What most Latter-day Saints have been taught in
church and believe as truth.
Significant details & problems that most
Latter-day Saints may not be aware of.
Racist comments made by leaders of the Church.
Public interviews with the current
prophet.
Doctrine supported by LDS Scriptures.
Events leading up to the
revelation in 1978.
Church leaders act as if racism
did not exist in the Church.
Will blacks be just servants in the next life?
Should the Church apologize
for its past teachings?
Protest from a faithful member.
Responses
to these issues by faithful Latter-day Saints.
What most
Latter-day Saints have been taught in church and believe as truth.
Most Latter-day Saints are fully aware that black men were excluded from the priesthood from its inception till 1978. It was largely taught in the Church that up through the 1980s blacks were denied the priesthood because they were from the lineage of Cain, who was cursed with a black skin after killing his brother Abel. People were born black because they were less valiant in the pre-existence.
The ban on blacks holding the priesthood was reversed due to revelation received by the prophet Spencer W. Kimball in 1978 and was not due to the civil rights movement.
Prospective converts, even black ones, are not told about the prior priesthood ban on blacks. The Church doesn’t deny it but prefers not to discuss it.
The Church has not admitted that the original ban was a mistake nor has it offered any form of apology. The leaders say the 1978 proclamation took care of that.
Some current members believe that the ban was wrongly instituted by Brigham Young and was not really God’s will. Others believe it was God’s will and the reasons were as many of the leaders taught for 150 years, that blacks were cursed and less valiant in the pre-existence. Many other Latter-day Saints believe it was God’s will but they do not know the reason. Since 1978, the Church has avoided publicly commenting on the reasons for the ban in the first place.
Significant details
& problems that most Latter-day Saints may not be aware of.
Racist comments made by leaders of the Church.
The leaders of the church up through the 1970s made it very clear why blacks were denied the priesthood. There are too many comments to list them all but here is a sample of the comments made by various LDS officials (emphasis added):
Brigham Young
"Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 10, page 110.)
You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, un- comely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind. The first man that committed the odious crime of killing one of his brethren will be cursed the longest of any one of the children of Adam. Cain slew his brother. Cain might have been killed, and that would have put a termination to that line of human beings. This was not to be, and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin. Trace mankind down to after the flood, and then another curse is pronounced upon the same race - that they should be the "servant of servants;" and they will be, until that curse is removed; and the Abolitionists cannot help it, nor in the least alter that decree. How long is that race to endure the dreadful curse that is upon them? That curse will remain upon them, [p.291] and they never can hold the Priesthood or share in it until all the other descendants of Adam have received the promises and enjoyed the blessings of the Priesthood and the keys thereof. Until the last ones of the residue of Adam's children are brought up to that favourable position, the children of Cain cannot receive the first ordinances of the Priesthood. They were the first that were cursed, and they will be the last from whom the curse will be removed. When the residue of the family of Adam come up and receive their blessings, then the curse will be removed from the seed of Cain, and they will receive blessings in like proportion. - (Journal of Discourses 7:290-291, October 9, 1859)
"You may inquire of the intelligent of the world whether they can tell why the aborigines of this country are dark, loathsome, ignorant, and sunken into the depths of degradation ...When the Lord has a people, he makes covenants with them and gives unto them promises: then, if they transgress his law, change his ordinances, and break his covenants he has made with them, he will put a mark upon them, as in the case of the Lamanites and other portions of the house of Israel; but by-and-by they will become a white and delightsome people" (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 7:336).
It is not the prerogative of the President of the
John Taylor,
President of the Church
“And after
the flood we are told that the curse that had been pronounced upon Cain was
continued through Ham's wife, as he had married a wife of that seed. And why
did it pass through the flood? because it was necessary that the devil should have a representation upon the
earth as well as God;...” Journal of Discourses, Vol. 22, page 304
Wilford Woodruff,
4th President of the Church
"And if any man mingle his seed with the seed of Cain
the only way he could get rid of it or have Salvation would be to come forward
and have his head cut off and spill his blood upon the ground- it would also
take the life of his children."
(Wilford Woodruff Journal)
Joseph Fielding
Smith, 10th LDS President
"Not only was Cain called upon to suffer, but because of his wickedness he became the father of an inferior race. A curse placed upon him and that curse has been continued through his lineage and must do so while time endures. Millions of souls have come into this world cursed with a black skin and have been denied the privilege of Priesthood and the fullness of the blessings of the Gospel. These are the descendants of Cain. Moreover, they have been made to feel their inferiority and have been separated from the rest of mankind from the beginning.... we will also hope that blessings may eventually be given to our negro brethren, for they are our brethren—children of God—not withstanding their black covering emblematical of eternal darkness. " The Way to Perfection, pages 101-102. http://www.barncow.com/curseofcain/
"There is a reason why one man is born black and with other disadvantages, while another is born white with great advantages. The reason is that we once had an estate before we came here, and were obedient, more or less, to the laws that were given us there. Those who were faithful in all things there received greater blessings here, and those who were not faithful received less." (Doctrines of Salvation, p. 61)
”I would not want you to believe that we bear any animosity toward the Negro. "Darkies"
are wonderful people, and they have their place in our church." Look
magazine, October 22, 1963, page 79.
