Let the trail of the bigoted Mormon Church's rancid, repugnant, repeatedly-regurgitated record of revolting vomit speak for itself:

In its latest lie on the subject, the Mormon Church--on its official website, no less--makes a grossly dishonest claim that the long-established official position of the Mormon Church banning Blacks from holding the priesthood was a policy and not a doctrinC. In an essay entitled, “Race and the Priesthood,” the Mormon Church makes the following deliberately disingenuous and factually disprovable assertion:

. . . one which the Mormon Church is currently and desperately employing in an unsuccessful effort to cover the tracks of its attack on Blacks in terms of both its:

a) historically official doctrinal status; and

b) its historically acknowledged tie-in to Joseph Smith.
_____


“In two speeches delivered before the Utah territorial legislature in January and February 1852, [Mormon Church president] Brigham Young announced a POLICY restricting men of black African descent from priesthood ordination . . .

“ . . . [G]iven the long history of withholding the priesthood from men of black African descent, Church leaders believed that a revelation from God was needed to alter the POLICY and they made ongoing efforts to understand what should be done.”

(emphasis added)

(“Race and the Priesthood,” at: http://www.lds.org/topics/race-and-the-priesthood)

However, the highest authoritative decision-making body in the Mormon Church--the First Presidency (comprised of the Mormon Church president and his two counselors)--has directly and emphatically contradicted this latest lie from Latter-day Saint Central. The official position of the Mormon Church has historically, explicitly and unambiguously declared the Mormon Church anti-Black priesthood ban to be one of DOCTRINE, NOT POLICY.

Further, contrary to the ongoing false claims being made by the Mormon Church, there is documented evidence from the Mormon Church First Presidency itself that Joseph Smith was behind the DOCTRINAL Mormon anti-Black priesthood ban.

The proof:

--On 17 July 1947, the Mormon Church First Presidency wrote the following to Lowry Nelson, Mormon professor at Utah State Agricultural College regarding the status of Blacks in the eyes of the Mormon God:

"Dear Brother Nelson:

". . . The basic element of your ideas and concepts seems to be that all God's children stand in equal positions before Him in all things. Your knowledge of the Gospel will indicate to you that this is contrary to the very fundamentals of God's dealings with Israel dating from the time of His promise to Abraham regarding Abraham's seed and their position vis-a-vis God Himself. Indeed, some of God's children were assigned to superior positions before the world was formed.

"We are aware that some Higher Critics do not accept this, but the Church does. Your position seems to lose sight of the revelations of the Lord touching the pre-existence of our spirits, the rebellion in heaven, and the DOCTRINES s that our birth into this life and the advantages under which we may be born, have a relationship in the life heretofore. FROM THE DAYS OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH EVEN UNTIL NOW, IT HAS BEEN THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH, NEVER QUESTIONED BY ANY OF THE CHURCH LEADERS, THAT THE NEGROES ARE NOT ENTITLED TO THE FULL BLESSINGS OF THE GOSPEL.

"Furthermore, your ideas, as we understand them, appear to contemplate the intermarriage of the Negro and White races, a concept which has heretofore been most repugnant to most normal-minded people from the ancient patriarchs till now. God's rule for Israel, His Chosen People, has been endogamous [meaning 'marriage within a specific tribe or similar social unit']. Modern Israel has been similarly directed. We are not unmindful of the fact that there is a growing tendency, particularly among some educators, as it manifests itself in this are, toward the breaking down of race barriers in the matter of intermarriage between Whites and Blacks, but it does not have the sanction of the Church and is contrary to Church doctrine.

"Faithfully yours,

George Albert Smith
J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
David O. McKay"

(emphasis added)

Nelson responded on 8 October:

"The attitude of the Church in regard to the Negro makes me very sad. I do not believe God is a racist."

The First Presidency answered:

"We feel very sure that you are aware of THE DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH. They are either true or not true. Our testimony is that they are true. Under these circumstances we may not permit ourselves to be too much impressed by the reasonings of men, however well founded they may seem to be. We should like to say this to you in all sincerity, that you are too fine a man to permit yourself to be led off from the principles of the Gospel by worldly learning.

"You have too much of a potentiality for doing good and we therefore prayerfully hope that you can re-orient your thinking and bring it in line with the revealed Word of God."

(emphasis added)
_____


--An official First Presidency statement, dated 17 August 1949, again noting that the Mormon Church's priesthood ban imposed against Blacks was a clear matter of DOCTRINE, NOT POLICY:

"THE ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH WITH REFERENCE TO NEGROES REMAINS AS IT HAS ALWAYS STOOD. IT IS NOT A MATTER OF THE DECLARATION OF A POLICY BUT OF DIRECT COMMANDMENT FOM THE LORD, ON WHICH IS FOUNDED THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH FROM THE DAYS OF ITS ORGANIZATION, to the effect that Negroes may become members of the Church BUT THEY ARE NOT ENTITLED TO THE PRIESTHOOD AT THE PRESENT TIME. THE PROPHETS OF THE LORD HAVE MADE SEVERAL STATEMENTS AS TO THE OPERATION OF THE PRINCIPLE. President Brigham Young said: 'Why are so many of the inhabitants of the earth cursed with a skin of blackness? It comes in consequence of their fathers rejecting the power of the holy priesthood, and the law of God. They will go down to death.'"

(emphasis added)
_____


--During the 1960s civil rights movement where the Mormon Church was coming under increasing fire for its bigoted anti-Black priesthood stsand, Mormon church leaders circled the wagons and again issued another official First Presidency statement, dated 15 December 1969, invoking the words of then-Mormon Church president, David O. McKay and laying the orgins of the ban at the feet of Mormonism's inventor, Joseph Smith:

"To General Authorities, Regional Representatives of the Twelve, Stake Presidents, Mission Presidents, and Bishops.

"Dear Brethren:

"In view of confusion that has arisen, it was decided at a meeting of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve to restate THE POSITION OF THE CHURCH WITH REGARD TO THE NEGRO BOTH IN SOCIETY AND IN THE CHURCH.

"A word of explanation concerning THE POSITION OF THE CHURCH.

"FROM THE BEGINNING OF THIS DISPENSATION, JOSEPH SMITH AND ALL SUCCEEDING PRESIDENTS OF THE CHURCH HAVE TAUGHT THAT NEGROES, while spirit children of a common Father, and the progeny of our earthly parents Adam and Eve, WERE NOT YET TO RECEIVE THE PRIESTHOOD, for reasons which we believe are known to God, but which He has not made fully known to man.

"Our living prophet, President David O. McKay, has said, 'The seeming discrimination by the Church toward the Negro is not something which originated with man; but goes back into the beginning with God. . . . 'Revelation assures us that this plan antedates man's mortal existence, extending back to man's pre-existent state.' President McKay has also said, 'Sometime in God's eternal plan, the Negro will be given the right to hold the priesthood.'

"Faithfully your brethren,

"The First Presidency

" Hugh B. Brown
N. Eldon Tanner"

(emphasis added)
_____


Finally, for the DOCTRINAL, NOT POLICY, status which clearly and historically attended the Mormon Church's anti-Black priesthood ban, see "Mormon Racism As doctrine, Not Merely Folklore or Tradition,"

Here's their daily Mormon scripture study guide on the racism of their Mormon God, as noted in the article, "Racism as Doctrine, Not Merely Folklore or Tradition":

--"Mormon Scripture: God Curses Bad Races with Black Skin

"2 Nephi 5:21: 'And the Lord 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.'

