Blacks & The Scriptures
Apologetics to Apology
A conversation about Mormon racism
Original source of this presentation:
Background
There is a group of LDS African Americans giving a presentation explaining why the Book of Mormon is not really racist.
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You can view their full presentation here (long)
However, there is a Summary on the next slide
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Blacks in the Scriptures
Summary:
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Let’s talk about that...
I understand that you boys had some questions for me about the Book of Mormon.�What’s on your mind?
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Now gramps, I understand that you have a bunch of good friends who are Mormon and you enjoy getting together with your LDS friends… And you really want us to see what you see in the faith..
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But have you actually read the Book of Mormon? There is some racist crap in that book!
How am I supposed to accept that God would support such things?
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Sure, I understand why that might upset you. The truth is, some of the past church members have brought some of their own racism into the church - but the scriptures are not racist. You are probably not looking with the right spirit.
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In 2 Nephi it says that God turned the Lamanites skin dark and cursed them because they were wicked!��What is the right spirit to interpret that?
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It even has God telling the Nephites that if they marry the dark skinned Lamanites, their kids will be cursed.��That is the most vile racist thing ever, and the book says God said it!
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Okay, There are some things you have to understand about the Book of Mormon.
First, it was translated from “reformed egyptian” and so sometimes the words in english don’t exactly convey the original meaning. That’s called an ‘idiom’.
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So anytime you read “skin” it really means spiritual state. Anytime you read “black” or “dark” it means gloomy or unrighteous. Anytime you read “curse” it really just means the separation from God that happens when you sin. Simple, really.
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So when it says “God caused a sore cursing to come upon them because of their iniquity and did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them” - what it really means is that their spirits were gloomy because of their sin and they were separated from God?
It has nothing to do with skin color or race?
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Race? Actually, there is no such thing as race. Race is just an invention that a german scientist came up with in the 1700’s. Before then, nobody associated white or black with race or divided up humans into races. Since the Book of Mormon is from 600 BC, of course it doesn’t talk about races and so it can’t be racist.
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For over 100 years the men of the black race were unable to hold the priesthood, have eternal families, go to the temple or even give blessings to their own family!
That was based on a scripture in the Pearl of Great Price where it says a black man was cursed “as pertaining to the priesthood”.
After all those Black Mormons suffered as second class children of God because of their race, you are going to tell me there is no such thing as race?!
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You’re right. Those things were racist, but they were just policies created by imperfect men who interpreted the scriptures with their own racist views.
They didn’t know about the idioms.
Remember, Christ was the only perfect man. Prophet’s aren’t perfect. The Scriptures aren’t racist. The church is true!
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Look, I know it can seem confusing. When I was investigating the church, I had this feeling when I read the Book of Mormon - I knew it was true!
When I look at the church and the scriptures now, I start with that knowledge.
You can make arguments to support any perspective. Since I already know it’s true, then I only accept explanations that support it.
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What?
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I was just waiting for you to finish.
I like to see how high the pile of crap gets stacked before I start to shovel it.
It’s not crap. It’s all there in the scriptures. If you can’t see it then it just means that you haven’t been studying your scriptures daily or you are following Satan’s lies!
Go on...
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Don’t take my word for it. Search it out on your own. Get your own testimony about it. Be patient. If you don’t feel that it’s true at first, just keep praying and studying. It will come - if you have the right spirit.
No need to debate my points. I came to my conclusions, you will come to yours, and if your heart is in the right place, we will agree
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Okay. First of all, let’s call you out on that rhetorical embarrassment.
A brother does not introduce a highly implausible and convoluted rationalization that absolves powerful bigots of all culpability for past ecclesiastical abuse and flagrant racism and then guilt-shame people into not disputing his points.
A coward does that.
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There you go again - talking about race! I told you - there is no race! Dividing up mankind into “races” of different color was an invention of Johan Blumenbach in 1775. We didn’t talk about colored races before then so there is no way the scriptures did either!
