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Mormon and Black: Grappling with a racist past
The Salt Lake Tribune ^ | 06/10/2008 | Peggy Fletcher Stack

Posted on 03/20/2009 1:00:38 PM PDT by Alex Murphy

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To: Alex Murphy; Old Mountain man

Here is a link to excerpts from the Encyclopedia on Religion in the South. It really sheds light on the institutional racism in Southern churches.

http://books.google.com/books?id=yx2EarrpKGUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=encyclopedia+religion+south#PPA713,M1

Have you removed the beam?


21 posted on 03/20/2009 1:52:39 PM PDT by ComeUpHigher
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To: ComeUpHigher

When I left the Baptist church. You folks need to get some mirrors.


22 posted on 03/20/2009 2:03:40 PM PDT by Old Mountain man (Blessed be the Peacemaker.)
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To: Alex Murphy

Racist as compared to what? The Mormon church from its founding opposed slavery. You can’t really say that about most of the other Christian denominations and other religions in the New World.


23 posted on 03/20/2009 2:06:06 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
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To: Paleo Conservative
Racist as compared to what? The Mormon church from its founding opposed slavery.

Is slavery the only thing that comprises racism?

24 posted on 03/20/2009 2:14:20 PM PDT by Alex Murphy ( "Every country has the government it deserves" - Joseph Marie de Maistre)
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To: Alex Murphy
Is slavery the only thing that comprises racism?

No! Did I imply that? Absolutely not. Why is the media picking on the Mormons and singling them out? Could it be their support of Proposition 8 in California? Compared to the lots of other Christian sects and denominations, they have a much better record. Unlike most of the other groups in the US, they got along rather well with the local American Indian tribes and made alliances with them. Lots of other Christians in the US either wanted to push Indians off of every acre of good land or to exterminate them. Many Christian missionaries who didn't want to kill the Indians still wanted to wipe out their entire culture in missionary schools where children only learned about European and European dervied American culture.

25 posted on 03/20/2009 2:32:58 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
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To: Gaffer

The Mormon Church

The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints

Racial Slurs in Mormon Scriptures!

Book of Mormon
1 Nephi 11:13 (Mary) “. . . she was exceedingly fair and white.”
1 Nephi 12:23 (Prophecy of Lamanites after Christ) “. . . became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.”
1 Nephi 13:15 (Gentiles) “. . . they were white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful, like unto my people [Nephites] before they were slain.”
2 Nephi 5:21 “. . . a sore cursing . . . as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.”
2 Nephi 30:6 (Prophecy to Lamanites) “. . . scales of darkness shall begin to fall . . . they shall be a white and delightsome people.” (Changed to pure and delightsome in 1981)
Jacob 3:5 (Lamanites cursed) “. . .whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins. . .”
Jacob 3:8-9 “. . .their skins will be whiter than yours . . . revile no more against them because of the darkness of their skins . . .”
Alma 3:6 “. . . skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion. . .”
Alma 3:8 (Cursed) “. . .that their seed might be distinguished from the seed of their brethren . . .that they might not mix . . .”
Alma 3:9 “. . . whosoever did mingle his seed with that of the Lamanites did bring the same curse upon his seed.”
Alma 3:14 (Lamanites cursed) “. . . set a mark on them that they and their seed may be separated from thee and thy seed. . .”
Alma 3:19 (Amlicites cursed) “. . . brought upon themselves the curse ...”
Alma 23:18 “. . . [Lamanites] did open a correspondence with them [Nephites] and the curse of God did no more follow them.”
3 Nephi 2:14-16 “. . . Lamanites who had united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites; And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites . . . became exceedingly fair . . .”
3 Nephi 19:25, 30 (Disciples) “. . . they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness . . . nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof . . . they were white, even as Jesus.”
Mormon 5:15 (Prophecy about Lamanites) “. . .shall become a dark, a filthy, and a loathsome people, beyond the description of that which ever hath been amongst us . . .”
Mormon 5:17 “They were once a delightsome people . . .”
Pearl of Great Price
Moses 7:8 “. . . a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan . . .”
Moses 7:12 “. . . Enoch continued to call upon all the people, save it were [except] the people of Canaan, to repent . . .”
Moses 7:22 “. . . for the seed of Cain were black and had not place among them.”
Abraham 1:21 “. . . king of Egypt [Pharaoh] was a descendant from the loins of Ham, and was a partaker of the blood of the Canaanites by birth.”
Abraham 1:27 “. . . Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood . . .”


26 posted on 03/20/2009 2:39:04 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: Gaffer

A hero of mormonism...

Brigham Young was also a racist...