President Brigham Young, answering a question put to him by
Elder Lorenzo D. Young in a meeting held December 25 , 1869, in Salt Lake City,
said that Joseph Smith had declared that the Negroes were not neutral in heaven, for all the spirits took sides,
but the posterity of Cain are black because he (Cain) committed murder." The Way to Perfection, pages 105-106.
"That negro race,
for instance, have been placed under restrictions because of their attitude in
the world of spirits, few will doubt. It cannot be looked upon as just that
they should be deprived of the power of the Priesthood without it being a punishment for some act, or acts, performed
before they were born." The Way
to Perfection, page 43.
"Ham, through Egyptus, continued the curse which was
placed upon the seed of Cain. Because of that curse this dark race was
separated and isolated from all the rest of Adam's posterity before the flood,
and since that time the same condition has continued, and they have been
'despised among all people.' This doctrine did not originate with President
Brigham Young but was taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith .... we all know it is
due to his teachings that the negro today is barred from the
Priesthood." The Way to
Perfection, pages 110-111.
Spencer W. Kimball
"The day of the Lamanites in nigh. For years they have been growing delightsome. . . The children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation. . .There was the doctor in a Utah city who for two years had had an Indian boy in his home who stated that he was some shades lighter than the younger brother just coming into the program from the reservation. These young members of the Church are changing to whiteness and to delightsomeness. Spencer W. Kimball; The Improvement Era, Dec. 1960, p. 923)
Apostle Bruce R. McKonkie
"Negroes in this life are denied the Priesthood; under no circumstances can they hold this delegation of authority from the Almighty. (Abra. 1:20-27.) The gospel message of salvation is not carried affirmatively to them... negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned, particularly the priesthood and the temple blessings that flow there from, but this inequality is not of man's origin. It is the Lord's doing, is based on his eternal laws of justice, and grows out of the lack of Spiritual valiance of those concerned in their first estate." (Mormon Doctrine, 1966, pp. 527-528)
Apostle Mark E. Petersen:
"God has commanded
"The reason that one would lose his blessings by marrying a Negro is due to the restriction placed upon them. "No person having the least particle of Negro blood can hold the Priesthood" (Brigham Young). It does not matter if they are one-sixth Negro or one-hundred and sixth, the curse of no Priesthood is the same. If an individual who is entitled to the Priesthood marries a Negro, the Lord has decreed that only spirits who are not eligible for the Priesthood will come to that marriage as children. To intermarry with a Negro is to forfeit a "Nation of Priesthood holders…
"The discussion on civil rights, especially over the last 20 years, has drawn some very sharp lines. It has blinded the thinking of some of our own people, I believe. They have allowed their political affiliations to color their thinking to some extent, and then, of course, they have been persuaded by some of the arguments that have been put forth…We who teach in the Church certainly must have our feet on the ground and not to be led astray by the philosophies of men on this subject…
"I think I have read enough to give you an idea of what the Negro is after. He is not just seeking the opportunity of sitting down in a cafe where white people eat. He isn't just trying to ride on the same streetcar or the same Pullman car with white people. It isn't that he just desires to go to the same theater as the white people. From this, and other interviews I have read, it appears that the Negro seeks absorption with the white race. He will not be satisfied until he achieves it by intermarriage. That is his objective and we must face it. We must not allow our feelings to carry us away, nor must we feel so sorry for Negroes that we will open our arms and embrace them with everything we have. Remember the little statement that we used to say about sin, 'First we pity, then endure, then embrace'…
"Now let's talk about segregation again for a few moments. Was segregation a wrong principle? When the Lord chose the nations to which the spirits were to come, determining that some would be Japanese and some would be Chinese and some Negroes and some Americans, He engaged in an act of segregation…
"When he told Enoch not preach the gospel to the descendants of Cain who were black, the Lord engaged in segregation. When He cursed the descendants of Cain as to the Priesthood, He engaged in segregation…
"Who
placed the Negroes originally in darkest
"The Lord segregated the people both as to blood and place of residence. At least in the cases of the Lamanites and the Negro we have the definite word of the Lord Himself that he placed a dark skin upon them as a curse -- as a punishment and as a sign to all others. He forbade intermarriage with them under threat of extension of the curse. And He certainly segregated the descendants of Cain when He cursed the Negro as to the Priesthood, and drew an absolute line. You may even say He dropped an Iron curtain there…
"Now we are generous with the Negro. We are willing that the Negro have the highest education. I would be willing to let every Negro drive a Cadillac if they could afford it. I would be willing that they have all the advantages they can get out of life in the world. But let them enjoy these things among themselves. I think the Lord segregated the Negro and who is man to change that segregation? It reminds me of the scripture on marriage, 'what God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.' Only here we have the reverse of the thing - what God hath separated, let not man bring together again.