"3 Nephi 2:14-1: 'And it came to pass that those 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.'

"Moses 7:22: 'And Enoch also beheld the residue of the people which were the sons of Adam; and they were a mixture of all the seed of Adam save it was the seed of Cain, for the seed of Cain were black, and had not place among them.'

"Abraham 1:21-24,27: 'Now this king of Egypt was a descendant from the loins of Ham, and was a partaker of the blood of the Canaanites by birth. From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the Canaanites was preserved in the land.'

"The land of Egypt being first discovered by a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus, which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden; When this woman discovered the land it was under water, who afterward settled her sons in it; and thus, from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land."

"'Now, Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry.'

--"Official LDS Church Publications Explain Racist LDS Scriptures

"'The Book of Abraham is rich both in doctrine and in historical incidents. Of the latter the fact of the large influence (if not identity) of Egyptian religious ideas in Chaldea in the days of Abraham is established; the descent of the black race, Negro, from Cain, the first murderer; the preservation of that race through the flood by the wife of Ham--"Egyptus," which in the Chaldean signifies "Egypt," "which signifies that which is forbidden"--the descendants of "Egyptus" were cursed as pertaining to the priesthood--that is, they were barred from holding that divine power; the origin also of the Egyptians--these things, together with the account of Abraham migrating from Chaldea to Egypt, constitute the chief historical items that are contained in the book./
(;Comprehensive History of the Church,' vol. 2, Ch .47, p. 128)

“'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.'

(Official LDS Church manual, 'The Juvenile Instructor,' vol. 26, p. 635)

"'We will first inquire into the results of the approbation or displeasure of God upon a people, starting with the belief that a black skin is a mark of the curse of heaven placed upon some portions of mankind. Some, however, will argue that a black skin is not a curse, nor a white skin a blessing. In fact, some have been so foolish as to believe and say that a black skin is a blessing, and that the negro is the finest type of a perfect man that exists on the earth; but to us such teachings are foolishness. We understand that when God made man in his own image and pronounced him very good, that he made him white. We have no record of any of God's favored servants being of a black race. . . . [E]very angel who ever brought a message of God's mercy to man was beautiful to look upon, clad in the purest white and with a countenance bright as the noonday sun.” (Official LDS Church manual, 'The Juvenile Instructor,' vol. 3, p. 157)

“'For instance, the descendants of Cain cannot cast off their skin of blackness, at once, and immediately, although every soul of them should repent,... Cain and his posterity must wear the mark which God put upon them; and his white friends may wash the race of Cain with fuller's soap every day, they cannot wash away God's mark;. . . . ' (LDS Publication, 'The Millennial Star, ' vol. 14, p. 418)

"Their skin is quite black, their hair woolly and black, their intelligence stunted, and they appear never to have arisen from the most savage state of barbarism.” (Official LDS Church manual, 'The Juvenile Instructor,'vol. 3, p. 157)

"'Is or is it not apparent from reason and analogy as drawn from a careful reading of the Scriptures, that God causes the saints, or people that fall away from his church to be cursed in time, with a black skin? Was or was not Cain, being marked, obliged to inherit the curse, he and his children, forever? And if so, as Ham, like other sons of God, might break the rule of God, by marrying out of the church, did or did he not, have a Canaanite wife, whereby some of the black seed was preserved through the flood, and his son, Canaan, after he laughed at his grandfather's nakedness, heired three curses: one from Cain for killing Abel; one from Ham for marrying a black wife, and one from Noah for ridiculing what God had respect for? Are or are not the Indians a sample of marking with blackness for rebellion against God's holy word and holy order? And can or can we not observe in the countenances of almost all nations, except the Gentile, a dark, sallow hue, which tells the sons of God, without a line of history, that they have fallen or changed from the original beauty and grace of father Adam?'(Official LDS Publication, 'The Messenger and Advocate' (March 1835), p. 82)

"'History and common observation show that these predictions have been fulfilled to the letter. The descendants of Ham, besides a black skin which has ever been a curse that has followed an apostate of the holy priesthood, as well as a black heart, have been servants to both Shem and Japheth, and the abolitionists are trying to make void the curse of God, but it will require more power than man possesses to counteract the decrees of eternal wisdom." (Official LDS Publication, 'The Times and Seasons,' vol. 6, p. 857)

"The LDS Church's racism isn't just from some isolated quote from one or two Church leaders. The racist teaching from the Mormon pulpit is prolific and consistent over time. If God didn't agree with his prophets teaching these things in His Church, then why did they continue over generations? There's a big difference between folklore and Mormon scripture. When the president and prophet of the church stands at the pulpit and teaches the laws of God, that isn't folklore. . . . .

"Some Church members make the mistake of dismissing the racist statements of 19th-century Mormon leaders as 'their own opinion,' 'not official doctrine,' 'products of their times,' etc.

"Those same Church members assert that the only 'official doctrine' is the Standard Works and official statements of the First Presidency, and that if some leaders said something that didn't come from those sources, it isn't 'binding on the membership,' and it isn't "canon" or "official doctrine."

"However, an official statement of the LDS Church First Presidency issued on August 17, 1951, reads:

"'The position of the LDS Church regarding the Negro may be understood when another doctrine of the church is kept in mind, namely, that the conduct of spirits in the pre-mortal existence has some determining effect upon the conditions and circumstances under which these spirits take on mortality, and that while the details of this principle have not been made known, the principle itself indicates that the coming to this earth and taking on mortality is a privilege that is given to those who maintained their first estate; and that the worth of the privilege is so great that spirits are willing to come to earth and take on bodies no matter what the handicap may be as to the kind of bodies they are to secure; and that among the handicaps, failure of the right to enjoy in mortality the blessings of the priesthood is a handicap which spirits are willing to assume in order that they might come to earth. Under this principle there is no injustice whatsoever involved in this deprivation as to the holding of the priesthood by the Negroes.. . . . '

"'Man will be punished for his own sins and not for Adam's transgression. If this is carried further, it would imply that the Negro is punished or alloted to a certain position on this earth, not because of Cain's transgression, but came to earth through the loins of Cain because of his failure to achieve other stature in the spirit world." (William E. Berrett's 'The Church and the Negroid People,' pp. 16-17)

"Since it's obvious from this official First Presidency statement that Church leaders taught and believed that people are born as Negroes because of their behavior in the pre-existence---

---"as well as being from the lineage of the 'accursed' Cain---

---"and the 'sign' of Cain's curse was the black skin and flat nose, according to Church leaders---

---"then the fact that Negroes are still being born by the tens of thousands every day tells us that the God of Mormonism has never lifted the 'curse of Cain,' despite having the priesthood ban rescinded.

"Church members are terribly mistaken when they say that the 'curse of Cain' teachings were 'folklore' and 'not official doctrine.'

"If the people of Jamaica can recognize the LDS Church's racism, why can't church members?: 'The Embarrassing Truth about Mormonism, by Mark Wignall, "The Jamaca Observer," 25 September 2005, at: http://www.i4m.com/think/comments/mormon-racism.htm; source for first article: at: http://www.i4m.com/think/history/mormon_racism.htm)

*********


Based upon its demonstrated track record, the racist Mormon Church clearly has an official policy of regularly lying about its official doctrines, policies and practices when it comes to its recorded history of blatant, anti-Black bigotry.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2017 01:04AM by steve benson.