Speaking of Governor Harding of Utah Territory...

“..Man did I say? A thing, I mean - a nigger-worshipper - a black-hearted abolitionist is what he is, ands what he represents; and what i do naturally despise.” (Brigham Young at a meeting in the tabernacle, Greater Salt lake City, Utah Territory, March 3, 1863)


27 posted on 03/20/2009 2:42:59 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: Gaffer

The mormons have not denounced any of this...

“You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind.

The first man that committed the odious crime of killing one of his brethren will be cursed the longest of any one of the children of Adam. Cain slew his brother. Cain might have been killed, and that would have put a termination to that line of human beings.

This was not to be, and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin. Trace mankind down to after the flood, and then another curse is pronounced upon the same race—that they should be the ‘servant of servants’, and they will be, until that curse is removed.”

Brigham Young-President and second ‘Prophet’ of the Mormon Church, 1844-1877- Extract from Journal of Discourses.

Here are two examples from their ‘bible’, the book of mormon.

2 Nephi 5: 21 ‘And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people, the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.’

Alma 3: 6 ‘And the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren, who consisted of Nephi, Jacob and Joseph, and Sam, who were just and holy men.’

August 27, 1954 in an address at Brigham Young University (BYU), Mormon Elder, Mark E Peterson, in speaking to a convention of teachers of religion at the college level, said:

“The discussion on civil rights, especially over the last 20 years, has drawn some very sharp lines. It has blinded the thinking of some of our own people, I believe. They have allowed their political affiliations to color their thinking to some extent.I think I have read enough to give you an idea of what the Negro is after.”

“He is not just seeking the opportunity of sitting down in a cafe where white people eat. He isn’t just trying to ride on the same streetcar or the same Pullman car with white people. It isn’t that he just desires to go to the same theater as the white people. From this, and other interviews I have read, it appears that the Negro seeks absorption with the white race. He will not be satisfied until he achieves it by intermarriage.”

“That is his objective and we must face it. We must not allow our feelings to carry us away, nor must we feel so sorry for Negroes that we will open our arms and embrace them with everything we have. Remember the little statement that we used to say about sin, ‘First we pity, then endure, then embrace’....”

(Rosa Parks would have probably told Petersen under which wheel of the bus he should go sit.)

1967, (then) Mormon President Ezra Taft Benson said,

“The Communist program for revolution in America has been in progress for many years and is far advanced. First of all, we must not place the blame upon Negroes. They are merely the unfortunate group that has been selected by professional Communist agitators to be used as the primary source of cannon fodder.”

We are told that on June 8, 1978, it was ‘revealed’ to the then president, Spencer Kimball, that people of color could now gain entry into the priesthood.

According to the church, Kimball spent many long hours petitioning God, begging him to give worthy black people the priesthood. God finally relented.

Sometime before the ‘revelation’ came to chief ‘Prophet’ Spencer Kimball in June 1978, General Authority, Bruce R McConkie had said:

“The Blacks are denied the Priesthood; under no circumstances can they hold this delegation of authority from the Almighty.

The Negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain blessings are concerned, particularly the priesthood and the temple blessings that flow there from, but this inequality is not of man’s origin, it is the Lord’s doings.”

(Mormon Doctrine, pp. 526-527).

When Mormon ‘Apostle’ Mark E Petersen spoke on ‘Race Problems- As they affect the Church’ at the BYU campus in 1954, the following was also said:

“...if the negro accepts the gospel with real, sincere faith, and is really converted, to give him the blessings of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. he can and will enter the celestial kingdom. He will go there as a servant, but he will get celestial glory.”

When Mormon ‘Prophet’ and second President of the Church, Brigham Young, spoke in 1863 the following was also said:

“Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God is death on the spot. This will always be so.”

(Journal of Discourses, Vo. 10, p. 110)

(From -—> http://www.i4m.com/think/comments/mormon-racism.htm )


28 posted on 03/20/2009 2:56:13 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: brwnsuga

I am a black woman married to a white man for the last 20 years. I am sorry, but could not join a “church” that had such racist origins.

I am not familar with is this article but many times enough is left out to changed the context of the report...

It’s one of the best kept secrets’ 2:03
Take a good look at Marvin Perkins. You’ll never guess what group he joined and why.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2008/07/11/bia.marvin.perkins1.cnn


29 posted on 03/20/2009 3:13:27 PM PDT by restornu (Come What May and Loving It!)
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http://www.blacklds.org/


30 posted on 03/20/2009 3:19:26 PM PDT by restornu (Come What May and Loving It!)
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To: Alex Murphy

Racism also includes segregation—both in religious and government institutions. You can read about it here among the mainstream Christian churches:

http://books.google.com/books?id=yx2EarrpKGUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=encyclopedia+religion+south#PPA713,M1

Again, how is the beam?


