|
Mormonism
and the Negro
According to Mormon history and authoritative Mormon teachers, the Negro,
as they were referred to, are a cursed race because they were not faithful
to God in their first estate (the pre-existent life with God). Hence, when
they are born they are born in black skinned families.
The early Mormon church was highly
prejudicial against black people. And though there has been a change in
attitude to blacks as of June 9, 1978 when they were finally allowed into
the Mormon priesthood, it cannot be denied that Mormonism was, up until
very recently, a segregated church.
Please consider the following small sample
of official Mormon writings as proof of their prejudice, their
inconsistency, their doctrinal waffling, their yielding to political
pressure, and their failure to truly represent Christ on earth.
- "At the time the devil was cast
out of heaven, there were some spirits that did not know who had
authority, whether God or the devil. They consequently did not take a
very active part on either side, but rather thought the devil had been
abused, and considered he had rather the best claim to the government.
These spirits were not considered bad enough to be cast down to hell,
and never have bodies; neither were they considered worthy of an
honorable body on this earth." A speech by Elder Orson Hyde,
delivered before the High Priests' Quorum,, in Nauvoo, April 27th,
1845, printed in Liverpool, page 30.
- "The very fact that God would
allow those spirits who were less worthy in the spirit world to
partake of a mortal body at all is further evidence of his
mercy." Mormonism and the Negro, part I, pages 48-50.
- "It is the Mormon belief that in
our pre-mortal state there were a large number of individuals who, due
to some act or behavior of their own in the pre-existence, forfeited
the right to hold the Priesthood during their mortal lives...the Negro
is thus denied the Priesthood because of his own behavior in the
pre-existence." The Church and the Negro, pages 42-43.
- "As a result of his rebellion,
Cain was cursed and told that "the earth" would not
thereafter yield him its abundance as previously. In addition he
became the first mortal to be cursed as a son of perdition...The Lord
placed on Cain a mark of a dark skin, and he became the ancestor of
the black race. (Moses 5; Gen. 4; Teachings, p. 169)." Mormon
Doctrine by Bruce McConkie, page 109.
- "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, Vol. 10, page 110.
The reader should be reminded that
Brigham Young, the second prophet of the Mormon church said that
whatever he preached was as good as scripture -- J. D. Vol. 13,
page 95, 264.
- "...the church went to court on
several occasions to block Negroes from moving into the San Francisco
neighborhood in which the headquarters was located." The
Christian Century, Sept. 29, 1965, page 1184.
- On Oct. 28, 1865, the Mormon Church
paper Millennial Star printed an article which stated that
"Mormonism is that kind of religion the entire divinity of which
is invalidated, and its truth utterly rejected, the moment that any
one of its leading principles I acknowledged to be false..."
- The Mormon write John J. Stewart
stated: "If we as members of the Church are going to pick and
choose among the Prophet's teachings, and say ‘this one is of God,
we can accept it, but this one is of man, we will reject that,' then
we are undermining the whole structure of our faith..." Mormonism
and the Negro, page 19.
- "The prophets have declared that
there are at least two major stipulations that have to be met before
the Negroes will be allowed to possess the Priesthood. The first
requirement relates to time. The Negroes will not be allowed to hold
the Priesthood during mortality, in fact, not until after the
resurrection of all of Adam's children. The other stipulation requires
that Abel's seed receive the first opportunity of having the
priesthood....the last of Adam's children will not be resurrected
until the end of the millennium. Therefore, the Negroes will not
receive the Priesthood until after that time... this will not happen
until after the thousand years of Christ's reign on earth." The
Church and the Negro, 1967, pages 45-48.
- Albert B. Fritz, NAACP branch
president, said at a civil rights meeting Friday night that his
organization promised not to picket the 133rd Semi-Annual General
Conference of the Church on Temple Square. He added, however, that the
NAACP will picket Temple Square, next Saturday if the Church does not
present an ‘acceptable' statement on civil rights before that
day." Deseret News, Oct. 5, 1963.
- "Some 3,000 students, led by the
BSU, paraded peacefully on the school's campus in Seattle Monday over
the issue of alleged racism at BYU." Deseret News, March 10,
1970.
- "The demonstration was the latest
in a series of protests against The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints (Mormon) because the church bars Negroes from its
priesthood." Deseret News, Jan. 10, 1970.
- In June of 1978 the Mormon church
officiated a ‘revelation' stating that blacks could then hold the
priesthood.
The Bible says that God is not a respecter
of persons, but the Mormon church is: First in its prejudice of the blacks
for being black, and second in its succumbing to political and social
pressure to change its doctrinal views. Is such a church really from God?
I am
greatly indebted to the book Mormonism Shadow or Reality by Jerald and
Sandra Tanner for the sources cited above.
Return to
Mormonism
|