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There is my next point..
From a human rights perspective, there is only one human race.
But, from a biological perspective minor genetic differences affecting appearance are an undeniable fact. Whether “race” or any other term for “different” is used is besides the point.
While divisions among people have not always been along skin color, people have always tended to view ‘others’ as less than themselves and this ethnocentrism is what drives racism and bigotry in all its forms.
Men in power give this tendency its expression through oppressive doctrine, policies and law.
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Before our understanding of genetics and evolution differences of geography, skin color, facial features, culture and religion were the main ways that men identified themselves and drew the lines of oppression.
5 Minutes on Wikipedia will demonstrate that men were expressing racism based on color far earlier than 1775. The very word “Negro” means black and originated with the Spanish slave trade which predates Blumenbach by hundreds of years. You don’t think slavery is race based?
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Well.. I..
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That was a rhetorical question.
Case in point - In 1700 a white judge, Samuel Sewall, came to the aid of a black slave whose master backed out of promised freedom after 7 years of indentured servitude. Sewall had a pamphlet printed called “The Selling of Joseph” which was the very first abolitionist literature. It used the Bible to make the case that “negro slaves” have “equal right unto liberty” - it started new thinking about slavery and spawned the abolitionist movement.
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While Sewell used the Bible to argue against slavery in 1700 - do you know who would use the Bible to defend slavery over a hundred years later? The Prophet Joseph Smith.
Your denial of the very notion of race as a means to defend this religion with a vile history of racism is an affront to every black man and woman who was told that they deserved to be black because they were less righteous in the pre-existence.
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Now you hold it right there! I am your elder and you will respect me! I am telling you that you don’t understand the idioms in the scriptures!��The words don’t mean what you think they mean!
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It’s true that you are my Elder, but you are also proof that wisdom doesn’t always come with age.
Idioms? “skin” really means spirit, “black” means gloomy? Do you know how ridiculous you sound?
Remember that it was by the Power of the Priesthood through the Holy Ghost that the Plates were supposedly translated.
If those were the real meanings, then that’s what would be written!
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Besides, there are examples in the Book of Mormon where skin color played a role.
Remember in Alma 3 the Amlicites distinguished themselves from the Nephites...
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That’s right - The Amlicites put a mark on their foreheads. If they were a different skin color, then there would have been no need for them to mark their foreheads. You just proved my point..
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The Amlicites were a breakoff from the Nephites. They had to distinguish themselves from the Nephites because they had white skin like the Nephites - THAT is why they put a mark on themselves - to match the dark skins of the Lamanites. It disproves your point.
Next, There is the time when Captain Moroni wanted to trick the Lamanites guards by getting them drunk so he could free their prisoners...
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Precisely - remember that he had to search through his men to find someone of Lamanite descent. If they had different color skin, they would have stood out - no need to do a search. You just proved my point again.
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Listen to yourself! If there was no skin color difference, then there would be no need to search for a Lamanite descendent in the first place.
Your argument is pointless beyond that - If a stake president wanted to find a black member in his stake - he would have to do a search to locate him even though black mormons stand out.
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The Book also paraphrases Paul in 2 Nephi discussing who God accepts and in doing so confirms distinction by skin color. It says “black and white, bond and free, male and female”
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“black and white” just refers to righteousness - not skin color. You have to remember the idioms.
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If you do a google search of 18th and 19th century publications which preceded the Book of Mormon for the phrase “black and white” and “bond and free” together - they are always in reference to race and slavery. Every time.
If you search LDS.org for that scripture - it always attributes it to race. Every time.
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You are just looking for racism where it doesn’t really exist. In 2010 The church changed headings and footnotes to match these explanations of the idioms.
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Really? You expect me to buy into the whitewashing that the church is doing, by noting that the church is the one doing it?
If the KKK told you that burning crosses were just idioms for a burning heart of Christian love, and then added footnotes to all their literature supporting that claim - would you believe them?