IT WASN'T JUST THE PH!


I'm surprised that the BAN on black females / temple ordinances is seldom mentioned...

to make matters Worse, they publish semi-official statements & encourage ppl to read from sources that are less than endorsed;
this is walking a line between truthful-factual accurate information & saying NOTHING regarding troublesome history.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2017 11:32PM by GNPE.

Actually this may help LDS keep on going. I mean KKK would more than likely join LDS. Need put some holes in bakers hats pull them down over face. Got garments already rock it! You could start the decons in wearing these clothes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2017 11:57PM by josephsmithseer.

Look no further than the white and delightsome Q12. The day that a man of color (young enough to rise to the presidency) is called to that quorum is the day that you know that they aren't racist anymore.

I discussed the "gospel" with my 21 year old daughter, who is no longer active and not getting married in the temple this year. First time in a long time. She mentioned being aware of a couple of these communications from the church...and how they sound so much like "a cult." I told her that I agree. I was _so glad_ that she sees the morg for what it is. This is one of the things the broke my shelf, especially since one of my girlfriends was Black.

What a crock. No inspiration and a lot of bigotry.

We really don't have much time to research any of this stuff you point out Mr. Benson because our church assignments and responsibilities keep us pretty busy. What I can tell you is that whatever Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, or any church leader taught in their sermons, unless specifically clarified by them as not being doctrinal, is the unchanging eternal word of God. Furthermore, it is a testament to how much the church leaders love the words of Brigham Young in how they have made the BYU brand so strong now. They even renamed Ricks College in honor of Brother Brigham because of the deep love that the Hinckley era FP/12 (i.e. pretty much the same group of men as running things today) have for the sacred words of beloved Brigham regarding racial harmony.

Now don't forget the 1978 declaration. But that doesn't change the fact that Joseph Smith taught that the Book of Mormon was the most correct book on earth. In there we learn a lot of what God thinks about skin color.

Now before you flame me may I remind you that I was born long after Brigham Young and Joseph Smith had died. So please don't blame me. However I suppose that every time I scrub one of the Lord's sacred toilets in his chapels so Heavenly Father can save some money on hiring janitors then I'm sustaining the church's history and the Book of Mormon regarding racism matters. But alas the church leaders don't seem to emphasize much that we need to study church history on racism as they seem to emphasize much more the need for us to fulfill these sacred assignments such as scrubbing the Lord's toilets.

Sorry, I hate to point it out again, but Honest TBM is parody. Please read the post in that light.

That's your responsibility, not mine. Perhaps a sticky notice would help, thus relieving you of the the burden of having to repeatedly inform posters here that someone is being allowed by Admin to post in this forum as an "honest TBM" when they are anything but.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2017 03:00PM by steve benson.

Blame me, not Concrete Zipper, on this.

...from this line alone:

"every time I scrub one of the Lord's sacred toilets in his chapels so Heavenly Father can save some money on hiring janitors then I'm sustaining the church's history and the Book of Mormon regarding racism matters"

...then one needs to upgrade their parody detector.

Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2017 02:48PM by steve benson.

I bear you my testimony that you can know that what I write is never satire in accordance to the truthfulness of the holy Kinderhook Plates.

Thank you for this most informative post, Steve. The article by Mark Wignall, "The Jamaica Observer", is definitely worth the read! I enjoyed it very much.

Oh, Steve. You and your hateful, bigoted rants!

Mormon Cult president Brigham Young , along his fellow anti-Black bigot in Caucasian Christ Wilford Woodruff, officially warned against single-drop-blood-mixing with Negroes, with Woodruff, in the name of the Mormon Jesus, calling for offenders to be beheaded:

“'The Lord said I will not kill Cane But I will put a mark upon him and it is seen in the [face?] of every Negro on the Earth And it is the decree of God that that mark shall remain upon the seed of Cane & the Curse [remain] untill all the seed of Abel should be re[deem?]ed and Cane will not receive the priesthood untill or salvation untill all the seed of Abel are Redeemed.

"'Any man having one drop of the seed of Cane in him Cannot hold the priesthood & if no other Prophet ever spake it Before I will say it now in the name of Jesus Christ. I know it is true & they know it. The Negro cannot hold one particle of Government But the day will Come when all the seed of Cane will be Redeemed & have all the Blessings we have now & a great deal more. But the seed of Abel will be ahead of the seed of Cane to all Eternity.

"'Let me consent to day to mingle my seed with the seed of Cane. It would Bring the same curse upon me And it would upon any man. And if any man mingles his seed with the seed of Cane the ownly way he Could get rid of it or have salvation would be to Come forward & have his head Cut off & spill his Blood upon the ground. It would also take [require] the life of his Children/'”

("Waiting for World’s End: The Diaries of Wilford Woodruff, Susan Staker, ed., p. 300. Wilford Woodruff recounting Brigham Young’s remarks on February 7, 1852. Brackets, spelling, and punctuation in original, http://www.mrm.org/quotes-on-blacks-priesthood)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2017 06:13PM by steve benson.

In 1995, the Southern Baptist Convention issued an apology for its pro-slavery and pro-segregation stances which had split the Baptist church between north and south in 1845. But it keeps the "Southern" in its title, an artifact of the split.

Delegates to the United Methodist general conference in 2000 apologized to black churches that fled from the church because of the pro-slavery stance of its southern churches. But it keeps the "United" in its title, an artifact of the reunion of northern and southern factions that had resulted from the north-south split on the issue.

At its 75th general convention in 2006, the Episcopal Church apologized for supporting the institution of slavery.

In 1956, officials in the Catholic Church acknowledged that racism was morally questionable. That stance gradually became more generally accepted as official over the ensuing decades while other churches were still practicing racial segregation.

The LDS church has never been pro-slavery nor pro-segregation. It's official doctrine was "all are alike unto God." (2 Ne 26:33) The problem was a policy introduce by Brigham Young based on his personal biases from his former church and his misunderstanding of select LDS scripture passages. Prior to 1852, blacks in the church held the priesthood.

The church asserts that all justifications for Young's policy were wrong when, in the LDS Essay on Race, it says, "None of these explanations is accepted today as the official doctrine of the Church." The great admission of the church is that they failed to get any answer to years of prayers and, having no revelation, they balked at reversing Young's policy. Looking back at history, we have to wonder why any revelation was needed in light of so many scriptures indicating God is no respecter of persons.

Still, every church has skeletons in its closet that disgruntled ex-congregants will be tempted to point to as justification for their attacks. But, the fact that leaders are fallible is not proof a church is garbage. Christ's leading apostle denied Him thrice. Another betrayed Him. Thomas doubted Him. These mistakes should not be the basis for embracing or rejecting the church of the New Testament. Every church has leaders with weaknesses.

Mormon Church President Joseph Smith's Offical LDS Endorsement of Southern Slavery

Not only does the Mormon church have an officially racist history, that history includes official Mormon church endorsement of slavery.

The Mormon church's inventor, Joseph Smith, defended slavery against the opposition of abolitionists, declaring it to be a true principle which found support in the Bible & in the teachings of Jesus.

Smith, in fact, said that slavery was a divinely-decreed “curse” imposed on Blacks by the command of God & warned against attempts to interfere with its practice.

