10 December 2013

The LDS church finally admits it was wrong about race. (So it now rejects its own scriptures.)

The LDS church has finally confessed. It admits that it was wrong about race from the church's beginning in 1830 until 1978 when God changed his mind about black people.

Here is what the new document "Race and the Priesthood" says about it:
Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse ... that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else.
If that is true, then the LDS church disavows the Book of Mormon, which says that God cursed people by blackening their skin, causing them to be "a dark, filthy, and loathsome people," and that any "white and delightsome" person who "mixes seed" with them will be "cursed with the same cursing."

Here are just a few passages in the Book of Mormon that the Mormon church now disavows:
After they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations. 1 Nephi 12:23
He had caused the cursing to come upon them ... 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 ... Cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. 2 Nephi 5:21-23
And the skins of the Lamanites were dark ...which was a curse upon them because of their transgression against their brethren...therefore they were cursed; and the Lord God set a mark upon them. And this was done that their seed might be distinguished from the seed of their brethren, that thereby the Lord God might preserve his people. Alma 3:6-8
This people ... shall become a dark, a filthy, and a loathsome people ... because of their unbelief and idolatry ... They were once a delightsome people ... But now, behold, they are led about by Satan. Mormon 5:15-18
In the document, the LDS church tries to blame its racist past on the early 19th century American culture from which it arose. It claims, for example, that it was commonly believed in the early 1800s "that God’s 'curse' on Cain was the mark of a dark skin." And that "[a]ccording to one view, which had been promulgated in the United States from at least the 1730s, blacks descended from the same lineage as the biblical Cain, who slew his brother Abel."

Which is true enough (except for the fact that there was no United States in the 1730s). But what the document doesn't say is that this same view is clearly expressed in its own scripture (The book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price).
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. Moses 7:22 
The document also says that "[b]lack servitude was sometimes viewed as a second curse placed upon Noah’s grandson Canaan as a result of Ham’s indiscretion toward his father."

Which is true again. But it is also true that Mormon scripture says the same thing. 
There was a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan, that they were despised among all people. Moses 7:8 
Now this king of Egypt was a descendant from the loins of Ham, and was a partaker of the blood of the Canaanites by birth. ... from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land ... Pharaoh ... seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood. Abraham 1:21-26
 So now the LDS church is no longer just embarrassed by its scriptures, it rejects them entirely.

Now it's time for all Mormons to do likewise.

10 comments:

Yark Hutprancer said...

Buncha goobers.

Sabio Lantz said...

Nicely done.
Thanx for the update on the LDS.

Stephen said...

You beat the Richard Dawkins site by 4 days, Steve. Kudos!
(http://www.richarddawkins.net/news_articles/2013/12/14/mormon-church-finally-says-dark-skin-is-not-a-sign-of-god-s-curse# )
Steve Weeks

Legion of the damned said...

Thanks for the info, just one observation though in the 1730s the United States of America did not exist.




Stephen said...

@ Legion of the damned:
Well, yes, but even the Church of LDS doesn't think that the United States sprang into existence with fully-formed policies and "views" in 1776. That would be too much like... "creation"!

When the LDS document says
"...one view, which had been promulgated in the United States from at least the 1730s..."
they are referring to the geographical (populated) area which subsequently emerged as the United States.

Steve Wells said...

Thanks for the comment, Legion of the damned. I didn't notice the error in the LDS document until you pointed it out. I've added a note about it in the post.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Hey, great blog. I thought you might find this video about New Atheism interesting. Would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mRPZ_O9bUU

Sam said...

You are absolutely right to point out this openly contradicts the Mormons' own scripture, which also promises a miraculous skin bleaching if dark skinned folks repent. So they must admit the Book or Mormon is in error on this (long taught) doctrine. So much for God's perfect book.

Mickey Bitsko said...

The genius, if you will, of the Catholic Church in the past was that it incorporated some local beliefs into their church dogma and rituals. The genius of the LDS is their belief that new revelations can overturn previous ones. But institutions, to pick out just two out of many, are willing to contradict themselves to retain power and control.

Post a Comment