Convention of Teachers of Religion on the College Level,
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, August 27, 1954.
"God has commanded Israel not to intermarry. To go against this commandment of God would be in sin. Those who willfully sin with their eyes open to this wrong will not be surprised to find that they will be separated from the presence of God in the world to come. This is spiritual death. 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'...."
"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... it appears that the Negro seeks absorption with the white race... 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. Who placed the Negroes originally in darkest Africa? Was it some man, or was it God?... 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."
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
Mormon Doctrine
(Pg. 102) "Though he was a rebel and an associate of Lucifer in the pre-existence, and though he was a liar from the beginning whose name was Perdition, Cain was cursed with a dark skin; he became the father of the Negroes, and those spirits who are not worthy to receive the priesthood are born though his lineage. He became the first mortal to be cursed as a son of perdition."
(Pg. 343) "Through Ham (a name meaning black) the blood of the Canaanites was preserved through the flood, he having married Egyptus, a descendant of Cain. 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 with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned...
2 NEPHI 5:21-24
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.
And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities.
And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.
And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey.
President Spencer W. Kimball
General Conference Report, October, 1960.
Improvement Era, December 1960, pp. 922-923.
"I saw a striking contrast in the progress of the Indian people today.... The day of the Lamanites is nigh. For years they have been growing delightsome, and they are now becoming white and delightsome, as they were promised. In this picture of the twenty Lamanite missionaries, fifteen of the twenty were as light as Anglos, five were darker but equally delightsome. The children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation. At one meeting a father and mother and their daughter were present, the little member girl - sixteen - sitting between the dark father and mother, and it was evident she was several shades lighter than her parents - on the same reservation, in the same hogan, subject to the same sun and wind and weather.... 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."
President Joseph Fielding Smith
( Doctrines of Salvation, pp. 65-66) "There were no neutrals in the war in heaven. All took sides either with Christ or with Satan. Every man had his agency there, and men receive rewards here based upon their actions there, just as they will receive rewards hereafter for deeds done in the body. The Negro, evidently, is receiving the reward he merits.
( Juvenile Instructor, vol. 26, p. 635) "It is very clear that the mark which was set upon the descendants of Cain was a skin of blackness...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 extent as to excite the comments of all who have known them."
President John Taylor
(Journal of Discourses, Vol. 22, pg. 304.) 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 representative upon the earth as well as God."
( Millennial Star, Vol. 14, pg. 418.) "For instance, the descendants of Cain cannot cast off their skin of blackness, at once, and immediately, although every soul of them should repent... Cain and his posterity must wear the mark which God put upon them; and his white friends may wash the race of Cain with fuller's soap every day, they cannot wash away God's mark."
President Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses
Vol. 7, pg. 290-291
"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."
"You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, 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.
Gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you...
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES - BARACK OBAMA.
19 comments:
Can you please provide references for these quotes? (other than the Book of Mormon - I can probably find that one)
Emily, you astound me on a daily basis. This is infuriating, jaw-dropping, and I-can't-believe-I-ever-associated-with-this-clan astonishing. THANK YOU. For who you are, what you do, and where you're going.
XOXOXO
..then of course there is the President of Italy who, in his praise of the president-elect complimented him on his intellect, his family, and his "really great tan"...I KID YOU NOT!
See, here's the thing,no one is "white". I grew up in the South. There are few things more frightening than a biggoted LDS Southerner. I can remember when there were great discussions happened on Wednesday night while we were in Mutual the adults would have something like "Bible Study", except it was actually that guy who wrote zillions of books (and his name has immediately escaped me)..very very right wing. They were consistently and constantly outraged that he hadn't become a GA.
Anyhoo, anyone who has the slightest percentage of intellect HAS to be bright enough to realize that there IS no such thing as a Caucasian. There IS no such thing as a "pure" race of any kind. People have intermarried since Adam and Eve. DUH! It's bigotry and elitism at its best/worst. Done in the name of all that's Holy is (in my view) much more immoral, much more divisive, much more harmful than someone choosing to screw out of wedlock..but that's just me...remember, I'm a harlot.
Envelopes of white powder found at temples today? How stupid. It's nearly as stupid as those who believe themselves to be "right".
Have you seen the "thank you" letter that is being sent to Pres. Monson by a lesbian advocacy group? For every contribution made, a letter of appreciation is being sent listing him as the contributor. Now that's clever.
anonymous p in ca
References? Absolutely. I should have done that up front. Adding now...
A-freaking-men.
Thanks Emily.
And as creepy and disturbing as that is, that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the craziness of Mormonism.
Ok, I gave you a hard time about the "direct quote from some guy's meeting with the bishop" post. Here I have to admit, this is embarrassing info, credibly presented. Of course we are all aware of the Church's response to this kind of thing as well as some of the personal conclusions of individual Mormons who have grappled with this and other hideous blights that must be reckoned with-- not interesting.
But it is interesting evidence for your argument that in 50 years, Prop 8 may look completely off the wall.
I hope (and believe) that as our society evolves, eventually gay-bashing, Religion bashing, partial birth abortion (hey dont kill me, i just think its brutal), racism, sexism, WAR, divorce, abuse, even laughing at midgets are all things of the past, but please, please never let us evolve so far that the videos on this blog are not funny any more:
http://failblog.org/2008/11/13/dance-fail/
I just love that dance fail one.
OhMyHellOhMyHellOhMyHell... I may NEVER stop laughing! That is one of the funniest damn things I have seen in a loooong time! THANK YOU.