--In the LDS church publication, the “Messenger and Advocate" (see vol. 2, pp. 289-301, April 1836), Smith asserted that slavery as practiced by the Southern states was ordained by God & in keeping with the “gospel of Christ”:

“After having expressed myself so freely upon this subject, I do not doubt but those who have been forward in raising their voice against the South will cry out against me as being uncharitable, unfeeling & unkind--wholly unacquainted with the gospel of Christ.

"'It is my privilege, then, to name certain passages from the Bible & examine the teachings of the ancients upon this matter, as the fact is incontrovertible that the first mention we have of slavery is found in the holy Bible, pronounced by a man who was perfect in his generation & walked with God. And so far from that prediction's being averse from the mind of God, it remains as a lasting monument of the decree of Jehovah, to the shame & confusion of all who have cried out against the South in consequence of their holding the sons of Ham in servitude!

“'And he said cursed be Canaan: a servant of servants shall he be unto this brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; & Canaan shall be his servant.--God shall enlarge Japheth & he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; & Canaan shall be his servant.' (Gen. 8: 25-27)

“Trace the history of the world from this notable event down to this day & you will find the fulfillment of this singular prophecy. What could have been the design of the Almighty in this wonderful occurrence is not for me to say, but I can say that the curse is not yet taken off the sons of Canaan, neither will be until it is affected by a great power as caused it to come; & the people who interfere the least will come under the least condemnations before him & those who are determined to purse a course which shows an opposition & a feverish restlessness against the designs of the Lord will learn, when perhaps it is too late for their own good, that God can do his work without the aid of those who are not dictated by his counsel."

--Smith then proceeded to counter claims that the Bible was not talking about Ham-lineaged, cursed Black slaves brought under control by the command of God to be used as forced labor:

"Some may urge that the names, 'man-servant' and 'maid servant' only mean hired persons who were at liberty to leave their masters or employers at ant time. But we can easily settle this point by turning the history of Abraham's descendants, when governed by a law given from the mouth of the Lord himself.

"I know that when an Israelite had been brought into servitude in consequence of debt, or otherwise, at the seventh year he went from the task of this former master or employuer; but to no other people or nation was this granted in the law of Israel. And if, after a man had served six years, he did not wish to be free, then the master was to bring him unto the judges, bore his ear with an awl and that man was 'to serve him forever.'

"The conclusion I draw from this is that this people were led and governed by revelation & if such a law was wrong God only is to be blamed & abolitonists are not responsible."

--After quoting from Ephesians 6:5-9 and 1 Timothy 6:1-5 (which admonishes that "servants be obedient to them that are your masters" and that they "are under the yoke [of] masters worthy of all honor"), LDS church president Joseph Smith concluded that "[t]he scripture stands for itself & I believe that these men were better qualified to teach the will of God than all the abolitionists in the world."

(cited in Lester E. Bush, Jr., complilation of notes on history of Blacks in the Mormon Church, pp. 18-19, copy in my possession)
_____


--In the same treatise, Joseph Smith warned that if Blacks were freed from slavery & the South was militarily defeated, Blacks might overrun the country & degrade societal morals:

“ . . . I am aware that many who profess to preach the gospel complain against their brethren of the same faith who reside in the South & are ready to withdraw the hand of fellowship because they will not renounce the principle of slavery & raise their voice against every thing of the kind.

“This must be a tender point & one which should call forth the candid reflection of all men & especially before they advance in an opposition calculated to lay waste the fall States of the South & set loose upon the world a community of people who might peradventure overrun our country & violate the most sacred principles of human society, chastity & virtue”

--Smith’s advocated that no one had the right to tell others not to engage in the business of human trafficking:

“I do not believe that the people of the North have any more right to say that the South shall not hold slaves, than the South have to say the North shall.”

--Smith stated that slave owners should retain final say over the condition & future of their human property & that slaves, should unconditionally & meekly obey their masters:

“. . . [W]e have no right to interfere with slaves contrary to the mind & will of their masters. In fact, it would be much better & more prudent not to preach at all to slaves, until after their masters are converted: & then teach the master to use them with kindness, remembering that they are accountable to God & that servants are bound to serve their master with singleness of heart, without murmuring.”

--Smith taught that slavery was condoned by scripture & that Mormons had no right to foment resistance to Southern slavery:

“I do most sincerely hope that no one who is authorized from this church to preach the gospel will so far depart from the scripture as to be found stirring up strife & sedition against our brethren of the South.”

--Smith said that freeing the slaves would only cause trouble for people not accustomed to seeing Blacks (the latter whom Smith labeled as inherently lazy, professionally unemployable & childish):

“. . . [W]hat benefit will it ever be to the slave for persons to run over the free states & excite indignation against their masters in the minds of thousands & tens of thousands who understand nothing relative to their circumstances or conditions? I mean particularly those who have never traveled in the South & scarcely seen a negro in all their life.

“How any community can ever be excited with the chatter of such persons-boys & others who are too indolent to obtain their living by honest industry & are incapable of pursuing any occupation of a professional nature, is unaccountable to me.”

(Joseph Smith, letter to Oliver Cowdery, published in “Latter-Day Saints Messenger & Advocate,” vol. 2. no. 7, Kirtland, Ohio, April 1836, pp. 289, 291)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2012 05:26PM by steve benson.

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A Blessing from the Bigots: Black Mormon-"Owned" Slaves in Heaven--Only the Best for the "Cursed"

One such Mormon-"owned" slave was Jane Elizabeth Manning James--otherwise known among her Mormon friends and White overseers as "Aunt Jane."

Aunt Jane was a faithful Black Mormon convert who worked in the household of Joseph and Emma Smith. After years of faithful belief and devotion to clean-up duty, she had the audacity to repeatedly petition the leaders of the Mormon Church to be sealed via temple endowment to her husband, but was denied her request by the Quorum of the Twelve.

Instead, she was made to settle for her White "owner," Joseph Smith--as his slave for time and all eternity:

"The Territory of Utah gave up the practice of slavery along with the slave-holding states; however, the fact that they countenanced it when it was being practiced shows how insensitive they were to the feelings of black people. Even after the slaves were set free the Mormons continued to talk against blacks. In the year 1884, Angus M. Cannon said that 'a colored man . . . is not capable of receiving the Priesthood, and can never reach the highest Celestial glory of the Kingdom of God.' ('The Salt Lake Tribune,' October 5, 1884)

"The idea that blacks were inferior and should only be servants to the whites persisted in Mormon theology. In fact, Mormon leaders seemed to feel that blacks would still be servants in heaven. On August 26, 1908, President Joseph F. Smith related that a black woman was sealed as a servant to Joseph Smith:

"'The same efforts he said had been made by Aunt Jane to receive her endowments and be sealed to her husband and have her children sealed to their parents and her appeal was made to all the Presidents from President Young down to the present First Presidency. But President Cannon conceived the idea that, under the circumstances, it would be proper to permit her to go to the temple to be adopted to the Prophet Joseph Smith as his servant and this was done. This seemed to ease her mind for a little while but did not satisfy her, and she still pleaded for her endowments.' ('Excerpts From The Weekly Council Meetings Of The Quorum Of The Twelve Apostles,' as printed in 'Mormonism-Shadow or Reality?,' p. 584).

"The idea that a black is only worthy of the position of a servant has deep roots in Mormon theology. Mark E. Petersen, . . . [former] Apostle in the church, once said that if a 'Negro is faithful all his days, he can and will enter the celestial kingdom. He will go there as a servant, but he will get celestial glory.' ('Race Problems-As They Affect The Church,' a speech delivered at Brigham Young University, August 27, 1954)."

