Before one is sucked in by the latest Mormon Church spin that its official position of opposition to same-sex marraige is "clear and unchanging," it bears remembering that the Mormon Church has a clear and unchanging history of clearly changing its official position on a number of positions.
For example, it has lied at the drop of a hat about its now-changed official opposition to drop-of-blood interracial marriage mixtures. With a straight white-and-delightsome face, LDS Church spokesman Mark Tuttle made the palpably false claim to the "Salt Lake Tribune" that "the [Mormon] church has no policy against interracial marriage . . . ."
("Mormon and Black," by Peggy Fletcher Stack in "Salt Lake Tribune," 6 June 2008, at:
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9497769Despite all such predictable and dubious denials, the LDS Church, as a point of fact, officially opposes the race-mixing marriage of (among others) U.S. president Barack Obama’s parents.
Yes, Mr. President, you heard it here (but not first; it's been pointed out before from the Mormon Church's official-position record). The white-makes-right crowd inhabiting the High Command of the Mormon Church wants you to listen up: Your parents did not do the advisable thing in racially mixing when they married each other and produced you as their offspring--all in direct contravention of the teachings of Mormonism's prophet of God.
Indeed, let the record undeniably demonstrate that according to Spencer W. Kimball in statements he made (which were later officially reaffirmed while he was serving as Mormon Church president in 1978 when its anti-Black policy was amended--statements which to this day stand unrevoked by the Mormon Church), "race-mixing' marriage is officially not considered a good thing by LDS Central.
_____
--From Kimball's Own Mouth: The LDS Church's Highest Leaders Are of the View That Crossing Racial Lines is Bad for the Breed--
Hear ye, the Bigot of the Lord:
“Now, the Brethren feel that it is not the wisest thing to cross racial lines in dating and marrying. There is no condemnation. We have had some of our fine young people who have crossed the lines. We hope they will be very happy, but experience of the brethren through a hundred years has proved to us that marriage is a very difficult thing under any circumstances and the difficulty increases in interrace marriages”
(Spencer W. Kimball, Brigham Young University devotional, 5 January 1965)
“When I said you must teach your people to overcome their prejudices and accept the Indians, I did not mean that you would encourage intermarriage. I mean that they should be brothers, to worship together and to work together and to play together; but we must discourage intermarriage, not because it is sin. I would like to make this very emphatic. A couple has not committed sin if an Indian boy and a white girl are married, or vice versa. It isn’t a transgression like the transgressions of which many are guilty. But it is not expedient. Marriage statistics and our general experience convince us that marriage is not easy. It is difficult when all factors are favorable. The divorces increase constantly, even where the spouses have the same general background of race, religion, finances, education, and otherwise.”
(Spencer W. Kimball, “The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball,” p. 302)
“The interrace marriage problem is not one of inferiority or superiority. It may be that your son is better educated and may be superior in his culture, and yet it may be on the other hand that she is superior to him. It is a matter of backgrounds. The difficulties and hazards of marriage are greatly increased where backgrounds are different. For a wealthy person to marry a pauper promises difficulties. For an ignoramus to marry one with a doctor’s degree promises difficulties, heartaches, misunderstandings, and broken marriages.
“When one considers marriage, it should be an unselfish thing, but there is not much selflessness when two people of different races plan marriage. They must be thinking selfishly of themselves. They certainly are not considering the problems that will beset each other and that will beset their children.
“If your son thinks he loves this girl, he would not want to inflict upon her loneliness and unhappiness; and if he thinks that his affection for her will solve all her problems, he should do some more mature thinking.
“We are unanimous, all of the Brethren, in feeling and recommending that Indians marry Indians, and Mexicans marry Mexicans; the Chinese marry Chinese and the Japanese marry Japanese; that the Caucasians marry the Caucasians, and the Arabs marry Arabs.”
