LDS Church Leaders Teachings on Blacks-Negroes -Priesthood –Less Valiancy etc
(Speech of Elder Orson Hyde, delivered before the High Priests’ Quorum, in Nauvoo, April 27, 1845, printed by John Taylor, p. 30.
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, . . . These spirits were not considered bad enough to be cast down to hell, and never have bodies; neither were they considered worthy of an honourable body on this earth: . . . But those spirits in heaven that rather lent an influence to the devil, thinking he had a little the best right to govern, but did not take a very active part any way were required to come into the world and take bodies in the accursed lineage of Canaan; and hence the Negro or African race.
October 9, 1859: Brigham young, during a conference talk in the Tabernacle Journal of Discourses 7:282, :
“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; and the Abolitionists cannot help it, nor in the least alter that decree. How long is that race to endure the dreadful curse that is upon them? That curse will remain upon them, and they never can hold the Priesthood or share in it until all the other descendants of Adam have received the promises and enjoyed the blessings of the Priesthood and the keys thereof. Until the last ones of the residue of Adam’s children are brought up to that favourable position, the children of Cain cannot receive the first ordinances of the Priesthood. They were the first that were cursed, and they will be the last from whom the curse will be removed. When the residue of the family of Adam come up and receive their blessings, then the curse will be removed from the seed of Cain, and they will receive blessings in like proportion.”
March 8, 1863: Brigham young, during a conference talk in the Tabernacle, Journal of Discourses 10:109s:
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 7:336.
“You may inquire of the intelligent of the world whether they can tell why the aborigines of this country are dark, loathsome, ignorant, and sunken into the depths of degradation …When the Lord has a people, he makes covenants with them and gives unto them promises: then, if they transgress his law, change his ordinances, and break his covenants he has made with them, he will put a mark upon them, as in the case of the Lamanites and other portions of the house of Israel; but by-and-by they will become a white and delightsome people”
Brigham Young states that slavery is a divine institution: (Millennial Star, Vol. 25, page 787; also published in Journal of Discourses, Vol. 10, page 250)
Ham will continue to be the servant of servants, as the Lord has decreed, until the curse is removed. Will the present struggle free the slave? No; but they are now wasting away the black race by thousands. Many of the blacks are treated worse than we treat our dumb brutes; and men will be called to judgment for the way they have treated the negro, and they will receive the condemnation of a guilty conscience, by the just Judge whose attributes are justice and truth. Treat the slaves kindly and let them live, for Ham must be the servant of servants until the curse is removed. Can you destroy the decrees of the Almighty? You cannot. Yet our Christian brethren think that they are going to overthrow the sentence of the Almighty upon the seed of Ham. They cannot do that, though they may kill them by thousands and tens of thousands.
John Taylor, the third president of the LDS Church Journal of Discourses, vol. 23, p. 336.
Why is it, in fact, that we should have a devil? Why did not the Lord kill him long ago? . . . He needed the devil and great many of those who do his bidding just to keep . . . our dependence upon God, . . . When he destroyed the inhabitants of the antediluvian world, he suffered a descendant of Cain to come through the flood in order that he [the devil] might be properly represented upon the earth
1852: After listening to a Brigham Young speech in the Tabernacle, Wilford Woodruff records the following Brigham Young quote in his journal:
“Any man having one drop of the seed of Cane in him Cannot hold the priesthood … I will say it now in the name of Jesus Christ. I know it is true & they know it. The Negro cannot hold one particle of Government … if any man mingles his seed with the seed of Cane the only way he Could get rid of it or have salvation would be to Come forward & have his head Cut off & spill his Blood upon the ground. It would also take the life of his Children.” (Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, Vol. 4, p. 97)
1854 Brigham Young -Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p. 143.
When all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then it will be time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his posterity. He deprived his brother of the privilege of pursuing his journey through life, and of extending his kingdom by multiplying upon the earth; and because he did this, he is the last to share the joys of the kingdom of God
1856 Brigham Young -Journal of Discourses, 4:39-40 (Aug 31,)
It is not the prerogative of the President of the United States to meddle with this matter, and Congress is not allowed, according to the [p.40] Constitution, to legislate upon it. If Utah was admitted into the Union as a sovereign State, and we chose to introduce slavery here, it is not their business to meddle with it; and even if we treated our slaves in an oppressive manner, it is still none of their business and they ought not to meddle with it.
Brigham Young- Journal of Discourses, October 7, 1857, vol. 5, p. 332.