(Jerald and Sandra Tanner, "Changing the Anti-Black Doctrine," Chapter 10, Part 1, in "The Changing World of Mormonism," Utah Lighthouse Ministry, at: http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changech10a.htm)


Jane Elizabeth Manning James (1813-1908)--even in faith, a victim of Mormon bigotry, RIP:

"Jane Elizabeth Manning was born in Wilton, Connecticut, one of five children of Isaac and Phyllis Manning, a free black family. Although Jane was a member of the local Presbyterian Church, she remained spiritually unfulfilled until 1842 when she heard the message of a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . . . .

"Soon afterwards she joined the Mormon Church. One year following her conversion, Jane Elizabeth and several family members who had also converted decided to move to Nauvoo, Illinois, the headquarters of the Mormon Church. After traveling by boat to Buffalo, New York, the African American Mormons, unable to pay additional fares, began an eight-hundred-mile journey by foot to Nauvoo. In Nauvoo, Jane lived and worked in the home of Joseph Smith, Jr. the founder of the LDS Church and his wife, Emma.

"Following the 1844 murder of Joseph Smith, Jr. and his brother Hyrum in Carthage, Illinois, Mormon leaders under Brigham Young decided to abandon Nauvoo and look for a safe haven in the West away from forces hostile to the LDS Church.

"In the fall of 1847, Jane, her husband Isaac James whom she married in 1841, and two sons traveled across the plains to the new home of the LDS Church in the Salt Lake Valley. They were the first free black pioneers in the Mormon settlement and Jane would spend the remaining fifty-one years of her life in Utah. They shared the hardships of their fellow Mormons and engaged in the spirit of mutual aid and cooperation that characterized LDS pioneer life.

"By the 1880s Jane became increasingly concerned about her place in the afterlife. Well aware of the LDS Church's proscriptions that prohibited blacks from full participation in the rituals that were prerequisite to being eligible for a place in the celestial kingdom, she nonetheless argued for an exemption because of her faith.

"'Is there no blessing for me?' she asked Church leaders for more than a decade. Those leaders refused her requests. They attempted to pacify her by authorizing her limited participation in LDS rituals.

"Through it all, Jane Manning James remained a devout Mormon and is generally recognized in LDS history for her unwavering faith. Jane Manning James died in Salt Lake City in 1908.

"A special monument to her is located in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, close to her gravesite, to commemorate her life and faith."

(Ronald G. Coleman, "'Is There No Blessing for Me?': Jane Elizabeth Manning James, A Mormon African American Woman," in Quintard Taylor and Shirley Ann Moore Wilson, eds., "African American Women Confront the West," 1600-2000 [Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press 2003], at: http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aaw/james-jane-elizabeth-manning-1813-1908)


Ahhhhh, how sweetly described--and deceptively presented.

That "limited participation in LDS rituals," as it is euphemistically described above, is more fully laid out on pp. 152-157 of Coleman's biography of "Aunt Jane." There it is painfully detailed how, despite her faithfulness--and only because of her so-called "cursed" race--she was relentlessly denied her personal plea for access to the Mormon temple for her own family sealing endowment.

The First Presidency also rejected her request to be adopted, via temple sealing, into the family of Joseph and Emma Smith, in whose home she faithfully worked as a servant.

The First Presidency eventually, out of the kindness of their white-and-delightsome hearts, did permit her to be eternally sealed to Joseph Smith as his servant.

(Tracking note: Google search "Ronald G. Coleman Manning." Up will come "African American Women Confront the West, 1600-2000 -Google Books Result." Click on that and Coleman's article will appear).


More on the patronizing treatment she received from the Mormon Church:

" . . . [H]ave you wondered why Jane walked to Nauvoo? It was because white Mormons would not allow her to ride with them or assist her in paying for passage. And once she arrived in Nauvoo the Beautiful, that 'Zion on the Mississippi,' she was either rebuffed or ignored by her fellow Saints, until finally someone pointed out Joseph Smith's home to her.

"Once she finally did meet Smith, he made Jane his house servant, and when Smith was murdered in 1844, Brigham Young then took in Jane James as his servant as well. Despite her faithful service to the church and its wealthy presidents, she lived most of her life in abject poverty.

"She arrived in the new Zion of Utah among the first of the Saints in September 1847, the first free black woman in the territory, only to find that slavery was already being practiced there. Mormon Apostle Charles C. Rich owned slaves in Utah, which must have been a great trial of her faith. The only Western State or Territory to practice slavery was Utah.

"She wished to be 'sealed' to her loved ones for all eternity just like the white-skinned members of the congregation were allowed to be. For all of her sacrifice, the highest eternal blessing the Mormon church could offer Joseph Smith's former house servant was to 'seal' her to Joseph Smith as his servant forever.

"The words recited at this ceremony were that she was 'to be attached as a Servitor for eternity to the prophet Joseph Smith and in this capacity be connected with his family and be obedient to him in all things in the Lord as a faithful Servitor.'

"In essence, an eternal slave, bound to service a white master for eternity."

(For more on this final above account, along with a photograph of Jane Manning, see: "Nauvoo Pageant 2007: Just Who is Jane Manning?," in "Mormon Home Evening: Official Blog of Mormon Missions Midwest Outreach," 17 July 2007, at: http://mormonhomeevening.blogspot.com/2007/07/nauvoo-pageant-2007just-who-is-jane.html)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2012 04:09PM by steve benson.

The Mormon Church's Celestial Kingdom Entry Requirement for Blacks: If You're Good, We'll Let You In--As Servants--and Only If Your Skin Color is Beautifully White

President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Joseph Fielding Smith, in his book, “Answers to Gospel Questions,” declared:

“ . . . [I]f a Negro joins the [Mormon] church through the waters of baptism and is confirmed by the laying on of hands and then he remains faithful and true to the teachings of the Church and in keeping the commandments the Lord has given, he will come forth in the first resurrection and will enter the celestial kingdom of God. . . . The Negro who accepts the doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is entitled to salvation in the celestial kingdom of the highest heaven spoken of by Paul.

"'It is true that the work of the ministry is given to other peoples and why should the so-called Christian denominations complain? How many Negroes have been placed as ministers over white congregations in the so-called Christian denominations? It appears that a great deal of noise has been made over a problem that does not really exist or is not peculiar to the Latter-day Saints.'

"' . . . Mormons. . . can do more for the Negro than any other church on the face of the earth.'"

(Jospeh Fielding Smith, "Answers to Gospel Questions," vol. 2, p. 55, quoted in John Lewis Lund, “The Church and the Negro: A Discussion of Mormons, Negroes and the Priesthood,” Chapter VII, “What is the Status of the Negro in the Mormon Church?” [John Lewis Lund, copyright 1967], pp. 58-59)
_____


What Mormons conveniently fail to note, of course, is their deep-seated, ugly belief that even if Mormons of African descent attain the highest level of the LDS celestial kingdom, they will only manage to do so through a mandatory process that involves their skin color being changed to white in order for them to reside among Mormon Whites and their White Mormon God.

Lund, in a chapter in his book headlined, “Church Leaders Speak Out on the Negro Question,” points to the case of Black Mormon convert Jane Manning James as an example of a Mormon of African descent making it to heaven--but only after having been turned White, literally.

