Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

steve benson Aug. 2014

In point of fact, it did so for extended periods of time, promulgating them as essentially fully-formed and -flowing from the mouth of God himself, in regard to both the Mormon Church's official anti-Black priesthood ban and its official position against interracial marriage.

It therefore bears repeated emphasizing that Mormon apologists (including the current Mormon Church itself) disingenuously insist that the reasons behind the historic and official LDS Church anti-Black priesthood ban are presently known only to God.

Where to start?

Let's begin back in 1963, when then-Apostle Spencer W. Kimball feigned ignorance by declaring:

"The things of God cannot be understood by the spirit of men. It is impossible to always measure and weigh all spiritual things by man’s yardstick of scales. Admittedly, our direct and positive information is limited.

"I have wished the Lord had given us a little more clarity in the matter ][of Blacks being denied the Mormon priesthood]. But for me, it is enough. The prophets for 133 years of the Church have maintained the position of the prophet of the Restoration that the Negro could not hold the Priesthood nor have the temple ordinances which are preparatory for exaltation."

(Spencer w. Kimball, "Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball," June 1963. p. 448)

Similarly, writing for the Mormon Church-financed "Encyclopedia of Mormonism," LDS apologists Alan Cherry and Jessile L. Empray claimed:

"[Black] members remained committed to their testimonies and Church activities even though during this period prior to 1978 black members could not hold the priesthood or participate in temple ordinances. The reasons for these restrictions have not been revealed. Church leaders and members have explained them in different ways over time."

("What is the History of African-Americans and the Priesthood in the LDS Church?," quote extract from "Encyclopedia of Mormonism," Vol. 1, article entitled "Blacks," by Alan Cherry and Jessie L. Embry, cited by Mormon apologist Jeff Lindsay, at: http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQRace.shtml)

That lie continues to this day. In an anonymously-authored but nonetheless official Mormon Church press release, LDS Inc. insists the following and hopes the uninformed will buy it:

"For a time in the Church, there was a restriction on the priesthood for male members of African descent. It is not known precisely why, how, or when this restriction began in the Church but what is clear is that it ended decades ago. Some have attempted to explain the reason for this restriction but these attempts should be viewed as speculation and opinion, not doctrine.

"The Church is not bound by speculation or opinions given with limited understanding."

("Church Statement Regarding 'Washington Post' Article on Race and the Church," under "Response," in "LDS Newsroom--The Official Resource for News Media, Opinion Leaders and the Public," 29 February 2012, at: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/racial-remarks-in-washington-post-...)

Get out the meadow muffin detector.

The premise that the Mormon Church's official racist doctrines have supposedly been left unclear by speculation and opinion based on limited understanding is a deliberately-peddled falsehood that, as the historical record proves, was not demonstrated in the official doctrinal position statements of (drum roll, please) the Mormon Church's own First Presidencies. Key evidence of that reality is demonstrated by First Presidency pronouncements issued during the leadership tenure of George Albert Smith (and supported by back-channel counselor writings from said First Presidency). Indeed, that First Presidency provided various scriptural and historical defenses of not only the Mormon Church's official Black priesthood ban, but also of the Church's official position against interracial marriage with Blacks.

Below is the evidence that the Mormon Church, at the highest level, has given specific reasons for the priesthood ban against Blacks, as well the official Mormon Church prohibition against interracial marriage with Blacks, delivered with similar specificity.

In an August 1947 letter signed by all three members of the First Presidency of George Albert Smith to Lowry Nelson, a Mormon faculty member at Utah State University in Logan, it was emphatically noted that official Mormon Church doctrine decrees that the Mormon Church priesthood ban was rooted in established and identifed Mormon Church doctrine, to wit:

a) that "[t]he basic element of [the] ideas and concepts . . . that all God's children stand in equal positions before Him in all things . . . 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";

b) that "some of God's children were assigned to superior positions before the world was formed";

c) that opposition to the Mormon Church's official anti-Black priesthood ban "lose[s] sight of the revelations of the Lord touching the pre-existence of our spirits, the rebellion in heaven, and the doctrines that our birth into this life and the advantages under which we may be born, have a relationship in the life heretofore";

d) that "[f]rom the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith even until now, it is 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";

e) 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 partiarchs till now";

f) that "God's rule for Israel, His Chosen People, has been endogamous [meaning 'marriage within a specific tribe or similar social unit']";

g) that "[m]odern Israel has been similarly directed [against the practice of racial intermarriage]. 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 . . . "; and

h) that "it [race-mixing through marriage] does not have the sanction of the Church and is contrary to Church doctrine."