"Think of the Negro, cursed as to the priesthood…This Negro, who, in the pre-existence lived the type of life which justified the Lord in sending him to the earth in their lineage of Cain with a black skin, and possibly being born in darkest Africa--if that Negro is willing when he hears the gospel to accept it, he may have many of the blessings of the gospel. In spite of all he did in the pre-existent life, the Lord is willing, if the Negro accepts the gospel with real, sincere faith, and is really converted, to give him the blessings of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. If 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 celestial glory." (Apostle Mark E. Peterson, Race Problems - As They Affect The Church, Convention of Teachers of Religion on the College Level, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, August 27, 1954)
Apostle
George F. Richards (spoken in conference)
Conference Reports,
CR April 1939, Second Day-Morning Meeting: Elder George F. Richards
"The negro is an unfortunate man. He has been given a black skin....But that is as nothing compared with that greater handicap that he is not permitted to receive the Priesthood and the ordinances of the temple, necessary to prepare men and women to enter into and enjoy a fulness of glory in the celestial kingdom....What is the reason for this condition, we ask, and I find it to my satisfaction to think that as spirit children of our Eternal Father they were not valiant in the fight. We are told that Michael and his angels fought, and we understand that we stood with Christ our Lord, on the platform, "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever." I cannot conceive our Father consigning his children to a condition such as that of the negro race, if they had been valiant in the spirit world in that war in heaven. Neither could they have been a part of those who rebelled and were cast down, for the latter had not the privilege of tabernacling in the flesh. Somewhere along the line were these spirits, indifferent perhaps, and possibly neutral in the war. We have no definite knowledge concerning this. But I learn this lesson from it, brethren and sisters, and I believe we all should, that it does not pay in religious matters, matters that pertain to our eternal salvation, to be indifferent, neutral, or lukewarm."
Public interviews with the current prophet.
From the Australian Broadcasting Company Sunday night television show COMPASS:
COMPASS:: So in retrospect
was the Church wrong in that [denying blacks the priesthood]?
COMPASS: What was the reason for that?
COMPASS: Is it a problem for the Church that it is still..has a tag of being
racist?
http://www.i4m.com/think/leaders/Hinckley_dontknow.htm
From Gordon B. Hinckley’s interview with Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes:
Mike Wallace: From 1830 to 1978, blacks could not become priests in the Mormon church. Right?
Gordon B.
Mike Wallace: Why?
Gordon B.
Mike Wallace: Church policy had it that blacks had the mark of Cain. Brigham Young said, "Cain slew his brother, and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin."
Gordon B.
Mike Wallace: Skeptics will suggest, "Well, look, if we're going to expand, we can't keep the blacks out."
Gordon B.
The "60 Minutes" program on the
Broadcast on CBS TV, April 7, 1996
Transcribed by: Robert J. Woolley
http://www.lds-mormon.com/60min.shtml
Critic’s Comment:
Doctrine supported by LDS Scriptures.
2 Nephi 5: 21- 'And he had
caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of
their iniquity. For behold, they had
hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint;
wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they
might not be enticing unto my people, the Lord God did cause a skin of
blackness to come upon them.'
Alma 3: 6- 'And the skins of
the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers,
which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion
against their brethren, who consisted of Nephi, Jacob and Joseph, and Sam, who
were just and holy men.'
2 Nephi 30: 6- "...their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and a delightsome people."
NOTE: THE TERM ‘WHITE’ WAS CHANGED TO ‘PURE’ IN 1981.
3 Nephi 2:15- "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
21 Now this king of
22 From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the
Canaanites was preserved in the land.
23 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;
24 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.
27 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;
"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, Pg.128
"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.”
- The
Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 3, page 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?"
- LDS
Messenger and Advocate (Mar 1835) William Phelps "Letter No. 5,"
Pg.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."
- Times
and Seasons, Vol.6, Pg.857
White and Delightsome or Pure and Delightsome? - A Look at 2 Nephi 30:6
http://www.mrm.org/multimedia/text/pure-white.html
By Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson
Until 1981 2 Nephi 30:6 in the Book of Mormon taught that dark-skinned Lamanites (Indians) would eventually experience a change in the color of their skin should they embrace the Book of Mormon. This passage of Mormon scripture read:
"...their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and a delightsome people."