Jane Manning James (otherwise known as “Aunt Jane") was a house servant to Joseph and Emma Smith in Nauvoo who--despite her unswerving faithfulness of 65 years to Mormonism--was denied the right by the White racists in the Mormon church's First Presidency to be temple-sealed to her own family; instead, they had her officially sealed to Joseph Smith as his servant throughout eternity.

(for a previous RfM thread on "Aunt Jane's" run-in with Mormonism's racist "revelation," see: http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,417986,417986#msg-417986)


But being celestialized came with a catch: “Aunt Jane” first had to be "sanitized" because, according to White supremacist Mormon church doctrine, she had been born into a “cursed” lineage.

In order for her to be with Smith in the highest Mormon heaven, this Black woman would first have to have her "cursed" skin bleached white. The edict of Mormon church president Wilford Woodruff was clear, as Lund explains:

“Wilford Woodruff said about the Negro, 'The day will come when all that race will be redeemed and possess all the blessings that we now have,'"

Lund explains how this color-cleansing would work before this Black woman would be allowed into Mormon heaven to be Joseph Smith's forever slave:

“In [Matthias F.] Cowley's book, 'Wilford Woodruff' [p. 587], the following story is told:

“'There is one peculiar characteristic noticeable in the journal ow Wilford Woodruff., . . . [He] love to dwell upon the good deeds of others . . . . . He said in his journal of o of October, that year [1894], that 'Aunt Jane,' the colored sister, had been to see him She was anxious to go through the Temple and receive the highest ordinances of the Gospel. President Woodruff blessed her for her constant, never changing devotion to the Gospel but explained to her her disadvantages as one of the descendants of Cain.

“”In after years, when President Joseph F. Smith preached the funeral sermon of this same faithful woman, he declared that she would, in the resurrection, attain the longing of her soul and become a white and beautiful person.”

(Lund, Chapter IX pp. 85-86; see also, William E. Berrett, “The Church and the Negroid People,” historical supplement, in John J. Stewart, “Mormonism and the Negro: An Explanation and Defense of the Doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Regard to Negroes and Others of Negroid Blood” [Orem, Utah: Bookmark, a Division of Community Press Publishing Company, 1960], p. 16 of supplement).
_____


The primitively racist comments of Mormon apostle Mark E. Petersen speak for themselves. On 27 August 1954 in an address to a BYU convention of LDS religion teachers entitled “Race Problems--As They Affect the Church,” he informed the audience that "[i]f that Negro is faithful all his days, he can and will enter the celestial kingdom. He will go there as a servant, but he will get a celestial resurrection."
_____


These days one does not often see Mormons openly pointing out that, according to their church's top “prophet, seer and revelator,” any faithful Mormon Black person will, in the end, “enter the celestial kingdom” as “a white and beautiful person.”

Perhaps even for the Mormon church's most abject apologists, this might be too racist to strut in front of decent company.

Don't put it past them, though, to tenderly harbor it in the bigoted recesses of their white-and-delightsome hearts.

Under Brigham Young, Mormons Settlers Brought Their Black Slaves to the Salt Lake Valley

"24 July [1847]: [Brigham] Young enters Salt Lake Vally with the rest of the pioneer company, and officially decress this as the new Mormon headquarters. Among these pioneers are three plural wives and three Black slaves. Young's attitudes toward African-Americans differ from the founding prophet's, and Utah would become the only western territory where African-American slavery and slave-sales were protected by Terriotiral statute."

(D. Michael Quinn, "The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power," Appendix 7, "Selected Chronology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-47" [Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, in association with Smith Research Associates, 1994], p. 659)
_____


Morever, during the presidency of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Church came out in favor of preventing the immigration of freed Black slaves into Missouri and against allowing Blacks to join the Mormon Church:

"In an attempt to defuse the explosive situation before another an anti-Mormon meeting scheduled [by slave-holding Missourians] for July 20, 1833, could take place . . . an 'Extra' edition of the [Mormon cnurch's] "the Evewning and Morning Star . . . frantically tried to explain:

"'Having learned with extreme regret, that an article entitled, 'Free People of Color,' in the last number of the 'Star,' has been misunderstood, we feel in duty bound to state, in this 'Extra,,' that our intention was not only to stop free people of color from emigrating to this state, but to prevent them from being admitted as members of the Church."

(authored by W.W. Phelps in behalf of the Mormon Church, published in "History of the Church," vol. 1, pp. 578-79; Phelps was an assistant president of the Mormon church in Missouri, a scribe for Joseph Smith, and an LDS church printer/editor; Phelps' "Star" editorial cited in Richard Abanes, "One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church," Chapter 6, "No Rest for the Righteous" [New York/London: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2002], p. 114)
_____


Furthermore, while some Utah historians continue to waffle on the historical reality that Mormons endorsed and practiced slavery, it is a undeniable that they did:

"Although the practice was never widespread, some Utah pioneers held African-American slaves until 1862 when Congress abolished slavery in the territories.

"Three slaves, Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby, came west with the first pioneer company in 1847, and their names appear on a plaque on the Brigham Young Monument in downtown Salt Lake City. The Census of 1850 reported 26 Negro slaves in Utah and the 1860 Census 29; some have questioned those figures.

"Slavery was legal in Utah as a result of the Compromise of 1850, which brought California into the Union as a free state while allowing Utah and New Mexico territor'es the option of deciding the issue by 'popular sovereignty." Some Mormon pioneers from the South had brought African-American slaves with them when they migrated west. Some freed their slaves in Utah; others who went on to California had to emancipate them there.

"The Mormon church had no official doctrine for or against slaveholding [*Note: Not true. Joseph Smith officially endorsed slavery as the law of God; see earlier post in this thread], and leaders were ambivalent [*Note: Not true. Brigham Young endorsed slavery in a February 1852 address to the territorial legislature].

"In 1836 Joseph Smith wrote that masters should treat slaves humanely and that slaves owed their owners obedience. During his presidential campaign in 1844, however, he came out for abolition. Brigham Young tacitly supported slaveholding, declaring that although Utah was not suited for slavery the practice was ordained by God. In 1851 Apostle Orson Hyde said the church would not interfere in relations between master and slave.

"The Legislature formally sanctioned slaveholding in 1852 but cautioned against inhumane treatment and stipulated that slaves could be declared free if their masters abused them. Records document the sale of a number of slaves in Utah."

(Jeffrey D. Nichols, in "History Blazer," April 1995, cited on "Utah History to Go: Slavery in Utah," under "Pionners and Cowboys," at: http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/pioneers_and_cowboys/slaveryinutah.html)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2017 10:53PM by steve benson.

Mormons Think the LDS Church Has Long Opposed Racism, They're Wrong

Sadly, the Utah Mormon Church, well into the 20th century, has an historical track record of squalid, bigoted and anti-civil rights attitudes, teachings and practices which targeted African-Americans under its supposed "control."

Excommunicated Mormon historian D. Michael Quinn (who was ostensibly stripped of his LDS membership for publicly exposing, reporting and publishing a history of the Mormon Church's pattern of ongoing lies, practices and cover-ups relating to post-Manifesto polygamy) offers a devastating timeline review of the bigoted, discriminatory and anti-civil rights actions and attitudes of the Utah Mormon Church designed to control and restrict the exercise of equal human rights by African-Americans within Utah's (and more specifically, Salt Lake City's) boundaries.