The letter was signed:

"Faithfully yours,

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

Nelson responded on 8 October 1947 thusly:

"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, to wit:

a) that its position constituted "the doctrines of the Church" and that those doctrines "are either true or not true";

b) that it was "[o]ur [the First Presidency's unanimous] testimony . . .that they are true";

c) that "[u]nder these circumstances we [the First Presidency] may not permit ourselves to be too much impressed by the reasonings of men, however well founded they may seem to be";

d) that "we" [the First Presidency] should like to say this to you [Nelson] 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"; and

e) that "[y]ou [Nelson] 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."

In quoting from the First Presidency's 17 July 1947 letter to Nelson, Lester E. Bush, Jr., in his article, "Mormonism's Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview," notes the following:

"In spite of the numerous reviews of Church policy towards the Negro that had taken place since 1879, the First Presidency could write as recently as 1947, 'From the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith 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.' The reevaluations have always started with the assumption that the doctrine was sound."

(Lester E. Bush, "Mormonism's Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview [reprinted from "Dialogue," Vol. 8, No. 1, 1973, copyright, "Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought," P.O. Box 1387, Arlington, Virginia 22210], pp. 43, 67, emphasis added by Bush; Bush sources this First Presidency letter in footnote 198 of his essay as follows: "First Presidency letter (from Presidents Smith, Clark, and McKay) to Lowry Nelson, July 17, 1947, copy at Brigham Young University Library"; see also Bush, "compilation of scattered notes," pp. 249, 253 For the text of the 17 July 1947 First Presidency letter, see "The First Presidency--1947," in John L Lund, "The Church and the Negro: A Discussion of Mormons, Negroes and the Priesthood," Chapter IX, "Church Leaders Speak Out on the Negro Question" and Chapter VI, "Interracial Marriage and the Negro" [copyright, John Lewis Lund, 1967], pp. 88-89, 52-53)

John L Stewart, in his book "Mormonism and the Negro," describes the First Presidency's 17 July 1947 letter to Nelson as being a "divinely directed policy [that] has been reaffirmed by the Church leaders in our day."

Referencing this same First Presidency letter to Nelson, Stewart further writes that, according to established official Mormon doctrine (and contrary to Nelson's position), "[t]he circumstances of our birth in this world are dependent upon our performance in the spirit world, just as the circumstances of our existence in the next world will depend upon what use we make of the blessings and opportunities we enjoy in this world. . . .

"While the Negro and others of Negroid blood cannot hold the Priesthood, in this stage of life, apparently because of a lack of valor in the pre-existence, neither are any of them likely to become Sons of Perdition--as many of the Priesthood bearers might become. Again in this we see the justice and mercy of God: that while in a certain stage of existence a man cannot attain the highest blessings, neither is he so subject to the danger of falling to the lowest state. . . ."

(Stewart, "Mormonism and the Negro," [Orem, Utah: Bookmark, a Division of Community Press Publishing Company, 1960]; Part VII, pp. 33-34, 43; see also, Part XII , pp. 46-47; and footnote 20, "Letter of LDS Presidency to Dr. Lowry Nelson, July 17, 1947," under "References," p. 55)

Below is the full text of the First Presidency's letter to Nelson, as described and published by Bush:

"July 17, 1947

"First Presidency letter to Lowry Nelson (from John J. Stewart 'Mormonism and the Negro,' pp. 46-47, though independently verified):

"'We might take this initial remark: The social side of the Restored Gospel is only an incident to it; it is not the end thereof.

"'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 dealing with Israel dating from the time of His promise to Abraham regarding Abraham's seed and their position vis-a-vis with 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 the, 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 doctrine that our birth into this life and the advantages under which we may be born, have a relationship to 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. 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 area, 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.'"

(Bush, "scattered notes," p. 249)

Stewart also quotes part of a 3 November 1947 letter from First Presidency counselor David O. McKay to Nelson, regarding "Negroid" George Washington Carver's Mormon-determined eternal status. McKay's letter reinforces the reasons previously given to Nelson by the First Presidency as to why the Mormon Church was officially banning Blacks from holding the priesthood, as follows:

"In your letter to me of October 28, 1947, you say that you and some of your fellow students 'have been perturbed about the question of why the Negroid race cannot hold the priesthood.' . . .

"Sometime in God's eternal plan, the Negro will be given the right to hold the Priesthood."