I feel to bless this people, and they are a God-blessed people. Look at them, and see the difference from their condition a few years ago! Brethren who have been on missions, can you see any difference in this people from the time you went away until your return? [Voices: "Yes."] You can see men and women who are sixty or seventy years of age looking young and handsome; but let them apostatize, and they will become gray-haired, wrinkled, and black, just like the Devil.
The Way to Perfection, by Joseph Fielding Smith, p. 101, Genealogical Society of Utah, 1935.
Not only was Cain called upon to suffer [for killing Abel], but because of his wickedness he became the father of an inferior race. . . . Millions of souls have come into this world cursed with a black skin and have been denied the privilege of Priesthood and the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel. These are the descendants of Cain
Mormon Apostle Pratt, on the superiority of the Mormons over “Fallen Nations”, including Africans: (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 1, p. 63)
“…among the Saints is the most likely place for these spirits to take their tabernacles, through a just and righteous parentage. They are sent to THAT PEOPLE THAT ARE THE MOST RIGHTEOUS OF ANY OTHER PEOPLE UPON THE EARTH;…THIS IS THE REASON THE LORD IS SENDING THEM HERE,… “The Lord has not kept them in store for five or six thousand years past, and kept them waiting for their bodies all this time to send them among the Hottentots, the African negroes, the idolatrous Hindoos, or any other of the fallen nations that dwell upon the face of this earth. They are not kept in reserve in order to come forth to receive such a degraded parentage upon the earth; no, the Lord is not such a being; His justice, goodness, and mercy will be magnified towards those who were chosen before they were born; and they long to come, and they will come among the Saints of the living God; this would be their highest pleasure and joy, to know that they could have the privilege of being born of such noble parentage.”
Race Problems—As They Affect the Church, speech by Apostle Mark E. Petersen, BYU, August 27, 1954.
We must not inter-marry with the Negro. Why? If I were to marry a Negro woman and have children by her, my children would all be cursed as to the priesthood. . . . If there is one drop of Negro blood in my children, as I have read to you, they receive the curse ……
LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, son-in-law of President Joseph Fielding Smith - Mormon Doctrine, pp. 476-477, 1958 edition; p. 527 in the second edition in 1966).
Those who were less valiant in pre-existence and who thereby had certain spiritual restrictions imposed upon them during mortality are known to us as the Negroes. Such spirits are sent to earth through the lineage of Cain, the mark put upon him for his rebellion against God and his murder of Abel being a black skin .
Church leader Bruce R. McConkie, on the denial of equality for Africans: (Mormon Doctrine, 1958, p. 477
“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…”
(1931) The Way to Perfection, page 101.Future President of the Mormon church, Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:
“Not only was Cain called upon to suffer, but because of his wickedness HE BECAME THE FATHER OF AN INFERIOR RACE.”
Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:61, 65-66.
“There is a reason why one man is BORN BLACK and with OTHER DISADVANTAGES, while another is BORN WHITE with great advantages. The reason is that we once had an estate before we came here, and were obedient; more or less, to the laws that were given us there. Those who were faithful in all things there [pre-existence] received greater blessings here, and those who were not faithful received less. . . . 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”
Times and Seasons, Vol. 6, page 857.Besides a black skin, Africans have a black heart, according to Mormon publication Times and Seasons, edited by future prophet John Taylor:
“The descendants of Ham, besides A BLACK SKIN which has ever been a curse that has followed an apostate of the holy priesthood, as well as a BLACK HEART, have been servants to both Shem and Japheth, and the ABOLITIONISTS ARE TRYING TO MAKE VOID THE CURSE OF GOD, BUT IT WILL REQUIRE MORE POWER THAN MAN POSSESSES TO COUNTERACT THE DECREES OF ETERNAL WISDOM.”
Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 26, page 635.Mormon Publication claims that sinners turn dark:
“From this it is very clear that the mark which was set upon the descendants of Cain was a SKIN OF BLACKNESS, and there can be no doubt that this was the mark that Cain himself received; in fact, 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.”
Millennial Star, Vol. 14, page 418.Scrubbing the Mark .Dark skin is God’s mark and even with help from his white friends, an African can’t scrub it off:
“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;…”
Race Problems–As They Affect The Church,
LDS Apostle Mark E. Petersen, address given at the Convention of Teachers of Religion on the College Level, delivered at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, August 27, 1954.