"Utah Mormon Discrimination Against Blacks

"Even after federal emancipation of America's slaves in the 1860s, LDS church president Brigham Young referred to African-American slavery as a religious necessity. Earlier, as both church president and governor, he had instructed the Utah legislature in 1852 to legalize the slavery of African-Americans. This directly contradicted Joseph Smith's proposal in 1844 'to abolish slavery by the year 1850' by financially compensating Southern slave-owners through the sale of federal lands in the West. Utah Mormonism's reversal of Joseph Smith's social policy toward Negroes was mirrored by the refusal of LDS presidents after 1844 to follow the founding prophet's example of giving the priesthood to blacks who were not slaves.

"For more than a century, Utah restricted African-Americans from patronizing white restaurants and hotels, prohibited them from public swimming pools, and required them to sit in the balconies of theaters. During World War II, African-Americans wearing their nation's uniform had to sit in the balcony of Utah theaters, while German prisoners-of-war sat on the main floor with white servicemen and civilians. Utah law also prohibited marriage between a white person and a black (including persons only one-eighth Negro).

"Utah's racial discrimination did not occur by happenstance nor did it continue into modern times by accident. It was promoted by the highest leaders of the state's dominant church. As late as 1941, Counselor J. Reuben Clark used the word [rhymes with 'trigger'] in his First Presidency office diary. In 1944, the First Presidency authorized local LDS leaders to join 'as individuals a civic organization whose purpose is to restrict and control negro settlement' in Salt Lake City. A year later, LDS president George Albert Smith wrote: 'Talked to Pres Clark & Nicholas [G. Smith, an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles] about the use of [LDS] meeting houses for meetings to prevent Negroes from becoming neighbors.' The church president's diary did not indicate whether he endorsed or opposed this activity, but his brother Nicholas G. Smith described it as 'race hatred.'

"In 1947, when discussing the site of the future Los Angeles temple, First Presidency Counselor J. Reuben Clark asked the LDS church's attorney in that area 'to purchase as much of that property as we can in order to control the colored situation.'

"In 1947, the First Presidency wrote that 'the intermarriage of the Negro and White races, [is] a concept which has heretofore been most repugnant to most normal-minded people from the ancient patriarchs till now.'

"In 1953, a First Presidency secretary informed a white Mormon that 'The L.D.S. Hospital here in Salt Lake City has a blood bank which does not contain any colored blood.' According to presidency counselor J. Reuben Clark, this policy of segregating African-American blood from the blood donated by so-called 'white people' was intended 'to protect the purity of the blood streams of the people of this Church.'

"During this era of Utah's racial segregation, the First Presidency also repeatedly affirmed that no African-American could stay at the LDS church-owned Hotel Utah (which had maintained this exclusion since its opening in 1911). The LDS president was president of the hotel, and his counselors were its senior vice-presidents. The First Presidency explained this racial exclusion as simply 'the practice of the hotel.'

"When internationally renown singer Marian Anderson returned in March 1948 to participate in a concert at the LDS church's Salt Lake Tabernacle, the First Presidency relented. America's beloved contralto 'was allowed to stay at the Hotel Utah on condition that she use the freight elevator.' This world-famous black woman was not allowed to use the main entrance and lobby.

"Making specific reference to the desegregation controversy in Little Rock, Arkansas, Counselor Clark in 1957 instructed Belle Smith Spafford 'that she should do what she could to keep the National Council [of Women] from going on record in favor of what in the last analysis would be regarded as negro equality.'

"In 1965 and 1967, Apostle Ezra Taft Benson stated in televised meetings on Temple Square in Salt Lake City that 'the so-called civil rights movement as it exists today is a Communist program for revolution in America.'

"In 1963, Apostle Joseph Fielding Smith told 'Look' magazine's editor: ''Darkies' are wonderful people, and they have their place in our Church.'

"In 1967, Apostle Benson also approved the use of one of his talks as the forward to the overtly racist book 'Black Hammer,' which featured the decapitated (and profusely bleeding) head of an African-American male on its cover.

"President Smith's counselors soon extended their support of racial segregation to states beyond Utah. In 1947, when discussing the site of the future Los Angeles temple, Counselor Clark asked the LDS church's attorney in that area 'to purchase as much of that property as we can in order to control the colored situation.' A month later, during the meeting of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the Salt Lake Temple, 'President Clark called attention to the sentiment among many people in this country to the point that we should break down all racial lines, [and] as a result of which sentiment negro people have acquired an assertiveness that they never before possessed and in some cases have become impudent.'

"In 1949, while criticizing the legislative efforts in Arizona to 'guarantee rights of Negroes,' LDS presidency counselor David O. McKay said, 'The South knows how to handle them and they do not have any trouble, and the colored people are better off down there--[but] in California they are becoming very progressive and insolent in many cases.' Likewise, in 1950 Counselor Clark wrote: 'Race tolerance: the trend is just terrible.'

"There was no mystery about why Utah law continued to prohibit interracial marriage. In 1947, the First Presidency wrote that 'the intermarriage of the Negro and White races, [is] a concept which has heretofore been most repugnant to most normal-minded people from the ancient patriarchs till now.' In other words, the First Presidency condemned interracial marriage as abnormal. In 1950, Counselor Clark added that 'anything that breaks down the color line leads to marriage.' Five years later, on behalf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Joseph Fielding Smith wrote to the First Presidency about African-American members of the LDS church in Utah and referred to the 'danger of intermarriage.'

"In 1953, a First Presidency secretary also informed a white Mormon about the less-obvious extent of Utah's racial segregation: 'The L.D.S. Hospital here in Salt Lake City has a blood bank which does not contain any colored blood.' According to presidency counselor J. Reuben Clark, this policy of segregating African-American blood from the blood donated by so-called 'white people' was intended 'to protect the purity of the blood streams of the people of this Church.'

"During this era of Utah's racial segregation, the First Presidency also repeatedly affirmed that no African-American could stay at the LDS church-owned Hotel Utah (which had maintained this exclusion since its opening in 1911). The LDS president was president of the hotel, and his counselors were its senior vice-presidents. The First Presidency explained this racial exclusion as simply 'the practice of the hotel.'

"Internationally renown singer Marian Anderson endured this racial discrimination in Utah. When she gave her first recital at the University of Utah's Kingsbury Hall, this African-American was denied entry to any of Salt Lake City's hotels and had to stay with one of the concert's promoters. When she returned in March 1948 to participate in a concert at the LDS church's Salt Lake Tabernacle, the First Presidency relented. America's beloved contralto 'was allowed to stay at the Hotel Utah on condition that she use the freight elevator.' This world-famous black woman was not allowed to use the main entrance and lobby.109 Likewise, invited to speak at the University of Utah, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Ralph Bunche was allowed to stay at the LDS church's hotel in 1951 only after this black man agreed to use the freight elevator, 'have his meals in his room and not come to the dining room.'

"Due to their international fame, Anderson and Bunche were exceptions to the Mormon rules of race. As Hotel Utah's senior vice-president, J. Reuben Clark explained: 'Since they are not entitled to the Priesthood, the Church discourages social intercourse with the negro race... ." Therefore, African-Americans were denied equal access to the LDS church's hotel in order "to preserve the purity of the race that is entitled to hold the Priesthood.'

"With such beliefs, the LDS First Presidency did what it could to block national efforts for the civil rights of African-Americans. As previously noted, Counselor McKay in 1949 instructed an Arizona stake president against that state's proposed legislation to 'guarantee rights of Negroes.' Making specific reference to the desegregation controversy in Little Rock, Arkansas, Counselor Clark in 1957 instructed Belle Smith Spafford 'that she should do what she could to keep the National Council [of Women] from going on record in favor of what in the last analysis would be regarded as negro equality.' At that time, Spafford was a vice-president of the National Council of Women.