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You just don’t understand! Mormons aren’t racist! Those scriptures were just misinterpreted by Church Leaders who set policy. The church has always been fair and good to black people!
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Okay. Let’s be clear. I am not arguing that Mormon people are racist. I am telling you that Mormon scripture, doctrine and policy have been and are ethnocentric. This mentality of “us and them” has extended to people of different race, nationality and religion in the past. It is currently being focused on atheists and homosexuals.
Since you mention the Church Leaders - let’s talk about that...
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You believe the Mormon Prophet and Apostles are God’s spokesmen on Earth, right? That they are the ones who are the most in tune with God’s will and word?
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Of Course. The whole point of the Mormon faith is that the heavens are open and God still reveals his word to His Prophet on Earth.
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And, yet - those Prophets weren’t inspired enough to correctly interpret their own scriptures?
In D&C 111 they said God promised them all the gold and silver in Salem. Any true Prophet of God would reveal racial equality first.
They allowed white people in the church to have eternal families - but denied that to the black members for over a century.
Why should I ever trust them about anything?
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Both Brigham Young and Joseph Smith defended slavery as a divine institution.
Brigham Young actually accepted a slave as payment for tithing. You expect me to revere such men as a prophets of God?
You want me to trust them over my own inner voice?
Because my conscience tells me these men and what they taught were not of God.
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Speaking of Temples and Tithing. The first temple recommends were to show proof that a member had paid tithing in full. White members were rewarded for paying tithing by going to the Temple.
Black members couldn’t go to the Temple -
BUT THEY STILL WERE EXPECTED TO PAY TITHING!
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I don’t think you have the right spirit. Now.. now - You have the spirit of contention...
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You’re damn right. That is what you do when you are confronted with the evil of racism attributed to God - you contend with it.
Any man who would preach bigotry and claim to be God’s spokesman gives you the proof of his fraud. Period.
Contend is what Jane Manning James should have done when she begged to be sealed to her family in the Temple and in the end was only sealed as a servant for Joseph Smith - An ETERNAL SLAVE!
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I don’t… Listen - I had a special feeling when I read the Book of Mormon and prayed about it. It has to be true! The Church is true!
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You do know that there are several Mormon sects that believe the Book of Mormon, right? Just because you believe the book is true doesn’t mean that the branch of Mormonism that followed Brigham Young is the true one.
The reorganized Church never believed black men incapable of holding the priesthood - why would you choose the UTAH group over them?
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That’s not even the point, though. You say you know it is true because you had a special feeling.
Who told you that a special feeling means that it’s true?
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That’s easy - It’s in the Book of Mormon. It’s Moroni’s challenge. The missionaries told me about it. I tested it and it worked.
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So when a Methodist or a Pentecostal has that burning feeling that witnesses to them about their faith - does that mean theirs is true too?
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But, it’s not the same. The Holy Ghost testified to me. That’s not what they experience.
My experience was the most profound and meaningful thing I have ever felt.
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That’s exactly how they describe their own experience.
Feelings are just feelings. They don’t objectively determine truth.
I understand that you need it to be true because you have given so much of your life to the organization...
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All my friends are in the church! I’m not stupid or racist and neither are they - What do you expect me to do?!
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I expect you to give me a good example to follow.
Don’t deny blatant racism when it exists. Don’t excuse the people who taught it and don’t minimize the impact it had on blacks who trusted those leaders above their own conscience.
They were forced to paint their own spiritual shackles gold and testify about how much they deserved them.
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The Church Apologized for their racist policies!!!
Gordon B. Hinckley met with Episcopal Pastor Chip Murray and gave a heartfelt apology...
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He apologized in a private meeting to a pastor of another faith?
What about apologizing openly to black mormons! They were openly subjugated by years of racist policy and doctrine - by the Church’s own standards Black Mormons should be the ones receiving an open apology.
A private apology from pastor to pastor did nothing more than to save him from the embarrassment of his own religion’s racism without being accountable for it..