Is there reason then why the type of birth we receive in this life is not a reflection of our worthiness or lack of it in the pre-existent life? …can we account in any other way for the birth of some of the children of God in darkest Africa, or in flood-ridden China, or among the starving hordes of India, while some of the rest of us are born here in the united States? We cannot escape the conclusion that because of performance in our pre-existence some of us are born as Chinese, some as Japanese, some as latter-day Saints. These are rewards and punishments, fully in harmony with His established policy in dealing with sinners and saints, rewarding all according to their deeds…
Let us consider the great mercy of god for a moment. A Chinese, born in China with a dark skin, and with all the handicaps of that race seems to have little opportunity. But think of the mercy of God to Chinese people who are willing to accept the gospel. In spite of whatever they might have done in the pre-existence to justify being born over there as Chinamen, if they now, in this life, accept the gospel and live it the rest of their lives they can have the Priesthood, go to the temple and receive endowments and sealings, and that means they can have exaltation. Isn’t the mercy of God marvelous?
“Think of the Negro, CURSED AS TO THE PRIESTHOOD…. This Negro, who, in the pre-existence lived the type of life which justified the Lord in sending him to the earth in the lineage of Cain with a BLACK SKIN, and possibly being born in darkest Africa—if that Negro is willing when he hears the gospel to accept it, he may have many of the blessings of the gospel. IN SPITE OF ALL HE DID IN THE PRE-EXISTENT LIFE, the Lord is willing, if the Negro accepts the gospel with real, sincere faith, and is really converted, to give him the blessings of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. If that Negro is faithful all his days, he can and will enter the celestial kingdom. He will go there AS A SERVANT, but he will get celestial glory.”
“…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. …when He cursed the descendants of Cain as to the Priesthood, He engaged in segregation… Who placed the Negroes originally darkest Africa? Was it some man, or was it God? and when He placed them there, he segregated them… The Lord segregated the people both a to blood and place of residence. At least in the cases of the Lamanites {Native Americans} and the Negroes we have the definite Word of the Lord Himself that He placed a dark skin upon them as a curse – as a punishment and as a sign to all others.”
“The discussion on civil rights, especially over the last 20 years, has drawn some very sharp lines. It has blinded the thinking of some of our own people, I believe. They have allowed their political affiliations to color their thinking to some extent, and then, of course, they have been persuaded by some of the arguments that have been put forth…. We who teach in the Church certainly must have our feet on the ground and not be led astray by the philosophies of men on this subject… “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. From this, and other interviews I have read, it appears that the Negro seeks absorption with the white race. He will not be satisfied until he achieves it by intermarriage. That is his objective and we must face it. We must not allow our feeling to carry us away, nor must we feel so sorry for Negroes that we will open our arms and embrace them with everything we have. Remember the little statement that we used to say about sin, ‘First we pity, then endure, then embrace.’…
“Now we are generous with the Negro. We are willing that the Negro have the highest kind of 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, I think the Lord segregated the Negro and who is man to change that segregation? It reminds me of the scripture on marriage, ‘what God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.’ Only here we have the reverse of the thing— WHAT GOD HATH SEPARATED, LET NOT MAN BRING TOGETHER AGAIN.”
(Apostle Mark E. Petersen – Brigham Young University in 1954 concerning race relations )
(Spencer W. Kimball, “The Day of the Lamanites,” Improvement Era, Dec. 1960, pp. 922-923, 925, emphasis added).
Spencer W. Kimball taught that Indians were becoming white !
I saw a striking contrast in the progress of the Indian people today…they are fast becoming a white and delightsome people… 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. 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 sixteen-year-old 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 joked that he and his companion were donating blood regularly to the hospital in the hope that the process might be accelerated.
… Not only the southwest Indians, but Lamanites in general, are facing an open door to education, culture, refinement, progress, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church has spent its millions in Hawaii and New Zealand and other islands to provide schools for the young Lehites. Surely no descendants need go now without an education, and schools
Brigham Young -Journal of Discourses, 16:161.
“I am here to give this people, called Latter-day Saints, counsel to direct them in the path of life…If there is any elder here, or any member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who can bring up the first idea, the first sentence that I have delivered to the people as counsel that is wrong, I really wish they would do it; but they cannot do it, for the simple reason that I have never given counsel that is wrong; this is the reason.”
The Apostle (later The Prophet) John Taylor, official Church Publication “Times and Seasons”, Vol. 6, page 857 . Hams descendants have a Black Heart too.
“The descendants of Ham, besides a back skin which has ever been a curse that has followed an apostate of the holy priesthood, as well as a black heart, have been servants to both Shem and Japheth, and the abolitionists are trying to make void the curse of God, but it will require more than man posseses to counteract the decree of Eternal wisdom.”
