerce church leaders into making a doctrinal change is not how the process works. Mormons believe that God is at the head of their church and thus Kelly should be imploring God through personal prayer and not picketing on Temple Square.

If Kelly doesn’t believe or agree with the practices of the religion she belongs to then surely there are other options out there. While the LDS church is not a democracy, members certainly have the right to leave, and the church certainly has the right to ask them to leave if their differing viewpoints become a distraction. While it is understandable that those who are not members of the LDS church may not see that as equal, it really isn’t any of their business to begin with and so their criticism is misplaced. Or, to put a little less diplomatically, as Maguire tells Hunting, “You don’t have the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”