Great comment, too, Baby! xo
I'm going to have to disagree at this point. Yes, some disturbing things were said 40 to 50 years ago. Some disturbing things were said in a lot of churches of many religions 40 or 50 years ago. I've lived a long life, in the East, in the South and in Los Angeles. I've seen lots of prejudice but I've never personally seen it in action by the leadership of the Mormon church and actions speak louder than words. The reason that Prop. 8 was passed has very little if anything to do with hate or bigotry and everything to do with fear. To be honest, I was on the fence about it but after seeing the bullying going on by protesters in Los Angeles, I'm more likely to side with people who voted for Prop. 8. They should be scared. And The El Coyote? Are they serious? Was the LA Temple too far of a drive?? That restaurant has done nothing but reach out to the Gay community and because one employee decided that they thought prop. 8 was a good idea, the protesters are gathered, like big babies I might add, and are screaming and yelling and trying to shut it down. Why not spend your time and energy reaching out to minorities? Or educating and calming the fears of the voters. And in the end, I'm sure the courts in Cal will overturn Prop. 8. So what's the fuss about?
Em, you warned me and I didn't listen. But, no worries, I'll be back when you're writing about David Hasselhoff and your funny life adventures again.
Turns out (according to the Sacramento Bee) that the single largest contributor to Prop. 8, excluding "the church" was David O. McKay's grandson. A million bucks of his own money. President McKay must be spinning in his grave. The height of irony. Sadly, the unkindest of insults to the legacy of a man who had such courage in the face of so many bigots.
anonymous p in ca
Emily, I think you should post some of the more "recent" stuff, the church does extend to all races now.
Had I been born even a few years before I was (so that I was old enough to understand what went on), I doubt that I could have developed the faith in the church that I did.
That said, however, many do hold on to those early "teachings". My own father had a heyday when I married a black man. I was "ruining my eternal destiny", never mind the fact that he himself hasn't been to church in years.
What will be said of Prop8 (and all its cousins in 50 years), who knows, but we know what we hope.
My thought du jour is whatever happened to the separation of church and state?
Yeah, I had a black bishop YEARS before I had a black president:)But I have both now! (well, in January)
You had a BLACK BISHOP??? I am soooo jealous! I've never even heard of such a thing.
I think all wards should have black bishops. Flanked by two gay counselors. Too much? :-)
Okay, okay... ONE gay counselor and one female.
Yeah, right now I have a black bishop (well half), a black counselor in the stk. presidency, and a black high councilor. As for the other... well I had a gay choir director in Connecticut, that is a start:)
AHHHHHHHHH!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
"I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races - that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race."
- Abraham Lincoln, Fourth Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Charleston, Illinois, September 18, 1858 (The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, pp. 145-146.
.... guess we should all go spit on Lincon's grave.
The Church took an official position on the Journal of Discourses many years ago-- that it is to remain uncanonized. The church position specifically listed some racial quotes as being incompatible with church doctrine. Denounced racial quotes were the only reason that I know of that the church listed for not accepting the Journal of Discourses into the canon. Simply because someone wrote that Brigham Young said this or that a century ago does not mean that it actually happened. Clearly someone did something fraudulent, or there were honest mistakes that altered the meaning of the sermon. The church has already made this clear, and persons claiming that it is otherwise either do not understand or are willfully misrepresenting the facts. We do not need to take Brigham Young in the context of his time. We need to take uncanonized denounced writings in the context of their place. Which is officially in the trash can.
When the church began, there was no official record keeping. Joseph Smith preached to many small and large groups with no recorder. The only records that we have of these times are from journal entries of random people in the congregations. Later the Prophet Joseph Smith received revelations about record keeping. He began to write The History of the Church, which is a reliable source of church doctrine. The Doctrine and Covenants is the only other reliable source of history from this era of of the church.
After the Prophet Joseph died Brigham Young was counseled by some other leaders in the church that a recorder should be hired for the consistent sermons that were given. Later a man was called to serve as a recorder as a church officer (unpaid). The writings were never considered to be canonized even in its time. Records like these are for the most part all we have of the words of Presidents Young, Taylor, and Woodruff. They are often quoted from by the authorities of the church, but only those quotes which are accepted as valid. However frequently a church authority will say something like, it was reported that Brigham Young said this..., but we don't know whether it is a direct quote or just a paraphrase. However, today the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has publicly denounced racial quotes like these as inaccurate. No one with authority in the church has ever claimed that these quotes are accurate. On the contrary- they have been decidedly rejected.
The race issue involving the witholding of priesthood to all worthy males is clearly one of the common tests for mankind to see if we will trust the Savior or not. (common, but not easy-- which by the way attests to the validity of the church) A church that does not require the sacrifice of all things will never be sufficient to save, as the prophet Joseph taught. If it were easy to accept the gospel in every way, if there were no test, it would be a fraudulent religion. We all need our own personalized test similar to Abraham's to prove who we really are. Was human sacrifice not hard to reconcile with what Abraham knew was true? The parallels are obvious. I am thankful for the tests contained in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I would have never been able to comprehend my relationship to the Savior without them.
The church is not flawed. The amount of contrived controversy surrounding the church is a testimony to me that we have the truth and the devil cannot stand it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true, and all of the latter-day prophets God has called are true messengers of Him. All one has to do is read The Book of Mormon. This is powerful evidence that Joseph Smith was in fact a prophet, just as the many prophets who were sent before him.
-April
Oooh, I feel the spirit.
Oh no wait, that's just my dildo.
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