Abolitionists are Nigger Stealers
Journal of Discourses, Vol. 5, page 119. John Taylor, who became the third President of the Mormon Church, had this to say concerning the abolitionist Horace Greeley after Mr. Greeley visited Utah:
“… I WOULD NOT TALK TO HIM: I FELT MYSELF SUPERIOR TO SUCH A MEAN CONTEMPTIBLE CUR. I knew he was not after truth, but falsehood. “This Greeley is one of their popular characters in the East, and one that supports the stealing of NIGGERS and the underground railroad….he is one of the prominent newspaper editors in the Eastern country, and he is a POOR, MISERABLE CURSE.”
Journal of Discourses, Vol. 10, page 110. While giving sermons, Brigham Young had these things to say about the abolutionists:
“The rank, rabid ABOLITIONISTS, whom I call BLACK-HEARTED Republicans, have set the whole national fabric on fire.”
(The Color Line, pp. 7-12)” (First Year Book in the Seventy’s Course in Theology, pages 231-233) As part of a church instructional manual, Mormon church Historian B.H. Roberts, quoted from William B. Smith:
“Perhaps the most convincing book in JUSTIFICATION of the south in DENYING TO THE NEGRO RACE SOCIAL EQUALITY with the white race is the one written by William Benjamin Smith, entitled The Color Line, A Brief in Behalf of the Unborn, from which the following is a quotation:
“’Here, then, is laid bare the news of the whole matter: Is the south JUSTIFIED in this ABSOLUTE DENIAL OF SOCIAL EQUALITY to the NEGRO, no matter what his (personal) virtues or abilities or accomplishments? “’We affirm, then that the south is ENTIRELY RIGHT in thus keeping open at all times, at all hazards, and at all sacrifices an IMPASSIBLE SOCIAL CHASM BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE. This she must do in behalf of her blood, her essence, of the stock of her Caucasian race…. The moment the bar of ABSOLUTE SEPERATION is thrown down in the south, that moment the bloom of her spirit is BLIGHTED FOREVER,… That the negro is MARKEDLY INFERIOR to the Caucasian is proved both craniologically and by six thousand years of planet-wide experimentation; and that the commingling of INFERIOR with SUPERIOR must lower the higher is just as certain as that the half-sum of two and six is only four.’
(Mormon Doctrine, 1958, pp. 107-108) Church leader Bruce R. McConkie claims that a human caste system is part of the gospel:
“Certainly the caste systems in communist countries and in India, for instance, are man made and are not based on true principles. “However, in a broad sense, CASTE SYSTEMS have their ROOT and ORIGIN in the GOSPEL itself, and when they operate according to the DIVINE DECREE, the resultant restrictions and SEGREGATION ARE RIGHT AND PROPER AND HAVE THE APPROVAL OF THE LORD. To illustrate: Cain, Ham, and the whole negro race HAVE BEEN CURSED WITH A BLACK SKIN, the mark of Cain, so they can be identified as a CASTE APART, a people with whom the other descendants of Adam should not intermarry.”
(Deseret News, December 14, 1963)The Mormon church owned Deseret News printed apostle and future prophet Ezra Taft Benson’s words concerning civil rights:
“LOGAN, UTAH—Former agriculture secretary Ezra Taft Benson charged Friday night that the CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT in the South had been ‘FOMENTED ALMOST ENTIRELY BY THE COMMUNISTS.’ “Elder Benson, a member of the Council of the Twelve of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said in a speech at a public meeting here that the WHOLE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT WAS ‘PHONY.’…
“’The whole slogan of ‘civil right’ as used to make trouble in the South today, is an exact parallel to the slogan of agrarian reform’ which they used in China,’ he added….
“’The pending ‘civil rights’ legislation is, I am convinced, about 10 per cent civil rights and 90 per cent a further extension of socialistic federal controls,’ Elder Benson said, ‘It is part of the PATTERN FOR THE COMMUNIST TAKE-OVER OF AMERICA.’“
(Salt Lake Tribune,April 7, 1965, p. A-5) At the 135th annual conference of the Mormon church, Apostle Ezra taft Benson continued his diatribe:
“’What are we doing to fight it? BEFORE I LEFT FOR EUROPE I WARNED HOW THE COMMUNISTS WERE USING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT TO PROMOTE REVOLUTION AND EVENTUAL TAKEOVER OF THIS COUNTRY. WHEN ARE WE GOING TO WAKE UP? WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE DANGEROUS CIVIL RIGHTS AGITATION IN MISSISSIPPI? DO YOU FEAR THE DESTRUCTION OF ALL VESTIGES OF STATE GOVERNMENT? “’NOW, BRETHREN, THE LORD NEVER PROMISED THERE WOULD NOT BE TRAITORS IN THE CHURCH. WE HAVE THE IGNORANT, THE SLEEPY AND THE DECEIVED WHO PROVIDE TEMPTATIONS AND AVENUES OF APOSTACY FOR THE UNWARY AND THE UNFAITHFUL. BUT WE HAVE A PROPHET AT OUR HEAD AND HE HAS SPOKEN. NOW WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? Do Homework “’Brethren, if we had done our homework and were faithful we could step forward at this time and help save this country.”
