So are Mormon Polynesians cursed as 2Nephi 5-21 states in the eyes of TBM's? And how do darker skinned people accept this ridiculousness and convert to this cult?
As far as converts in that part of the world as well as Africa and South America (which are the "most fertile" missionary areas right now), they're just using the old "pretend it didn't happen" tactic that has served them in the past.
most do, if they know their doctrine. Maybe females aren't as offended and accept a lower station more. Perhaps some like it? That's why women convert more than men. Men generally have more self respect perhaps?
Or maybe men are more narcissistic. Or maybe it is something else altogether. But leave it to you to come up with an explanation that portrays women as inferior.
Heartless Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I had a Polynesian friend that told this story: > > God took a lump of clay. Formed a man and a woman > and baked them. He left them in too long and they > came out too dark. So he placed them in africa. > > Then he made another set and cooked them too > little. They came out white and pasty. So he put > them in europe. > > The third time he got them just right. Golden > brown. These he gave the rest of the earth to.
The first time I heard this story (minus the last sentence ;) ), was as a northern New Mexico folk tale, which had been passed down to each new generation (presumably going back four centuries or so)...
...to promote and strengthen a sense of pride and positive self-image among the children as they grew into adulthood.
From my observation: the story functioned well as a practical bridge between the minority-majority culture the kids were growing up in, and the larger, white-majority culture most of them would live in as adults.
But I have read so many books about world mythology, it might be a different one.
Considering the universal myth theory, however, it's quite possible the story was an independent Polynesian traditional tale. I really don't know for sure though.
To be perfectly honest, most Polynesians are just like the whites in the church; they pick and choose which doctrines, teachings, and “history” they pay attention to. Since Polynesians are dark skinned, they mostly ignore that part, and most of them think that they are descended from Hagoth in the BOM. And Hagoth, according to them, is a Nephite, so, therefore, they don’t come under the same condemnation as the regular Lamanites.
I do notice that there is a lot of “colorism” in the group. They tend to think more highly of people in their group who have lighter skin, and darker skin is mocked and looked down on. Although, if a person happens to be biracial, let’s say with white and Polynesian mix, they are equally derided in the group. These people are know as “hafacasi” or “half cast”. Many of the younger Polynesians will bully hafacasi kids for being mixed race. Not always, but there are bad feelings toward blacks with most Polynesians. I even know some Polynesians married to blacks and it has been shocking to hear how poorly they talk about their spouses or their spouses’ people.
If I were Polynesian, I'd be more pissed about being lured from a tropical paradise to promises of of heaven on earth in the west salt lake valley desert, than being labeled a Lamanite.