As to why George Washington Carver and other "Negroid" men were denied the priesthood, First Presidency counselor McKay informed Nelson that the reasons were rooted in the following failures:

a) sub-par performance of Blacks in the Mormon pre-existence;

b) the supposed intelligence level of Blacks in the pre-existence;

c) the lack of achievement of Blacks in the pre-existence;

d) the "retarded" spiritual attainment of Blacks in the pre-exitence;

e) the attraction of Blacks to non-White parents in the mortal world because of the Blacks' lack of sufficient spiritual preparation in the pre-existence (which, McKay argued, explains the presence of various non-White races on earth);

f) the overwhelming desire of Blacks to receive a mortal body, even if it was a Black one; and

g) the lack of preparation by Blacks in the pre-existence to take on Mormon Church leadership positions in the mortal world.

Below is the relevant text of McKay's letter to Nelson:

"I know of no scriptural basis for denying the Priesthood to Negroes other than one verse in the Book of Abraham (1:26); however, I believe, as you suggest, that the real reason dates back to our pre-existence. . . .

"Revelation assures us that this [Great Plan] antedates man's mortal existence, extending back to man's pre-existent state. In that pre-mortal state, were 'intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these were many noble and great ones;

"'And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: 'These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good.'

"Manifestly, from this revelation, we may infer two things: first, that there were many among those spirits different degrees of intelligence, varying grades and achievement, retarded and advanced spiritual attainment; second, that there were no national distinctions among those spirits such as Americans, Europeans, Asiatics, Australians, etc. Such 'bounds of habitation would have to be 'determined' when the spirits entered upon their earthly existence or second estate. . . .

". . . [I]t is given as a fact in revelation that Abraham was chosen before he was born. . . . [E]ach little spirit is attracted to the spiritual and mortal parentage for which the spirit has prepared itself.

"Now if none of these spirits was permitted to enter mortality until they all were good and great and had become leaders, then the diversity of conditions among the children of men as we see them today would certainly seem to indicate discrimination and injustice.

"But if in their eagerness to take upon themselves bodies, the spirits were willing to come through any lineage for which they were worthy, or to which they were attracted, then they were given THE FULL REWARD OF MERIT, AND WERE SATISIFED, yes, and even blessed. . . .

"By the operation of some eternal law with which man is yet unfamiliar, spirits came through parentages for which they are worthy--some as Bushmen of Australia, some as Solomon Islanders, some as Americans, as Europeans, as Asiattics, etc., etc., with all the varying degrees of mentality and spirituality manifest in parents of the different races that inhabit the earth.

"Of this we may be sure, each was satisfied and happy to come through the lineage to which he or she was attracted and for which, and only which, he or she was prepared.

"The Priesthood was given to those who were chosen as leaders.

"There were many who could not receive it, yet knew that it was possible for them at sometime in the eternal plan to achieve that honor. Even those who knew that they would not be prepared to receive it during their mortal existence were content in the realization that they could attain every earthly blessing--progress intellectually and spiritually, and possess to a limited degree the blessing of wisdom."

(David O. McKay, letter to Lowry Nelson, 3 November 1947, original emphasis; published in "Home Memories of President David O. McKay," by Llewelyn R. McKay, pp. 226-31, as cited in "Historical Supplement" entitled, "The Church and the Negroid People," by William E. Bennett, in Stewart, "Mormonism and the Negro," pp. 19-21, 23 of Bennett's supplement; for the text of the same letter, see "David O. McKay," in Lund, "The Church and the Negro," Chapter IX, "Church Leaders Speak Out on the Negro Question," pp. 91-95; for the RfM link to an expanded version of the history of official Mormon Church racism, see: "Bigots for God: Official Racist LDS Church Doctrines & Practices (Part 3 of 4)," under Section 6, "Historical LDS Church Position on Race-Mixed Marriage Linked to Doctrinal View That Blacks in the Pre-Existence Were 'Retarded,' Not Leadership Worthy and Just Happy to Get Bodies," in "Bigots for God: Official Racist LDS Church Doctrines & Practices (Pt 3 of 4)," at: http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1345321,1345323#msg-1345323)
____

Finally, as for the official Mormon Church position against interracial marriage, its position remains doctrinally unchanged to this day.

Significantly, the anti-interracial marriage sentiments of eventual LDS Church president Spencer W. Kimball were reprinted in the Mormon Church-owned "Deseret News" on 17 June 1978, as part of the LDS Church's official announcement of its 180-degree reversal on Mormonism's long-standing anti-Black priesthood ban. Kimball's anti-interracial marriage statement stands officially unrevoked.