Slavery – A Divine Institution
(History of the Church, by Joseph Smith, Vol. 2, pages 436-438)A letter written by Joseph Smith, the first Mormon prophet, to the Messenger and Advocate, an early Mormon newspaper, deriding those who would end slavery. Later, this letter was printed in “History of the Church”:
“DEAR SIR: —This place (Kirtland) having recently been visited by a gentleman who advocated the principles or doctrines of those who are called ABOLITIONISTS, and his presence having created an interest in that subject, if you deem the following reflections of any service, or think they will have a tendency to correct the opinions of the Southern public,…you are at liberty to give them publicity… I FEAR that the sound might go out, that ‘an Abolitionist’ had held forth several times to this community,…all, except a very few, attended to their own vocations, and left the gentleman to hold forth his own arguments to nearly naked walls. I am aware that many, who PROFESS to preach the Gospel, complain against their brethren of the same faith, who reside in the South, and are ready to withdraw the hand of fellowship, because they will not renounce the principle of slavery, and raise their voice against every thing of the kind. This must be a tender point, and one which should call forth the candid reflections of all men, and more especially before they advance in an opposition calculated to lay waste the fair states of the South, and let loose upon the world a community of people, who might, peradventure, OVERRUN OUR COUNTRY, AND VIOLATE THE MOST SACRED PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN SOCIETY, CHASTITY AND VIRTUE…. I do not believe that the people of the North have any more right to say that the South shall not hold slaves, than the South have to say the North shall. “How any community can ever be excited with the CHATTER of such persons, boys and others, who are too indolent to obtain their living by honest industry, and are incapable of pursuing any occupation of a professional nature, is unaccountable to me; and when I see persons in the free states, signing documents against slavery, it is no less, in my mind, than an army of influence, and a DECLARATION OF HOSTILITIES, against the people of the South. What course can sooner divide our union? “After having expressed myself so freely upon this subject, I do not doubt, but those who have been forward in raising their voices against the South, will cry out against me as being uncharitable, unfeeling, unkind, and wholly unacquainted with the Gospel of Christ….the first mention we have of SLAVERY is found in the Holy Bible,… And so far from that prediction being averse to the mind of God, it remains as a lasting monument of the DECREE OF JEHOVAH, to the shame and confusion of all who HAVE CRIED OUT against the South, in consequence of their holding the sons of Ham in SERVITUDE…. I can say, the CURSE IS NOT YET TAKEN OFF FROM THE SONS OF CANAAN, neither will be until it is affected by as great a power as caused it to come; and the people who INTERFERE THE LEAST WITH THE PURPOSES OF GOD in this matter, will come under the LEAST CONDEMNATION BEFORE HIM; and those who are determined to pursue a course, which shows an opposition, and a feverish restlessness against the DECREES OF THE LORD, will learn, when perhaps it is too late for their own good, that God can do his own work, without the aid of those who are not dictated by His counsel.”
(Messenger and Advocate, Vol. 2, pp. 299-301)
“Where can be the common sense of any wishing to see the slaves of the south set at liberty,… Such a thing could not take place without corrupting all civil and wholesome society, of both the north and the south! Let the BLACKS of the south be free, and our community is overrun with paupers, and a reckless mass of human beings, uncultivated, untaught and unaccustomed to provide for themselves the necessaries of life— endangering the chastity of every female who might by chance be found in our streets—our prisons filled with convicts, and the HANG-MAN WEARIED with executing the functions of his office! This must unavoidably be the case, every rational man must admit, who has ever travelled in the slave states, or we must open our houses unfold our arms, and bid these DEGRADED AND DEGRADING sons of Canaan, a hear[t]y welcome and a free admittance to all we possess! A society of this nature, to us, is so intolerably DEGRADING, that the bare reflection causes our feelings to recoil, and our hearts to revolt….the project of EMANSIPATION IS DESTRUCTIVE TO OUR GOVERNMENT, and the notion of amalgamation is devilish!— And insensible to feeling must be the heart, and low indeed must be the mind, that would consent for a moment, to see his fair daughter, his sister, or perhaps, his bosom companion, in the embrace of a NEGRO!…
Mormon Doctrine, p. 102. Also from McConkie: Cain was an associate of Lucifer and is the Father of the Negros.