However, in 1981, the
"And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, and 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."
Furthermore, we find another reference to a change in skin color in 3 Nephi 2:15. This passage reads:
"And
their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the
Nephites."
That the context refers to skin color is
verified by a number of LDS leaders including Joseph Smith. Mormon author
George D. Smith notes that Joseph Smith was given a revelation which foretold
of a day when intermarriage with the Lamanites would produce a white and
delightsome posterity. George Smith wrote, "This unpublished 17 July 1831
revelation was described three decades later in an 1861 letter from W.W. Phelps
to Brigham Young quoting Joseph Smith: `It is my will, that in time, ye should
take unto you wives of the Lamanites and Nephites, that their posterity, may
become white, delightsome and just.' In the 8 December 1831
Second LDS President Brigham Young stated in 1859, "You may inquire of the intelligent of the world whether they can tell why the aborigines of this country are dark, loathsome, ignorant, and sunken into the depths of degradation ...When the Lord has a people, he makes covenants with them and gives unto them promises: then, if they transgress his law, change his ordinances, and break his covenants he has made with them, he will put a mark upon them, as in the case of the Lamanites and other portions of the house of Israel; but by-and-by they will become a white and delightsome people" (Journal of Discourses 7:336).
At the October 1960 LDS Church
Conference, Spencer Kimball utilized 2 Nephi 30:6 when he stated how the
Indians "are fast becoming a white and delightsome people." He said,
"The [Indian] children in the home placement program in
During the same message Kimball referred to a 16-year-old Indian girl who was both LDS and "several shades lighter than her parents..." He went on to say, "These young members of the Church are changing to whiteness and to delightsomeness. One white elder jokingly said that he and his companion were donating blood regularly to the hospital in the hope that the process might be accelerated."
LDS writer George Edward Clark gives a
similar account in his book entitled "Why I Believe." On page 129 he
wrote, "The writer has been privileged to sit at table with several
members of the Catawba tribe of Indians, whose reservation is near the north
border of
It has also been taught in Mormonism that opposite repercussions could result when a white man abandoned his Mormon faith. For instance, the Juvenile Instructor (26:635) reads,
"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 extend as to excite the comments of all who have known them."
In 1857, Brigham Young declared that apostates would "become gray-haired, wrinkled, and black, just like the Devil" (Journal of Discourses 5:332).
Despite the comments from past Mormon leaders, skin color has nothing to do with a person's spirituality. To say 2 Nephi 30:6 was altered merely for clarification and had nothing to do with skin color is without merit. It was a false prophecy, nothing more, nothing less.
Chronology
of 2 Nephi 30:6
"... many generations shall not pass away among them,
save they shall be a WHITE and a delightsome people." (1830 Edition, p.
117)
"... PURE and delightsome people." (1840 edition)
"...WHITE and delightsome people." (All later translations until
1981)
"... PURE and delightsome people." (1981 translations , II Nephi
30:6)
Although the Mormon Church will not make available the handwritten manuscript
of the Book of Mormon, the
So, someone
originally wrote "white" (1830) and then someone changed it to
"pure" (1840) and then back to "white" (after 1840) and
then finally to "pure" (1981).
This is the "most correct book" on earth? This is the result of a
"translation" process in which JS could not continue until he got it
right? For some reason the term got
changed from WHITE to PURE. We know
faithful apologists who have admitted that it was likely finally changed for
good in 1981 to be ‘politically correct’.
Some others argue that it should have always been PURE but was somehow
translated incorrectly in 1830. Others
say that this change seems to reflect the Prophet’s concern that modern readers
might misinterpret this passage as a reference to racial changes rather than to
changes in righteousness.
However in
context of everything the prophets have said as well as official Church
publications concerning the Lamanites actually changing their skin color when they
converted it seems clear that the context is ‘white’ skin and not ‘pure’
hearts. This also disproves the
arguments by some LDS apologists that say the ban had to do with lineage and
not skin color.
http://www.mrm.org/multimedia/text/pure-white.html
http://www.mormoncurtain.com/topic_whiteanddelightsome.html
"The
majority of slaves in
Slaves were bought and sold in
Brigham Young on Slavery Interviewed by Horace Greeley for NY Tribune article
Aug 20, 1859:
H. G.—What is the position of your church with respect to slavery?
B. Y.—We consider it of divine institution, and not to be abolished until the
curse pronounced on Ham shall have been removed from his descendants.
H. G.—Are any slaves now held in this territory?
B. Y.—There are.
H. G.—Do your territorial laws uphold slavery?
B. Y.—Those laws are printed—you can read for yourself. If slaves are brought here by those who owned
them in the states, we do not favor their escape from the service of those
owners.