(Spencer W. Kimball, “The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball,” p. 303)
("Interracial Marriage," at:
http://www.lightplanet.com/family/marriage/interracial_marriage.html)
_____
--The Mormon Church's Official Reaffirmation of Its Anti-Interracial Marriage Position When Its Anti-Black Priesthood Ban Was Formally Announced--
Again, Kimball was the mouthpiece for Mormon maliciousness:
“In 1958 [Kimball] gave an address which touched on [the]subject [of interracial dating]. President Kimball’s statement was reprinted in the 'Church Section' of the 'Deseret News' on June 17, 1978 [on the heels of the Mormon Church allowing Black males to receive the priesthood] . . .
“The 'Church Section' . . . [on that date] gave this information:
“'In an address to seminary and institute teachers at Brigham Young University on June 27, 1958, President Kimball, then a member of the Council of the Twelve, said:
“‘ . . . [T]here is one thing that I must mention, and that is interracial marriages. When I said you must teach your young people to overcome their prejudices and accept the Indians, I did not mean that you would encourage intermarriage.’”
(Jerald and Sandra Tanner, "Changing the Anti-Black Doctrine, Chapter 10, Part 2," from "The Changing World of Mormonism," web edition, at:
http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changech10b.htm)
So, the Mormon Church's official position on interracial marriage apparently has now become one that it's OK for Whites to mix their blood with Blacks--but that such an act remains officially discouraged. Put another way, we'll let Blacks marry Whites but we really wish you wouldn't:
"After the First Presidency made their announcement [rescinding the Mormon Church's anti-Black priesthood ban], many people became confused over the Church's position on interracial marriage. It soon became apparent, however, that the Church's ban on marriage to blacks had been lifted.
"Joseph Freeman, the first black man ordained to the priesthood after the change, indicated that he wanted to be sealed in the temple to his wife who was not of African descent. Church spokesman Don LeFevre said that such a marriage would be possible and that although the Church did not encourage interracial marriage, there was no longer a policy against whites marrying blacks:
"'That is entirely possible, said Mr. LeFevre. . . . "So there is no ban on interracial marriage. If a black partner contemplating marriage is worthy of going to the Temple, nobody's going to stop him—if he's marrying a white, an Oriental . . . if he's ready to go to the Temple, obviously he may go with the blessings of the church"'" ("Salt Lake Tribune," 14 JUne 1978).
"On June 24, 1978, the 'Salt Lake Tribune' announced:
"'Joseph Freeman, 26, the first black man to gain the priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Friday went in the Salt Lake Temple with his wife and sons for sacred ordinances . . . Thomas S. Monson, member of the church's Quorum of Twelve Apostles, conducted the marriage and sealing ceremonies.'"
("Curse of Cain? Racism in the Mormon Church. Part Four," under "Interracial Marriage," at:
http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/curseofcain_part4.htm#Intermarriage)
This fabulous flip-flop expressly contradicts the early official doctrine of the Mormon Church. In a bigoted manifestation of (ironically enough) Mormon Church support of polygamy as God's ordained and unchanging law of marriage, Apostle Orson Pratt announced that those who opposed polygamy would be turned by the Mormon God to the cursed color of black:
"Now, I want to prophecy a little. . . . I want to prophecy that all men and women who oppose the revelation which God has given in relation to polygamy will find themselves in darkness; . . .
"Now, if you want to get into darkness, brethren and sisters, begin to oppose this revelation. Sisters, you begin to say before your husbands, or husbands you begin to say before your wives, 'I do not believe in the principle of polygamy, and I intend to instruct my children against it.' Oppose it in this way, and teach your children to do the same, and if you do not become as dark as midnight there is no truth in Mormonism."
(Orson Pratt, "Journal of Discourses," vol. 17, p. 225)
This racist view was affirmed by a Mormon Church announcement made through its "Juvenile Instructor" magazine:
"The mark set upon Cain was without doubt such a mark as was placed upon the descendants of the rebellious sons of Lehi . . . We are expressly informed that 'the Lord did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.' They were to be made loathsome to the people of God, unless they repented of their iniquities. Not only did this curse fall upon them, but all they who intermarried with them, or mingled with them, were cursed with the same blackness and loathsomeness; . . .