31 posted on 03/20/2009 3:38:40 PM PDT by ComeUpHigher
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To: Alex Murphy

In an interview conducted on August 16, 1978 at the Church Office Building. The interviewer was one Wesley Walters and the person interviewed was Mormon ‘Apostle’ LeGrand Richards.

‘WALTERS: On this revelation, of the priesthood to the Negro, I’ve heard all kinds of stories: I’ve heard that Joseph Smith appeared; and then I heard another story that Spencer Kimball had had a concern about this for some time, and simply shared it with the apostles, and they decided that this was the right time to move in that direction. Are any of those stories true, or are they all?

RICHARDS: Well, the last one is pretty true, and I might tell you what provoked it in a way. Down in Brazil, there is so much Negro blood in the population there that it’s hard to get leaders that don’t have Negro blood in them. We just built a temple down there. It’s going to be dedicated in October.

All those people with Negro blood in them have been raising the money to build that temple. If we don’t change, then they can’t even use it. Well, Brother Kimball worried about it, and he prayed a lot about it. ‘

So much for that ‘revelation.’


32 posted on 03/20/2009 4:17:56 PM PDT by Godzilla (If the first step in an argument is wrong everything that follows is wrong. ~C.S. Lewis, The Problem)
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To: Alex Murphy

Sometime before the ‘revelation’ came to chief ‘Prophet’ Spencer Kimball in June 1978, General Authority, Bruce R McConkie had said:

“The Blacks are denied the Priesthood; under no circumstances can they hold this delegation of authority from the Almighty.

The Negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain blessings are concerned, particularly the priesthood and the temple blessings that flow there from, but this inequality is not of man’s origin, it is the Lord’s doings.” (Mormon Doctrine, pp. 526-527).


33 posted on 03/20/2009 4:19:09 PM PDT by Godzilla (If the first step in an argument is wrong everything that follows is wrong. ~C.S. Lewis, The Problem)
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To: Alex Murphy

The 1978 revelation doesn’t say blacks are no longer of the lineage of Cain, nor does it say that they no longer did these things in preexistence. It does not say they are not cursed with black skin.


34 posted on 03/20/2009 4:30:48 PM PDT by Godzilla (If the first step in an argument is wrong everything that follows is wrong. ~C.S. Lewis, The Problem)
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To: Godzilla

http://books.google.com/books?id=yx2EarrpKGUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=encyclopedia+religion+south#PPA713,M1

How is the beam?


35 posted on 03/20/2009 4:44:58 PM PDT by ComeUpHigher
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To: ComeUpHigher
How is the beam?

I'm not sbc for starters and secondly the sbc has repudiated those teachings. Whereas the mormonites have still to repudiate those teachings, those prophets who taught it was god's will and purpose that blacks were a sub class and under a curse. When mormonites do what the sbc have done, then you might have standing on the issue.

36 posted on 03/20/2009 4:50:11 PM PDT by Godzilla (If the first step in an argument is wrong everything that follows is wrong. ~C.S. Lewis, The Problem)
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To: Godzilla

You obviously didn’t read the material because it wasn’t limited to SBC. But that doesn’t matter anyway because your all part of the same family.

How is the beam?


37 posted on 03/20/2009 5:36:28 PM PDT by ComeUpHigher
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To: ComeUpHigher

And you apparently didn’t read my post - when are mormonites going to repudiate smith, young and all the prophets through at least 1978 for promulgating that blacks are inferior. When are mormonites going to repudiate the boa, bom and D&C passages that generated their doctrine. Christians have by an large repudiated segregation. When are the mormonites?


38 posted on 03/20/2009 5:43:27 PM PDT by Godzilla (If the first step in an argument is wrong everything that follows is wrong. ~C.S. Lewis, The Problem)
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To: Godzilla

Why were the words “white and delightsome” in 2 Nephi 30:6 changed to “pure and delightsome” right on the heels of the Civil Rights campaign for blacks?


39 posted on 03/20/2009 6:02:18 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: Tennessee Nana
Why were the words “white and delightsome” in 2 Nephi 30:6 changed to “pure and delightsome” right on the heels of the Civil Rights campaign for blacks?

Why indeed? The plates have been long gone and the words were revealed one by one, so surely the Lord could not have made a mistake.

40 posted on 03/20/2009 6:06:03 PM PDT by Godzilla (If the first step in an argument is wrong everything that follows is wrong. ~C.S. Lewis, The Problem)
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