More from
the Mormon newspaper Messenger and Advocate:
“Where can be the common sense of any wishing to see the slaves of the south
set at liberty,... Such a thing could not take place without corrupting all
civil and wholesome society, of both the north and the south! Let the BLACKS of
the south be free, and our community is overrun with paupers, and a reckless mass
of human beings, uncultivated, untaught and unaccustomed to provide for
themselves the necessaries of life— endangering the chastity of every female
who might by chance be found in our streets—our prisons filled with convicts,
and the HANG-MAN WEARIED with executing the functions of his office! This must
unavoidably be the case, every rational man must admit, who has ever travelled
in the slave states, or we must open our houses unfold our arms, and bid these
DEGRADED AND DEGRADING sons of Canaan, a hear[t]y welcome and a free admittance
to all we possess! A society of this nature, to us, is so intolerably
DEGRADING, that the bare reflection causes our feelings to recoil, and our
hearts to revolt....the project of EMANSIPATION IS DESTRUCTIVE TO OUR GOVERNMENT,
and the notion of amalgamation is devilish!— And insensible to feeling must be
the heart, and low indeed must be the mind, that would consent for a moment, to
see his fair daughter, his sister, or perhaps, his bosom companion, in the
embrace of a NEGRO!...
(Messenger and Advocate, Vol. 2, pp.
299-301)
Brigham Young states that slavery is a divine institution:
“Ham will continue to be servant of servants, as the Lord decreed, until the
curse is removed. WILL THE PRESENT STRUGGLE FREE THE SLAVE? NO; but they are
now wasting away the black race by thousands.... “Treat the slaves kindly and
let them live, for HAM MUST BE THE SERVANT OF SERVANTS UNTIL THE CURSE IS
REMOVED. Can you destroy the decrees of the Almighty? YOU CANNOT. Yet our
Christian brethren think that they are going to overthrow the sentence of the
Almighty upon the seed of Ham. THEY CANNOT DO THAT, though they may kill them
by thousands and tens of thousands.”
(Millennial Star, Vol. 25, page 787;
also published in Journal of Discourses, Vol. 10, page 250)
http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/a/African_Americans.html
http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/sermons_talks_interviews/brigham1852feb5_priesthoodandblacks.htm
http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/sermons_talks_interviews/brigham1852feb5_priesthoodandblacks.htm
Events leading
up to the revelation in 1978.
The Church has maintained that the 1978 revelation giving blacks the priesthood was not due to any form of public pressure but was simply God’s will that blacks should not be given the priesthood until 1978.
Consider the
following events that directly proceeded the 1978 revelation:
1) Under
President Jimmy Carter,
2) Colleges were boycotting athletic games against BYU. The mood in the country at the time was decidedly against the Mormons.
3) The Boy Scouts of America was putting a lot of pressure on the Church since only priesthood holders could be boy scout troop leaders in LDS scout troops this was denying black scouts the same opportunities that white scouts had.
4) Members and missionaries the world over were embarrassed and ashamed at what the church taught in Sunday School about blacks. The members were not racist and did not like believing in and teaching racist doctrine.
5) The 1978
"revelation" was just prior to the temple opening in
6) The
Church was becoming a global church. How
could they possibly succeed in
Does this
sound like revelation?
Elder
Le Grand Richards, from an interview by Wesley Walters and Chris Vlachos on
August 16, 1978, Church Office Building, Salt Lake City:
Walters: On this revelation, of the
priesthood to the Negro, I've heard all kinds of stories: I've heard that
Christ appeared to the apostles; I've heard that Joseph Smith appeared; and
then I heard another story that Spencer Kimball had had a concern about this
for some time, and simply shared it with the apostles, and they decided that
this was the right time to move in that direction. Are any of those stories
true, or are they all?
Richards: Well, the last one is
pretty true, and I might tell you what provoked it in a way. Down in
And then the next Thursday--we meet every Thursday--the presidency came with
this little document written out to make the announcement--to see how we'd feel
about it--and present it in written form. Well, some of the members of the
Twelve suggested a few changes in the announcement, and then in our meeting
there we all voted in favor of it--the Twelve and the first Presidency. One
member of the Twelve, Mark Peterson, was down in South America, but Brother
Benson, our president, had arranged to know where he could be reached by phone,
and right while we were in that meeting in the temple, Brother Kimball talked
with Brother Peterson, and read him the article, and he (Peterson) approved of
it.
Walters: There wasn't a special
document as a "revelation", that he had wrote down?
Richards: We discussed it in our
meeting. What else should we say besides that announcement? And we decided that
that was sufficient; that no more needed to be said.
(excerpted, emphasis mine)
Negative Revelation
Although we don’t normally quote from unverified sources, we decided to add this account from someone we know that worked in the administrative staff at the MTC during the time of the announcement:
We were told, by visiting General
Authorities and others from the
That is, the First Presidency and the Twelve decided to tell the Lord that
they were going to change the policy regarding blacks and the LDS priesthood
"unless He gave them a sign to the contrary."