It reads as follows (as reported and requoted in June 1978 in the Mormon church-owned "Church News" section of the "Deseret News," where the LDS Church first published its announcement on the lifting of its priesthood ban against Blacks):

“In an address to seminary & institute teachers at [BYU] . . . President Kimball, then a member of the Council of the 12, said: '. . . [T]here is one thing that I must mention & that is interracial marriages. When I said you must teach your young people to overcome their prejudices & accept the Indians, I did not mean that you would encourage intermarriage.’"

In the LDS Church’s 2011 Aaronic Priesthood manual (Manual 3, Lesson 31, "Choosing an Eternal Companion"), interracial marriage has continued to be discouraged, via the words of Kimball:

“We recommend that people marry those who are of the same racial background generally & of somewhat the same economic & social & educational background (some of those are not an absolute necessity, but preferred), & above all, the same religious background, without question.” (Kimball, "Marriage and Divorce," BYU devotional, 1976, reprinted in "Devotional Speeches of the Year," 1977)

*********

Don't let Mormon apologists (including the Mormon Church) bamboozle you into believing that the Mormon Church's official racist position banning Blacks from holding the priesthood was never sufficiently understood and that it had not been accepted as having been "revealed by God" in any detailed way to the President of the Mormon Church. That is an historically-demonstrable lie, evidenced by the 1947 correspondence of the First Presidency with Lowry Nelson, wherein the First Presidency provided numerous and specific official doctrinal reasons for denying the priesthood to Blacks.

Neither allow Mormon apologists (that, again, goes for the Mormon Church, as well) to fool you into believing that the Mormon Church's official racist position against interracial marriage has been dropped. That, too, is an historically-demonstrable lie, evidenced by the fact that in its 1978 priesthood ban reversal, the Mormon Church officially left its official anti-intermarriage doctrine untouched and intact.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Lying-Day Saints rolls on.

Roll your eyes and move on.


Twinker

I'll never forget
the lesson my third grade teacher taught about black skin and the Curse of Cain. She was responding to a question from a student who asked about skin color.

I was awed by the drama of it all and ran home to tell my Mom who of course was furious and straightened me out big time!

Had it happened today, the teacher would have likely been fired. But at the time, (mid 50s) it was just typical of the kind of information taught in the Mormon controlled public school.


blueorchid
Re: Don't Buy the Big Lie: The Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

I listened to the racism for the first twenty years of my childhood in a heavily populated Mormon area in the fifties and sixties. We were told loudly and often that the negro was inferior because they were fence sitters in heaven, not valiant, and they had been cursed with the curse of cain. We were told God had denied them the priesthood and the fullness of the gospel. As a missionary I was told not to proselyte them.

As your beautifully constructed posts point out, for the church to claim they know not where this all came from is total bull of the cowardly kind.


oppolo
Re: Don't Buy the Big Lie: The Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

Makes me sick! This was my number one reason I hated the church. Blacks got the priesthood when I was a sophomore in High School.. I remember it well. I also remember all the prejudice in the Church....it really messed me up. Thanks Steve for reminding everyone and for keeping the truth alive.


steve benson
The Mormon Church wouldn't know the truth even if a white salamander . . .
. . . rose up from that stone box on Cumorah and bit it in the butt.
Shummy
Re: Don't Buy the Big Lie: The Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

The truth is that truth has already bitten them in the butt.

And you're right, they don't even realize it.


Ex Aedibus
Re: Don't Buy the Big Lie: The Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

Back in 1976, one of my mom's cousins did something unthinkable for a good Mormon girl from Snowflake. She married a black man. Not only that, she had children by him. Seeing as a I was a very young child, I only heard much later how much controversy this caused.

I am the descendant of former slaveholders. This is something which has never sat well with me. In fact, not only did my ancestors James Flake and Agnes Haley Love own a slave, when they decided to move to California, they gave their slave as tithing to the Church! Green Flake would end up serving Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball.

Racism is very much a part of the cult's past, no matter how much they deny it now.


zenmaster
Re: Don't Buy the Big Lie: The Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

Excellent post...all this racist doctrine is insane! The teachings were so obvious and blatant, I don't know how the Church can have a straight face while denying it.


jesuswantsme4asucker
Re: Don't Buy the Big Lie: The Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

From my experience the racism is still very much present. They mostly deny it and dont speak it openly now because its unpopular and they don't want to "cast pearls before swine" or whatever but I think a lot of them that are 40 and older hold the views still because that is just how they were raised. I know my mom wont speak it openly but she still very much thinks blacks were cursed by Cane, were fence sitters and all that other crap.


lilburne
Re: Don't Buy the Big Lie: The Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

Steve, these are great posts please keep up the good work. It's robust ammunition for discussion.

presleynfactsrock
Re: Don't Buy the Big Lie: The Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

In my own life, which is getting up there in years, I was taught prejudice against others who were not Caucausian (whatever that term means) both at home and at the Mormon Church.

