The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his075/lds18.lzh/LDS18.TXT

Text File | 1991-07-08 | 11KB | 229 lines

CUL:Mormon statements concerning the Negro  by Ken Simmons

   It was no less an authority than Brigham Young who uttered these
words, as scripture, about the Negro during the era of slavery:

   "Cain conversed with God every day, and knew all about the plan of
creating this earth, for his father told him. But for the want of
humility, and through jealousy, and an anxiety to possess the kingdom,
and to have the whole of it under his own control, and not allow any
body else the right to say one word,what did he do? He killed his
brother. The Lord put a mark on him... When all the other children of
Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming
into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters
of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then
it will be time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his posterity.
He deprived his brother of the privilege of pursuing the his journey
through life, and of extending his kingdom by multiplying upon the
earth; and because he did this, he is the last to share in the joys of
the kingdom of God."

   Joseph Fielding Smith quoting Young's Journal of Discourses, vol.2,
pp.142-143 in his book "The Way of Perfection", p. 106

   To summarize Smith's quote of Young, the conditions of the curse
being removed from the Negro are as follows:

   1) When all the other children of Adam (Adam was the God of the
Mormons as Young preached at that time) have had the privilege of
receiving the Priesthood.

   2) When all the other children of Adam (Mormons) have been
resurrected.

   The question is put forth then: has every Mormon received the
Priesthood and resurrection? If so, then the Negro nations should be
receiving the full emphasis of Mormon missionary work. Since that isn't
the case, then the "revelation" of Young, and affirmed by Fielding
Smith, is false and the manifesto of 1978(?) is also false or in direct
contradiction of the prophets.

   The words of Wilford Woodruff, also a former "prophet, seer, and
revelator" of the LDS had this to day:

   "President Woodruff, in his journal, records the words of President
Young as follows:

   The Lord said I will not kill Cain, but I will put a mark upon him,
and that mark will be seen upon the face of every negro upon the face
of the earth; and it is the decree of God that the mark shall remain
upon the seed of Cain until the seed of Abel shall be redeemed' and
Cain shall not receive the priesthood, until the time of that
redemption. Any man having one drop of the seed of Cain in him cannot
receive the priesthood; but the day will come when all that race will
be redeemed and possess all the blessings which we now have."

   "Wilford Woodruff-History of His Life and Labors", p. 351

   Here we have Pres. Woodruff affirming yet again the "revelations" of
the black as uttered by the mouth of Brigham Young. Here are some other
words from other Mormon leaders/sources that carry on the tradition of
the Mormon/Negro position:

   "Negroes in this life are denied the priesthood; under no
circumstances can they hold this delegation of authority from the
Almighty. The gospel message of salvation is not carried affirmatively
to them... Negroes are not equal to other races where the receipt of
certain spiritual blessings are concerned...."

   Bruce R. McConkie "Mormon Doctrine", p.527

   "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 the lineage of Cain with a black skin, and
possible 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."

   "Race Problems-As the Affect the Church" Address by Mark E. Petersen
at the Convention of Teachers of Religion on the college level, Brigham
Young University, Provo, Utah August 27, 1954

   "Frankly, sincerely, and somewhat abruptly, President Brigham Young
has told us that the mark of Cain was a 'blackskin.' For the Latter-day
Saint no further explanation is required.... The question as to what
the mark of Cain was, and is, is thus answered - a black skin for him
and his posterity."

   "The Church and the Negro", 1967, p. 13-14

   "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 the him, which is the flat nose and
black skin."

   "Journal of Discourses" Vol.7, p.290 Delivered October 16, 1859

   The following, taken from an LDS Sunday School book, puts the LDS
position on the black in it's real context and meaning:

   "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 blackskin 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.
All his prophets and apostles belonged to the most handsome race on the
face of the earth -Israel, who still, as represented in the scattered
tribe of Judah, bear the impress of their former beauty. In this race
was born His Son Jesus, who,we are told was very lovely, and "in the
express image of His Father's person," and every 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 as bright as the noonday sun."