In the absence of any sign, they changed the policy.
No one officially coming over from SLC to the MTC at the time denied this
story. It was later that I heard the
word "revelation" actually used in conjunction with it. But Elder Le Grand Richard's statements in
his interview with Chris Vlachos and Wesley P. Walters supports this version of
the events.
Perhaps many revelations are received this way?
http://www.irr.org/mit/Skin%20Color%20&%20LDS%20Church.pdf
http://www.lib.utah.edu/spc/photo/txt/avguide.txt A0070 Legrande Richards
Church leaders act
as if racism did not exist in the Church.
From an Ensign article of September 2000 by GA Alexander Morrison (emphasis added):
"Unfortunately, racism—the abhorrent and morally destructive theory that
claims superiority of one person over another by reason of race, color,
ethnicity, or cultural background—remains one of the abiding sins of societies
the world over. The cause of much of the strife and conflict in the world,
racism is an offense against God and a tool in the devil’s hands. In common
with other Christians, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints regret the actions and statements of individuals who have been
insensitive to the pain suffered by the victims of racism and ask God’s
forgiveness for those guilty of this grievous sin. The sin of racism will be
eliminated only when every human being treats all others with the dignity and
respect each deserves as a beloved child of our Heavenly Father.
"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."
And another statement from the prophet Gordon B. Hinckley:
Now I am told that racial slurs and denigrating remarks are
sometimes heard among us. I remind you that no man who makes disparaging
remarks concerning those of another race can consider himself a true disciple
of Christ. Nor can he consider himself to be in harmony with the teachings of
the
The Need for Greater Kindness
April 2006 Priesthood Session
President Gordon B. Hinckley
Critic’s point: Isn’t what GBH saying is wrong exactly what the Church did? The Church assumed blacks were not eligible for the priesthood regardless of how righteous they were and they did this for 150 years.
Many churches believed that in the 1800s that the curse put upon Cain in Genesis was black skin. However they did not believe that blacks were less valiant before they came to earth
The LDS prophets and apostles taught for generations that blacks were the "cursed seed of Cain". According to LDS theology, "The Lord" punished Cain for murdering his brother Abel by making his skin go dark, making him the first Negro.
This isn’t necessarily Biblical. According to the Bible, the mark was put on Cain to protect him. The Mark of Cain was to be a protection. That it was seven times worse to kill Cain or one of his descendents than it was to kill another. But also it was a mark so that racial/tribal/religions wouldn't inter marry. God was very specific in the Old Testament on what kind of person and race people could marry or have sex with.
In early
19th century
And the sons of Noah that went forth from the ark were Shem, and Ham, and
Japeth: and Ham is the father of
In her paper “The Lives of African-American Mormons and the Evolution of Church
Policy”, Howarth (1995) noted:
“it had been popularly taught, at least since A.D. 200, by both Christian and
Jewish scholars, that the descendants of Ham or
“It was
argued that the Negro was inferior by nature because of Noah's curse upon the
children of Ham.... The greatest blasphemy of the whole ugly process was that
the white man ended up making God his partner in the exploitation of the Negro.”
~Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go
from Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967
No one really knows for sure what the curse put upon Cain was (assuming the
story of Cain and Abel isn’t merely a myth).
Of course
scientific research shows that skin color is a product of living in various
climates, and that the first humans, who emerged in deep dark Africa, were
Negroid, and that as humans moved northward into
http://www.geocities.com/solmes.geo/african_american_mormons.html
More on Cain.
There is a discussion of Cain, including a passage from some
early LDS member in Spencer W. Kimball’s book The Miracle of Forgiveness:
As I was riding along the road on my mule I suddenly noticed a very strange
personage walking beside me.... His head was about even with my shoulders as I
sat in my saddle. He wore no clothing,
but was covered with hair. His skin was
very dark. I asked him where he dwelt
and he replied that he had no home, that he was a wanderer in the earth and
traveled to and fro. He said he was a
very miserable creature, that he had earnestly sought death during his sojourn
upon the earth, but that he could not die, and his mission was to destroy the
souls of men. About the time he
expressed himself thus, I rebuked him in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and
by virtue of the Holy Priesthood, and commanded him to go hence, and he
immediately departed out of my sight....(Lycurgus A. Wilson, Life of David W.
Patten [Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1900], p. 50., as quoted by Spencer W.
Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness
[Salt Lake City, Bookcraft, Inc.]18th printing 1991 p.p. 127-128.)