"From this it is very clear that the mark which was set upon the descendants of Cain was a skin of blackness, and there can be no doubt that this was the mark that Cain himself received; in fact, it has been noticed in our day that men who have lost the spirit of the Lord, and from whom his blessings have been withdrawn have turned dark to such an extent as to excite the comments of all who have known them."
("Juvenile Instructor," vol. 26, p. 635)
Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie further emphasized the Mormom Church's official position against interracial marriage, likening it to a God-ordained caste system:
"Certainly the caste systems in Communist countries and in India, for instance, are man made and are not based on true principles.
"However, in a broad general sense, caste systems have their root and origin in the gospel itself, and when they operate according to the divine decree, the resultant restrictions and segregation are right and proper and have the approval of the Lord. To illustrate; Cain, Ham, and the whole negro race have been cursed with a black skin, the mark of Cain, so they can be identified as a caste apart, a people with whom the other descendants of Adam should not intermarry. . . .
"In effect the Lamanites belonged to one caste and the Nephites to another, and a mark was put upon the Lamanites to keep the Nephites from intermixing with and marrying them. . . .
"The justice of such a system is evident when life is considered in its true eternal perspective. It is only by a knowledge of pre-existence that it can be known why some persons are born in one race or caste and some in another
("Mormon Doctrine," by Bruce R. McConkie, 1979 edition, p. 114)
As reported in "Utah Holiday" magazine in 1978, the Mormon Church officially opposed interracial marriage and passed this mentally-disordered doctrine on to its members:
"The irrational fear among some Mormons surrounding the concept of blood was expected to extend to interracial marriage for many of the same [black] people. The extension of the Priesthood to black males effectively shattered the barriers that have kept black-white marriages to a minimum in the LDS Church."
("Black Friday," by David Briscoe and George Buck, "Utah Holiday," July 1978, pp. 39-40)
Actually, as a matter of doctrine, the official position against interracial marriage as not been "shattered." If it was, then the 1978 announcement granting Blacks the priesthood would not have also included an official Mormon Church discouragement of race-mixed marriages.
Besides, as Mormon Church president Brigham Young said (in underscoring Pratt's view) about Mormons who apostatize:
"I feel to bless this people, and they are a God-blessed people. Look at them, and see the difference from their condition a few years ago! Brethren who have been on missions, can you see any difference in this people from the time you went away until your return? [Voices: 'Yes.'] You can see men and women who are 60 or 70 years of age looking young and handsome; but let them apostatize, and they will become gray-haired, wrinkled, and black, just like the Devil."
(Brigham Young, "Journal of Discourses," 7 October 1857, vol. 5, p. 332)
(the ahove citations found in "Curse of Cain? Racism in the Mormon Church. Part Two," under "Apostates Become Black?," at:
http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/curseofcain_part2.htm)
In short, even in announcing removal of the ban on Blacks having the priesthood, the Mormon Church nonetheless still officially kept in place its discouragement of interracial marriage. That position of disfavor remains the official, unrepudiated stand of the Mormon Church to this day.
______
--Utah’s Anti-Interracial Marriage Law--
In the heart of God's Kingdom, Mormon Utah at one time made it a crime to racially intermarry:
“Like most other states, Utah once had a law against interracial marriages. It was passed by the territorial Legislature in 1888 and wasn’t repealed until 1963, said Philip Notarianni, director of the Division of State History.
“‘Utah, both in enacting and repealing it, probably just was going along with the national sentiment,’ he said.
“Race isn’t an issue today for Utah’s predominant LDS faith, church spokesman Scott Trotter said.
“The late President Spencer W. Kimball of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had cautioned members about interracial marriages, but it was also a revelation issued by President Kimball that opened up the LDS priesthood to worthy black males in 1978.”
(Deborah Bulkeley, "Mixed Marriages on Rise: Acceptance is Growing for Interracial Couples," in "Deseret News," 13 April 2007, at:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,660211384,00.html)
What a guy ol’ saintly Spence was.