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You taught me to keep my dignity and not subject myself to abuse.
Who is the worst villain - the master who keeps black men under the boot of oppression or the self styled Prophet who teaches them that they deserve to be there?
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At least the slave knew that he was worth more than his station in life allowed him - he could fight for his freedom.
Black Mormons for over a century surrendered their dignity to the notion that their very identity as black was a deserved stain that justified whatever hardship they suffered - If he fought it he was excommunicated - spiritually assassinated
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These are not ideas that Black men and women would ever create or accept for themselves!
Those white Prophets told them to “get their own testimony” of the lie that they were failures in the pre-mortal life!
I do not excuse the slave masters who broke the backs of my black fathers - Why should I excuse the Prophets who made them think they deserved it!?
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No.
Any Man claiming that he will speak God’s will by priesthood authority who then brings such a vile and heinous lie forth as God’s word is impeached as a Prophet.
His claimed authority is counterfeit.
Any other leaders who claim the same mantle deserve no reverence and can command no deference from any honorable and self respecting person of conscience - white, black or any other color.
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Gah! What do you want me to do about it? I was raised Mormon - It is my cultural identity! All those other churches have racism in their history too - it is just a fact of society.
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Other Churches do not claim to have a Prophet who speaks for God. Their racist past can be explained by the racism of society because they claim nothing more than to interpret scripture as men. They see God’s church as being gradually perfected as men increase in wisdom and light. Coming out of the dark ages of racism was part of that evolution.
Despite this, numerous of those churches have actually acknowledged that their policies were racist, apologized and asked forgiveness.
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I am Mormon. I don’t want to leave my religious heritage - even if it has a troubled past. Do you expect me to just quit the church?
That’s fine, keep on being Mormon - But stop excusing the racism in scriptures - call it out for what it is.
Stop absolving church leaders past and present for what was taught to thousands of black families.
Stand up for yourself. Stop paying tithing until the church actually publicly apologizes to its own black members for what it taught and did for over a century.
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But, the current Prophet didn’t personally condone the racism! Those were past leaders. He shouldn’t have to apologize for what people in the past did which he had no control over!
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First of all, the current Prophet was an Apostle during the racist era. He gave no public speeches against the racist false teachings during that time.
Second, and more importantly - The organization endorsed and taught false racist things for over a century as the unquestioned word of God. The current stewards of the church have the full authority and duty to act on behalf of the organization. They would be apologizing on behalf of the Church, not themselves.
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But.. If I tell people that I will not pay any more tithing until there is a public apology, then I might upset the church leaders.. they might take away my temple recommend or even excommunicate me!
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How much time should the slave have spent worrying that he might offend his master by claiming his rights as a human?
Was the whip a sufficient excuse for the slave not to aspire to freedom and dignity?
Did the fact that they would kick her off the bus deter Rosa Parks from taking her seat and demanding respect?
Those are your forbears. They risked much more.
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The church is fond of saying
Well guess what. We need, no, DEMAND their apology.
Any socially conscious member of the rising generation who studies church history and sees what was done under the heading of God will reject this church outright - unless the leaders take the step to acknowledge that
they were wrong
and that
they are sorry.
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They should also know that we will never blindly trust them again on matters of social equality. They have lost all credibility for conveying God’s word in that matter. There is no way to reclaim it.
There is no argument which could be made against women holding the priesthood, which was not also made against blacks holding the priesthood. They were wrong on blacks - how long before they admit they are wrong on women?
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Yes, I am speaking with the spirit of contention.
Dignity must contend with
bigotry and hatred. ��It must never accept the idea that the powers that inflict those evils should do so with impunity.
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I can’t really think about this right now. I have a High Priest group activity, and then I need to go help clean the Chapel and then I am going to prepare a lesson for church tomorrow. There are just too many things on my plate right now.
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While you are on you knees scrubbing the toilets for a multibillion dollar corporate church which could afford to pay for that service…
… Think about it.
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End
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