Some members question whether the ban was actual doctrine or just Church policy. The First Presidency issued the following official statements signed by all three members. (emphasis added):
1947
the First Presidency (supreme council) of the Church issued an Official
Statement:
"From the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith even until now, it has been the doctrine of the Church, never questioned by Church leaders, that the Negroes are not entitled to the full blessings of the Gospel." (Statement of The First Presidency on the Negro Question, July 17 1947, quoted in Mormonism and the Negro, pp.46-7)
In 1949, The First Presidency issued the following statement:
"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 from 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 that they are not entitled to the priesthood at the
present time." (The First Presidency on the Negro Question, 17 Aug. 1949)
Official
Statement of First Presidency issued on August 17, 1951, reads:
"The position of the 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 allotted 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."
The Reasons for the Ban
Of perhaps greater concern is the reason for the doctrine. Are the commonly referred to beliefs of the ban dealing with the curse of Cain and being less valiant in the pre-existence actual doctrine or merely Mormon folklore?
The earliest reference may be from Orson Hyde in 1845 when he said that the reason blacks are black was due to their actions in the pre-existence. Every prophet since Brigham Young until Spencer W. Kimball has preached the same belief as doctrine.
By listening to the Church’s official spokesmen for 150 years it seems clear that the reason for the ban had to do with blacks being cursed by God because they were less valiant in the pre-existence and were therefore born under the curse of Cain, who was the first Negro.
To say otherwise, and go against scores of teachings and sermons and even First Presidency messages by the highest leaders of the Church, would put into serious question whether these men are really inspired men that receive revelation from God.
We were all clearly taught this in Church for decades before the ban. If the leaders of the church could make such a serious error, then how can we really ever put our 100% trust in what they say? How is the LDS church more true than the hundreds of protestant churches that did not teach, up through 1978, that blacks are black because they were cursed from God for being less valiant before they came to earth?
In public interviews, Gordon B. Hinckley has said that he doesn’t know the reasons for the ban. He seems understandably uncomfortable answering the question. It is strange that until the ban, the reasons were plainly taught to the members but now no one wants to say what the reasons are anymore or confirm whether what was taught in the past is true or not.
Were the leaders right?
One apologist told me in confidence that he personally thought that blacks were ‘fence-sitters’ in the pre-existence and were indeed cursed from Cain and that the prophets were correct about the doctrine and the reasons for it. They don’t talk about it for the obvious public image problems that it would cause for the Church in modern times. Perhaps that’s true – we’ll never really know. But this is further evidence that the Church needs to make a more official statement on the reasons for the ban.
If the ban preventing blacks from having the priesthood was instituted by Joseph Smith, then that would give the ban more legitimacy as Joseph was the first and by far the most doctrinal of the Latter-day prophets. However if the ban was made by the prophets after Joseph then perhaps they were in error as Brigham Young was in error regarding the Adam-God sermons.
Born into slavery in
Abel was the first black person to be baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. He was also the first
black man to receive the priesthood, ordained an elder in 1836 under the hands
of the prophet Joseph Smith. Abel's
journey was one of pain, suffering, liberation and spiritual redemption. A few years after receiving the priesthood,
Abel was ordained as a seventy-a high position of leadership in the LDS
faith. Abel served missions for the
Abel changed the lives and softened the hearts of countless people. Shortly after his second mission, Abel was
ordained into the Nauvoo Seventies Quorum, and when Joseph Smith was arrested
in
Another black man, Walker Lewis also received the priesthood during Joseph’s leadership – he was ordained an elder in 1844 by William Smith, Joseph’s brother.
Joseph Smith was not a racist - he was friends with a black
convert (Elijah Abel) whom he allowed to be ordained to the higher
priesthood. However, Brigham Young
refused that same man from being endowed in the Nauvoo temple with the rest of
the Saints. Perhaps the racism came from
Brigham moving forward because we've seen no evidence that Joseph felt that way
and we could find no official church policy on blacks written during Joseph’s
life. He was out to win over all men
regardless of race, nationality or color.
When Joseph ran for president of the
If the prophets after Joseph Smith were responsible for the ban on blacks from receiving the priesthood and if indeed this was a false doctrine then how could any of those men possibly be prophets? For men of God to deny an entire race the benefit of the priesthood for 150 years is inexcusable. The Church would have been much better off to have been governed by a group of men that did not claim divine authority and therefore could have been responsive to the will of the members.
If Brigham Young instituted the priesthood ban on blacks
without being directed to from God, then this is just too serious to
ignore. And if all the prophets since
Brigham Young until Spencer W. Kimball let it go unchallenged, then how can
anyone say these men are truly prophets of God? It’s ironic that all the other Christian
churches, that do not claim to have prophets, allowed blacks the same rights as
whites long before the prophet-led
http://mormonstories.org/top10toughissues/blacks.html
Will blacks be just servants in the next
life?