Even when he finally decided to give the priesthood to Blacks, he couldn’t help himself and had to add that didn’t mean White folks should, you know, like, marry them.
_____
--How the Mormon Church Writes Racism Into Its Contemporary Teaching Manuals--
By the way, for those out there who may think that the Mormon Church has moved past Kimball’s negative view of interracial marriage, think again.
To this day, it’s still quoting him. For instance, the officially-authorized Church Aaronic Priesthood Manual 3, Lesson 31, entitled “Choosing an Eternal Companion” (p. 127ff), it declares in black and white:
“We recommend that people marry those who are of the same racial background generally, and of somewhat the same economic and social and educational background (some of those are not an absolute necessity, but preferred), and above all, the same religious background, without question.”
(Spencer W. Kimball, “Marriage and Divorce,” in 1976 Devotional Speeches of the Year [Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1977], p. 144)
To apologists for the Mormon Church's continuing poisoned attitude toward interracial marriage, it should be noted that because some Mormons dare cross racial lines in choosing to marry one another doesn't obliterate the fact that the Mormon Church officially preaches that such a practice is a bad idea.
To be sure, in the Aaronic priesthood manual cited above (under the heading "Quotation and discussion"), one reads the following explicit and correlated instructions given by the LDS lesson-plan writers to Aaronic priesthood lesson teachers about how to drum into the minds of Mormon young men Kimball's anti-interracial marriage teachings. What follows is the actual teaching recommendation from the LDS Church's official website on how to prepare, outline and present the Aaronic Priesthood lesson plan objective on marrying members of the same race--all in its own, exact words, as bullet-pointed under the capital-lettered heading, "SUGGESTED LESSON DEVELOPMENT."
As you read it, take note of how the Mormon Church young men's priesthood manual sneakily sets up the race bait for the taking by the class's susceptible teenage boys by first listing some generic, reasonable, agreeable-sounding points necessary in the "extremely important" search for in an "eternal companion," then slips in Kimball's prejudiced quote and finally follows with a summation that craftily redefines "racial" as "cultural." (The bigoted Mormon cult is as manipulative and deceptive as they come):
"Chalkboard discussion
"Explain that choosing a companion for eternity is an extremely important decision but is sometimes based on a very narrow understanding of love. A person who responds only to infatuation or romantic love might overlook many important qualities when choosing someone with whom to spend eternity.
"• What characteristics of young women are socially and spiritually appealing to you?
"Write the young men’s answers on the chalkboard, such as—
"1. Is unselfish.
"2. Shows respect for me.
"3. Has initiative.
"4. Is considerate of others.
"5. Shows patience in stressful situations.
"6. Is an active Church member.
"7. Has a testimony of the gospel and obeys the commandments.
"8. Maintains a healthy outlook toward life.
"9. Possesses values and goals similar to mine.
"Ask each young man to select what he thinks are the three most important attributes on the chalkboard. Take a vote to determine which areas the young men consider most important. Discuss why they voted the way they did."
NOW, HERE COMES KIMBALL'S RACIST ATTACK ON "MIXED" MARRIAGES, DRILLED IN TO THE MINDS OF THE CLASS BY HAVING A FELLOW CLASSMATE READ IT OUT LOUD TO HIS PEERS:
"Quotation and discussion
"Compare the results of the vote with the following statement by President Spencer W. Kimball. Have a young man read it.
“We recommend that people marry those who are of the same racial background generally, and of somewhat the same economic and social and educational background (some of those are not an absolute necessity, but preferred), and above all, the same religious background, without question” ('Marriage and Divorce,' in 1976 Devotional Speeches of the Year [Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1977], p. 144).
THEN, THE WRAP-UP WITH "RACIAL" NOW INNOCUOUSLY AND SUBTLEY RE-DEFINED AS "CULTURAL"--ALL IN THE MIDST OF A STARK WARNING ABOUT MARRIAGE BREAK-UPS CAUSED BY PARTNERS WHO ARE NOT OF THE SAME BACKGROUND (SEE LAST BULLET POINT):
"• Why is it so important for a couple to be worthy members of the Church? Ensure that the following points are discussed:
"1. Exaltation cannot be attained without celestial marriage.