"As American views began changing toward race relations from the 1940s onward, the Mormons of Utah continued to follow the example of LDS leaders against civil rights for African-Americans. There was widespread use in all-white neighborhoods of Utah's Uniform Real Estate Contract, Form 30, which prohibited the purchaser of real estate and his/her heirs from reselling the property 'to any person not of the Caucasian race.' The Salt Lake City School District prohibited blacks from being teachers and from fulfilling student-teaching requirements of their university training. In addition, 40 percent of Utah's employers refused to hire Negroes. Employers who did hire blacks also discriminated against them in job assignment, promotion, and salary. Blacks were prohibited from eating at the lunch counter of Salt Lake's City-County Building. All of Utah's bowling alleys excluded African-Americans, and LDS hospitals segregated black patients, sometimes requiring them to pay for private rooms. This was also the policy at Utah's Catholic hospitals.

"In these respects, Utah and the Mormons were representative of the rest of America's white society until the 1960s. In 1961, a survey of Salt Lake City by the NAACP showed that 12 percent of cafes, restaurants, and taverns declined to serve blacks, while 80 percent of the city's beauty shops and barber shops refused to do so. Likewise, 72 percent of Salt Lake City's hotels and 49 percent of its motels refused accommodations to African-Americans that year.

"After Counselor Clark's death in 1961, Apostle Ezra Taft Benson became the Mormon hierarchy's strident voice against the national crusade for African-American civil rights. Benson's Negrophobic rhetoric intensified after the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 drastically changed Utah's patterns of racial discrimination. In 1965 and 1967, he stated in televised meetings on Temple Square in Salt Lake City that 'the so-called civil rights movement as it exists today is a Communist program for revolution in America.' In 1967, Apostle Benson also approved the use of one of his talks as the forward to the overtly racist book 'Black Hammer,' which featured the decapitated (and profusely bleeding) head of an African-American male on its cover. Subtitled White Alternatives, this book warned about the 'well-defined plans for the establishment of a Negro Soviet dictatorship in the South.' In 1968, Apostle Benson also instructed BYU students about 'black Marxists' and 'the Communists and their Black Power fanatics.'

"At this time, LDS president David O. McKay had a Democrat (Hugh B. Brown) as a counselor, who was mystified that McKay allowed Benson to endorse the speeches and activities of nationally known segregationists. This politically liberal counselor was unaware of the LDS church president's private views about 'insolent' African-Americans who wanted equal rights.

"In 1963, Utah ended its restrictions on interracial marriage, and Counselor Brown officially endorsed civil rights for persons of all races that year. However, until that year, every living prophet of the LDS church since Brigham Young either actively opposed the civil rights of African-Americans or passively endorsed the existing civil discriminations against them in Utah.

"In that same year, Apostle Joseph Fielding Smith told Look magazine's editor: '"Darkies" are wonderful people, and they have their place in our Church.' At best, this revealed the racial paternalism that governed LDS headquarters. However, this platitude was also a smoke-screen for the worst of what Utah Mormon leaders had done against African-American rights for the previous 116 years. . . .

" . . . [P]revious First Presidencies . . . . stated that African-Americans had no legitimate right to unrestricted access to marriage, nor to unrestricted blood transfusions, nor to rent a room in the LDS church's hotel, nor to reside in Utah's white neighborhoods, nor to live near the Los Angeles Temple, nor to be in a hospital bed next to a white patient. . . .

"Even when a General Authority publicly apologized in September 2000 for 'the actions and statements of individuals who have been insensitive to the pain suffered by the victims of racism,' he claimed that the LDS leadership had an admirable history of race relations. Elder Alexander B. Morrison said: 'How grateful I am that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has from its beginnings stood strongly against racism in any of its malignant manifestations.' This was a by now familiar smoke-screen for the previous behavior of Mormon prophets, seers, and revelators. LDS headquarters has never apologized for the legalization of Negro slavery by Brigham Young in pioneer Utah, nor for the official LDS encouragement to lynch Negro males, nor for the racial segregation policies of the First Presidency until 1963, nor for Ezra Taft Benson's 1967 endorsement of a book which implied that decapitating black males was a 'White Alternative.' . . .

"Counselor Clark told the General Conference of April 1940 that the First Presidency 'is not infallible in our judgment, and we err.' I believe this applies to the statements and actions of several 'living prophets' and First Presidencies in restricting the civil rights of African-Americans and other minorities. . . . . Counselor Clark . . . also instructed LDS educators in 1954 that 'even the President of the Church has not always spoken under the direction of the Holy Ghost.' I believe this applies to the statements and actions of several 'living prophets' and First Presidencies in restricting the civil rights of African-Americans and other minorities. According to LDS doctrine, the statements and actions of the Church's president can be wrong, even sinful, and historically the LDS First Presidency has often been profoundly wrong with regard to the civil rights of American minorities.

"In fact, when an end came to the various tyrannies of the majority against racial groups in America, LDS policies changed, as well. What various 'living prophets' had defined as God's doctrine turned out to be a Mormon social policy which reflected the majority's world view. . . .

"LDS president Gordon B. Hinckley has dismissed Mormonism's earlier race-based policies as 'those little tricks of history' which are irrelevant now. However, his twenty-five years of promoting political campaigns against the possibility of gay rights is one more example of the LDS hierarchy's discrimination against minorities who are not its 'kind of people.'

"The Sincerity of Prejudice and Civil Discrimination

"LDS leaders have repeatedly opposed civil rights for blacks and gays while denying that such action is 'anti-Negro' or 'racist,' 'anti-gay' or 'homophobic.' The previous quotes show that First Presidency counselor J. Reuben Clark, for one, defended wholesale restrictions against the civil rights of African-Americans. Nevertheless, at the same time, he regarded himself as compassionate toward blacks. . . .

"The past and present are filled with actions which most of us condemn, despite the fact that their perpetrators claimed they acted out of their sincere beliefs in a religion, or race, or social class, or country. If we regard slavery as wrong, the sincerity of slave-owners is irrelevant to the issue, even when the slave-owners were our revered national leaders, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. If denial of rights and protections for African-Americans was wrong, the sincerity of the oppressors is irrelevant to the issue, even if we otherwise admire the oppressors as religious leaders. . . . "

(D. Michael Quinn, "Prelude to the National 'Defense of Marriage' Campaign: Civil Discrimination Against Feared or Despised Minorities," research paper given "Special Award for Outstanding Scholarly Research and Writing," Affirmation Conference, Long Beach, September 2001; originally published in "Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought," 33:3, pp. 1-52)

Steve is the 11th commandment: Thou shalt not get away with it.

Perhaps the historical animosity toward blacks boils down to penis envy. That would explain a lot. Who says the mark of Cain was skin color? You don't want to compete with that in the CK.

From the OP: ''Is or is it not apparent from reason and analogy as drawn from a careful reading of the Scriptures, that God causes the saints, OR PEOPLE THAT FALL AWAY FROM HIS CHURCH to be cursed in time, with a black skin?" [EMPHASIS ADDED]

So.....it would appear that all on this board, except for us nevermos, will, in time, become darker or, if any of you have noticed already that you have begun this transition, please share with us ;)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2017 10:37PM by cinda.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2017 05:32AM by steve benson.