In August 1908, LDS President Joseph F. Smith recounted the
situation of a devout LDS African-American woman who was sealed to Joseph
Smith--not as one of Joseph's many plural wives--but, rather, as Smith's
servant. Her struggle for equal rights
is summarized below:
"A free-born servant, Jane Elizabeth Manning was born in the late 1810s or
early 1820s and grew up in
"In 1843, eight members of the Manning family started toward Nauvoo but
became separated at
"Before the Latter-day Saints left Nauvoo, Jane Manning married another
black Mormon, Isaac James. James, a native of
"Their first son was born at Winter Quarters in 1846. The couple had six
more children in
"Jane Manning James was a member of the female Relief Society and donated
to the St. George, Manti, and Logan temple funds. "She repeatedly petitioned the First
Presidency to be endowed and to have her children sealed to her. . . .
"After Isaac died, Jane asked that they [her children] be given the
ordination of adoption so they would be together in the next life. "She explained in correspondence to
Church leaders that Emma Smith had offered to have her sealed to the Smith
family as a child. She reconsidered that decision and asked to be sealed to the
Smiths.
"Permission for all of these requests was denied. "Instead the First Presidency 'decided
she might be adopted into the family of Joseph Smith as a servant, which was
done, a special . . . ceremony having been prepared for the purpose.'
"The minutes of the Council of Twelve Apostles continued: "'But Aunt Jane was not satisfied with
this, and as a mark of dissatisfaction she applied again after this for sealing
blessings, but of course in vain.' . . .
"Jane Manning James bore a testimony of Mormonism to the end of her life
[as follows, in her own words]:
"'My faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, as taught by the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, is as strong today, nay, it is if possible
stronger than it was the day I was first baptized. I pay my tithes and
offerings, keep the word of wisdom, I go to bed early and rise early, I try in
my feeble way to set a good example to all.'
"When she died in 1908, Church president Joseph F. Smith spoke at her
funeral." At her funeral, President
Smith admitted that "Aunt Jane" (as she was known) had been relegated
to eternal servanthood in the Mormon realms above, despite being a valiant,
faithful Church member to the end:
". . . [E]fforts . . . 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."
"I had several meetings with H. B.
--Wilford Woodruff, journal note for Oct 16, 1894.
http://www.ldshistory.net/1990/embry.htm and
("Excerpts From The Weekly Council Meetings Of The Quorum Of The
Twelve Apostles," in Jerald and Sandra Tanner, "Mormonism--Shadow or Reality?," p. 584, at http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changech10a.htm
)
This LDS belief that even faithful blacks were destined to be just servants in
the next life was also taught openly at least through the mid 1950s. LDS apostle Mark E. Petersen declared in a
sermon to BYU students that baptized LDS Blacks would receive only qualified
acceptance into Mormonism's highest degree of glory:
"In spite of all he [the Black person] did in the pre-existent life, the
Lord is willing, if the Negro accepts the gospel with real, sincere faith, and
is really converted, to give him the blessings of baptism and the gift of the
Holy Ghost. “
"If that Negro is faithful all his days, he can and will enter the
Mark E. Petersen, "Race
Problems—As They Affect The Church," speech at the "Convention of
Teachers of Religion at the College Level at
http://www.realmormonhistory.com/god&skin.htm#Mark
http://www.religioustolerance.org/lds_race.htm
Our comment: The
Should the Church apologize for its past
teachings?
From the Pro-LDS Site http://www.angelfire.com/mo2/blackmormon/SAQ.html
Q. Will the Mormon Church ever just apologize to black folks for teaching that they are the descendants of Cain and under his curse?
A. Not likely. It is highly unlikely that The First Presidency will ever "apologize" for the Curse of Cain doctrine and/or the Priesthood-ban policy. To call the Curse of Cain doctrine and Priesthood-ban policy a "mistake" would be saying that Mormon leaders from Brigham Young (1850s-1870s) to Spencer W. Kimball (1970s-1980s) were not inspired of God! It would be saying that Church Presidents, considered to be "Living Prophets" by Mormons, cannot be trusted in their doctrines or policies.
The LORD has said:
"What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." (Doctrine & Covenants 1:38)
Some Members of the Church believe the Priesthood-ban was a "mistake" and not of God. They don't believe that blacks are the descendants of Cain. Some of these believe that the Church should publicly "repudiate" the Curse of Cain legacy. Others believe that merely by not discussing it, not talking about it, the Curse of Cain legacy will slowly "fade away" and be forgotten.
Some Members don't believe that the Church ever taught that blacks were the descendants of Cain or cursed at all! These Members are either very misinformed, or self-deluded. Some of them will go into "denial" and literally lie to themselves and others. Why? Because they don't want others to perceive them as "racist".
A few Members will think of excuses why blacks were denied the Priesthood; other than the