   "Juvenile Instructor" vol.3, p. 157

   As you see, even God is described as a white man as was Jesus, and
the notion of the negro being a blessed race "foolishness." And this in
a sunday school book being taught to children.

   There are many more examples, but this gives the gist of the basis
of their doctrine: the mere utterances of men during a time of the US
where the black was regarded as no better than dirt and relegated to
slavery. Even Petersen's words give a new twist: the Negro, if he
accepts the LDS way and is faithful, will still be slaves ("servants")
in the celestial heaven to the white exalted gods and other whites of
said heaven. Couple that with the non-fulfillment of Young's
"revelation" of the black redemption and that it hasn't happened, and
the 1978 revocation of the tradition in contradiction to the prophet's
"revelations" sets the LDS in rather a bad light as they can't rightly
explain, nor justify, their continued racism against the black.

   Their own BOM contradicts their theology:

   "Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of
his goodness? Behold I say unto you NAY; BUT ALL MEN ARE PRIVILEGED THE
ONE LIKE UNTO THE OTHER, AND NONE ARE FORBIDDEN." (emphasis mine)

   2 Nephi 26:28

   "...and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men;
and he inviteth ALL to come unto him and partake of his goodness; AND
HE DENIETH NONE THAT COME UNTO HIM, BLACK AND WHITE, bond and free,
male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; AND ALL ARE ALIKE UNTO
GOD, BOTH JEW AND GENTILE." (emphasis mine)

   2 Nephi 26:33

   Even former President Joseph Fielding Smith admitted there was no
"scriptural basis" for the Negro doctrine:

   "...We know of no such statement in any revelation in the 'Doctrine
and Covenants', the 'Book of Mormon' or the Bible."

   "The Improvement Era" Vol. 27, p. 565

   Even David O. McKay, another former president, tried to evade the
issue of scripturality by reasoning it to their "pre-existence"
doctrine:

   "...however, I believe...that the real reason dates back to our
pre-existent life."

   "Mormonism and the Negro" Part Two, p. 19

   The reader must agree with Smith that there is no scriptural basis,
LDS or otherwise, for their doctrine on the Negro.

   It seems that the LDS will have a lot to account for in disobeying
God's word (as the BOM is purported to be) in their doctrine on the
black. As the above BOM verses state, no blessing of God is to be
denied to anyone who accepts God, that means the Negro is entitled to
the Mormon Priesthood just as much as the white Mormon enjoys it.
Therefore, the LDS doctrine on the Negro is no more than a doctrine of
prejudiced men, and not of God.

   The Bible is also clear as to the blessings of God not knowing race,
creed, skin color, social status, etc.:

   "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as
many of you as have been baptized Christ have put on Christ. There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither
male nor female; FOR YE ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS. And if ye be
Christs, then ye are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise." (emphasis mine)

   Galatians 3:26-29

   Here, Paul is describing the lack of any barrier based on sex,
status, race, etc., to those who are part of Christ's church and who
have Christ as Lord.

   "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man
with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of him that created him; where there is
neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian,
Scythian, bond nor free, BUT CHRIST IS ALL, AND IN ALL." (emphasis mine)

   Colossians 3:9-11

   The same declaration as in Galatians. There are no divisions of
class, etc., in the body of christian believers. All are equal in God's
sight and entitled to the same blessings.

   There are other scriptures to affirm this point. See Colossians
1:20-23, 27-28, 2:9-10, and the capping scripture, Acts 10:9-33 where
God reveals that there is nothing unclean that God has cleansed
(meaning Gentiles to the Jew) and all are eligible to receive God's
blessings.

   In summary: the LDS doctrine on the Negro is a farce, it has no
scriptural basis, and it is perpetuated to this day because of
prejudice and the desire of exclusiveness in the organization and to
keeping the black in the position of slave. My interpretation is not of
any part of this. The words are self evident, and the Greek of the New
Testament is self-explanatory. One need only consult a Greek lexicon of
the Bible and use it with an interlinear to discover the true meanings
of the Greek texts.

   Ken Simmons