Emily Deen

“And if you can’t bear the pain of your neighbor’s suffering, then in one way or another, you’re going to push that person to the margins. Every society says its outsiders are the problem. But the outsiders are not the problem; the urge to create outsiders is the problem. Overcoming that urge is our greatest challenge and our greatest promise. It will take courage and insight, because the people we push to the margins are the ones who trigger in us the feelings we’re afraid of.”
― Melinda Gates, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

“In Jimmy Carter’s book A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power, he calls the deprivation and abuse of women and girls “the most serious and unaddressed worldwide challenge,” and he lays the principal blame on men’s false interpretation of scripture.”
― Melinda Gates, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

“So, yes, there is a Church teaching against contraceptives—but there is another Church teaching, which is love of neighbor. When a woman who wants her children to thrive asks me for contraceptives, her plea puts these two Church teachings into conflict, and my conscience tells me to support the woman’s desire to keep her children alive. To me, that aligns with Christ’s teaching to love my neighbor.”
― Melinda Gates, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

“Outside of governments, the Church is the largest provider of education and medical services in the world, and this gives it great presence and impact in the lives of the poor. That is helpful in so many ways, but not when the Church discourages women from getting the contraceptives they need to move their families out of poverty.”
― Melinda Gates, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World