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INTRODUCTION
The
Book of Mormon, first published by Joseph Smith in 1830, claims to be
the record of Jews who left Jerusalem and sailed to North America in 600
B.C. They later separated into two nations known as the Nephites and the
Lamanites.
“After
thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they
are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.”
(Introduction,
Book of Mormon)
Mormons
claim that after Christ’s ascension, as recorded in the Bible (Acts
1:9-11), Jesus later came back down to North America to teach those
people who were allegedly living here; an act which is not
recorded in the Bible.
The
record of these ancient people was supposedly recorded on a set of
golden plates, and buried in the ground until Joseph Smith (the
Latter-Day Prophet), was instructed by an angel in 1823 about where to
find them and translate them into the Book of Mormon.
Unfortunately,
millions of White people have embraced this Mormon fiction, as if
it were historic fact.
THE RACE ISSUE
The
Book of Mormon teaches that there was continual warfare between the
Nephites who were righteous before God, and the Lamanites who were
unrighteous and wicked. This wickedness eventually led God to curse the
Lamanites with dark skin.
“And
it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they
became dark and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all
manner of abominations.”
(1 Nephi 12:23)
“The
skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set
upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their
transgression."
(Alma 3:6)
For
some white settlers who saw the American Indians as inferior anyway,
Joseph Smith’s book provided a perfect fairy tale to justify their
prejudices.
The
Book of Mormon goes so far as to teach that if the Lamanites truly
repented of their wickedness, the visible proof would be their skin once
again turning white.
“And
the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among them; wherefore, they
shall be restored unto the knowledge of their fathers...and many
generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white
and delightsome people.”
(2
Nephi 30: 5-6)
(Note: Recent editions of the Book of Mormon
have been changed to read, “a pure and a delightsome people.” The
attempt to water down the original teaching would seem obvious.)
Confident
that such a “miracle” as skin color changing would not happen,
Joseph Smith and his early collaborators must have felt good about their
new doctrine. They could exclude dark skinned Indians, Negroes, Asians
and others from full participation in their religion (while receiving
financial tithes from them) on the
grounds that God, “in their scriptures,” had decreed them to be
unrighteous until their skin should turn white. In time, their church
would even come to enjoy American religious tax exemptions while doing
so.
Take
a look at any Mormon painting of Jesus Christ and you will see something
is instinctively wrong. The Jesus of Mormonism does not look like a
Semitic Jew of two thousand years ago (read Song of Solomon 5:10-11). He
looks more like the Bounty paper towel guy or the Marlboro Man.
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BRIGHAM “SPEAKS FOR GOD”
The
second president of the Mormon Church, Brigham Young, was not shy
concerning his beliefs about White superiority, or the curse carried
specifically by the Negro.
“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.” (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 10, pg. 110, March 8,
1863)
Later
Mormon leaders would also state the official doctrine of the Church
concerning blacks and the priesthood,
“Negroes
in this life are DENIED THE PRIESTHOOD; under no circumstances can they
hold this delegation of authority from the Almighty.” (LDS
“Apostle” Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon
Doctrine, 1966, pg. 527)
“Not
only was Cain called upon to suffer, but because of his wickedness he
became the FATHER OF AN INFERIOR RACE...Millions of souls have come into
the world cursed with black skin and have been DENIED THE PRIVILEGE OF
PRIESTHOOD.” (LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith, The
Way To Perfection, 1931, pp. 101-102)
CAUGHT IN A BAD SITUATION
In
early 1978, the Mormon Church found itself suffering from a massive news
media campaign criticizing their attitudes towards blacks and nonwhites.
Allegations of discrimination and racism by such groups as the NAACP and
ACLU were directed against the LDS church, and rightly so. The Mormon
leadership began to sweat.
If
things progressed badly for them, they feared losing large numbers of
their members who saw the church as a white supremacist haven, and were
willing to tell the media about it. Even worse, they feared losing their
federal tax exempt status from the IRS; a loss that would have
devastated their financial empire.
THE SOLUTION
On
June 8, 1978, Mormon President and prophet, Spencer W. Kimball announced
to the world a new “Official Declaration” from the Lord. Suddenly,
he claimed,
“...all
worthy male members of the Church may be ordained to the priesthood
WITHOUT REGARD TO RACE OR COLOR.”
This
was after he and his fellow leaders had “pleaded long and earnestly in
behalf of these, our faithful (black) brethren...supplicating
the Lord for divine guidance.”
They
told their members and the world that,
“He
has heard our prayers, and by revelation has confirmed that the
long-promised day has come when every faithful, worthy man in the Church
may receive the holy priesthood...”
What
happened to the black race being an “inferior race,” and that
“under no circumstances” could they hold the authority of the
priesthood?
Certainly,
if this was God’s church he was free to give new instructions to his
designated servants. Yet, we can only guess that fearing the
loss of their tax benefits was a great motivator in their “long and
earnest” prayer meetings. The timing couldn’t have been more convenient.
(The Lawd sho' do work in mysterious
ways, don’t he?!)
CONCLUSION
Anyone
who has studied these matters in detail must see that the history of the
Mormon religion is a long history of racial nonsense, offensive
doctrine, and well timed “revelations” intended to help the
leadership save face.
Nonwhites
who would join such a religion need to open their eyes to the truth, and
White people who accept it ought to be ashamed of themselves!
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