I'm sure that my mother was surrounded by this same atmosphere when she was a child. I remember being downtown with my mom, very young, seeing a black person in Salt Lake, and asking about the person. All I received by way of explanation was a dirty look which meant I had found a subject that didn't sit well with her and that I had better shut my mouth.

I heard in my home derogatory terms for many races, and when I later used them, not knowing that they were unkind, soon learned the hard way not to utter them.

In Sunday School, I learned that I was So-So-Superior because:

I was white.
Born into the Mormon Church
Born in America
Born in the Latter-Days
I was not a Fence Sitter.....I had made the proper choice.

About all I can say to all of this is....

WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP I WAS TAUGHT BOTH IN THE MORON CULT AND AT HOME!

Steve.....this is a GREAT post that poignantly gives substantiated reasons the MORMON CULT is caught with both hands and feet in the cookie jar.

Pus, you got it MORE than right with the name:

THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LYING-SAINTS.

In my book, a very important post. Thanks.


jpt
Re: Don't Buy the Big Lie: The Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

There are reasons why church members don't come by to home teach me. I like "sharing" my 60s and 70s version of the gospel with them.... the best that the prophets, seers, and revelators had to offer!


Uh steve
Re: Don't Buy the Big Lie: The Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

Sorry Steve, notwithstanding your best efforts, the younger generation of Mormons, under 30, believe in one of the following:

*curse of cain? Never heard of it. what is it? really? wow. Nope, the church never would have taught such a thing.

***curse of cain? speculation by some members, but always
opposed by the Brethren

The church has been successful in covering up Church history from the Members. They have won.


shakinthedust
Re: Don't Buy the Big Lie: The Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

The mormon church taught me its racist doctrines in the late 60s to the mid-70s. For them to deny they taught it as doctrine is a lie. It's revisionist history. We were taught that blacks were less worthy in the pre-existence and would never hold the priesthood in our lifetime, and no whites should ever date a person of color OR ELSE!

We were taught this consistently and continually:

Whites born in the US in The Latter Days were the most worthy in the pre-existence, especially if BIC. So therefore, because much was given, Much Was Expected, so we better be Super-Mormon or else. Also we were taught that we whites would be alive to see Christ come back to earth, and we would gather in Missouri and usher in the millenium.

Steve I hope I get to meet you someday as well. Thanks for all your great posts.


Paul the Apostle
Re: Don't Buy the Big Lie: The Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

Dude. Sorry to inform you, but all the people who taught you the doctrines below, were simply repeating "folklore". What they taught you were NEVER Church doctrine. Never.

The mormon church taught me its racist doctrines in the late 60s to the mid-70s. For them to deny they taught it as doctrine is a lie. It's revisionist history. We were taught that blacks were less worthy in the pre-existence and would never hold the priesthood in our lifetime, and no whites should ever date a person of color OR ELSE!

We were taught this consistently and continually:

Whites born in the US in The Latter Days were the most worthy in the pre-existence, especially if BIC. So therefore, because much was given, Much Was Expected, so we better be Super-Mormon or else. Also we were taught that we whites would be alive to see Christ come back to earth, and we would gather in Missouri and usher in the millenium.


donbagley
Re: Don't Buy the Big Lie: The Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

Two well known apologists (at least) have denied that the curse of Cain was ever doctrinal. I say it was, because I was taught it in church in the sixties.

Liars.


danr
Those of us on a mission pre-1978

know if it was really doctrine from god. Of course the leaders taught us all the principle, and how to handle blacks that asked us about it.

I am so angry at what I was taught to believe at that time. We told angry blacks that god revealed through revelation to our prophet that they were unworthy and cursed--so unable to have the priesthood or go to the temple. If they believed we have a true prophet they will accept that a god's will, in they don't believe it then it won't affect them. How condescending is that?

I lived it everyday on my mission.


Outsider not logged in
Re: Don't Buy the Big Lie: The Mormon Church Knew & Taught Its Racist Doctrines

I think that the NOM should be more forceable about this. Moron's should be held accountable.


GNPE
'unofficially' of course
women served as missionaries without 'holding the priesthood', haven't they?

the 1978 "revelation" regarding black males Ignores the FACT that black women couldn't serve missions, go thru the temple, etc.

IOW, don't overlook the sexism of the LDS Corp.


"Recovery from Mormonism - www.exmormon.org"