"2. Religious values are powerful, and conflicting values can cause continual stress.
"3. President Kimball quoted a survey showing that 'only about one out of seven non-member spouses would be converted and baptized into the Church' ('Marriage and Divorce,' p. 152).
"4. When one spouse is not converted to the gospel, the children are caught between the differing values of the parents.
"• Why is it important for a couple to have a similar economic, educational, and cultural background?"
(“Choosing an Eternal Companion,” Lesson #31, in "Aaronic Priesthood Manual 3," "Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1995, All rights, Printed in the United States of America, English approval: 1/92," pp. 127ff, at:
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=1f4fa41f6cc20110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=198bf4b13819d110VgnVCM1000003a94610aRCRD and "Aaronic Priesthood Manual 3," Table of Contents and Publication Notes, at:
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?locale=0&sourceId=402da41f6cc20110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=c3dcf4b13819d110VgnVCM1000003a94610aRCRD)
There you have it, people: the deliberate, covert, soft-sell war of race hate today being waged against eternal marriage-destroying "conflicting values" supposedly fatally harbored by individuals of different skin colors--brought to you by the White Supremacist Mormon Church.
Grab your children and run.
_____
Ever searching but never coming to an admission of its own ingrained, uninspiring bigotry, the Mormon Church has nonetheless over time, slowly and reluctantly learned its own lesson--at least to a limited degree. It won't openly condemn or excommunicate individual Mormons who in today's world defy the LDS Church archaic admonition to avoid such a "race-mixing" practice. That would be socially uncool and very bad for LDS PR.
The Mormon Church still, however, teaches its anti-interracial doctrine to its members in the privacy of LDS wardhouse instructional classes. President Obama should know what the Mormon God still thinks of the whole "race-mixing" thing.
*************
Conclusion: Put This in Your Pipeline of Lies and Change It
The Mormon Church once taught that interracial marriage was not only prohibited by God but that Mormons who sinned (including Mormons who committed the sin of interracial marriage) would see their skins turned black by God. Despite reversing its position on men of African descent receiving the priesthood, the Mormon Church has officially retained its anti-interracial marriage position while, curiously, simultaneously saying it is currently OK for Blacks to marry Whites.
In the case of same-sex marriage, the Mormon Church is currently engaged in similar pretzeling, as demonstrated by a "memo" sent earlier this month "to its bishops in Utah (who legally may officiate at weddings) . . . reminding them about its position on such marriages":
“[LDS] Church policy . . . precludes the use of Church meetinghouses or properties for ceremonies, receptions or other events associated with same-sex marriage. God loves all of his children and the Church respects those with different opinions but its position on marriage is clear and unchanging.”
("Another Utah Amendment on Marriage Coming: Same Sex; Proposes to Ensure Churches Need Not Participate in Marriages that Violate Their Views," by Lee Davidson, "Salt Lake Tribune," 31 December 2013, at:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/57332977-90/amendment-anderegg-church-marriage.html.csp?page=2)
Ahem. "Clear and unchanging"?
The Mormon Church either:
--doesn't know its own positional history,
--doesn't read its own positional history or
--does, in fact, knows and reads its own positional history, but then purposely and publicly denies its positional history.
In reality, of course, the Mormon Church's positional history on marriage (whether it be plural, monogamous or racially-purified) has been anything but "clear and unchanging."
What remains unchanging, however, is the Mormon Church's proven penchant for lying about is positional history.
So while we wait for yet another Mormon Church positiona reverals, remember the Law of the Lord, as of now (subject to change):
No same-sex marriage. Just keep it same-race marraige, since the white-and-delightsome Mormon God prefers it that way.
(for related link, see: "LDS Church Attack on Gay Marriage Same as Its Attack on Black Civil Rights," at:
http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1122443)
Edited 26 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2013 08:14PM by steve benson.