“Though he was a rebel and AN ASSOCIATE OF LUCIFER IN PRE-EXISTENCE, and though he was a liar from the beginning whose name was Perdition, CAIN MANAGED TO ATTAIN THE PRIVILEGE OF MORTAL BIRTH. Under Adam’s tutelage, he began in this life to serve God….he came out in open rebellion, fought God, worshiped Lucifer, and slew Abel…. “As a result of his rebellion, 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 through his lineage. He became the first mortal to be cursed as a son of perdition. As a result of his mortal birth he is assured of a tangible body of flesh and bones in eternity, a fact which will enable him to RULE over SATAN.”
Blacks Have Dishonorable Bodies
(Speech of Elder Orson Hyde, delivered before the High Priests’ Quorum, in Nauvoo. April 27th, 1845, printed in Liverpool, page 30) Apostle Orson Hyde taught that some people don’t receive an “honourable body” because they sided with the Devil in a previous life:
“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 HONOURABLE BODY on this earth: but it came to pass that Ham, the son of Noah, saw the nakedness of his father while he lay drunk in his tent, and he with ‘wicked joy,’ ran like Rigdon, and made the wonderful disclosure to his brethren; while Shem and Japheth took a garment, with pity and compassion, laid it upon their shoulders—went backwards and covered their father,… The conduct of the former BROUGHT THE CURSE OF SLAVERY upon him, while that of the latter secured blessings, jurisdiction, power and dominion….Canaan, the son of Ham, received the curse; for Noah wished to place the curse as remote from himself as possible. He therefore placed it upon his grandson instead of his son. Now, it would seem cruel to force PURE celestial spirits into the world through the lineage of Canaan that had been cursed. This would be ill appropriate, putting the PRECIOUS and VILE together. But those spirits in heaven that rather LENT AN INFLUENCE to the DEVIL, thinking he had a little the best right to govern, but did not take a very active part any way were required to come into the world and take bodies information concerning the doctrine of pre-existence: “Is there reason then why the type of birth we receive in this life is not in the ACCURSED lineage of Canaan; and hence the NEGRO or African race.”
The Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 3, page 157 From a Mormon Publication:
“Their skin is quite black, their hair woolly and black, THEIR INTELLIGENCE STUNTED, and they appear never to have arisen from the most savage state of barbarism.”
(Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 3, page 157) Mormon Publication on God’s preference for white skin:
“We will first inquire into the results of the approbation or DISPLEASURE OF GOD UPON A PEOPLE, starting with the belief that A BLACK SKIN IS A MARK OF THE CURSE OF HEAVEN PLACED UPON SOME PORTIONS OF MANKIND. Some, however, will argue that a black skin is not a curse, nor a white skin a blessing. In fact, some have been so foolish as to believe and say that a black skin is a blessing, and that the negro is the finest type of a perfect man that exists on the earth; but to us such teachings are foolishness. We understand that when God made man in his own image and pronounced him very good, that he made him white. We have no record of any of God’s favored servants being of a black race….every angel who ever brought a message of God’s mercy to man was beautiful to look upon, clad in the purest white and with a countenance BRIGHT as the noonday sun.”
(“For What Purpose?,” a talk given by Alvin R. Dyer at the Missionary Conference in Oslo, Norway, March 18, 1961, printed in The Negro in Mormon Theology, pp. 48-58) Mormon General Authority Alvin R. Dyer teaching missionaries in Norway why they are white:
“We have talked a lot about missionary work and heard the testimonies of those who have spoken. I want to talk to you a little bit now about something that is not missionary work, and what I say is NOT to be given to your investigators by any matter of means…. Why is it that you are white and not colored? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Who had anything to do with your being born into the Church and not born a Chinese or a Hindu, or a Negro? Is God such an unjust person that He would make you white and free and make a Negro CURSED under the CURSING OF CAIN that he sould not hold the Priesthood of God?…“I want to talk to you just briefly about this, not with any information that you would convey to your investigators, but that you, yourselves, may have a better understanding of what we are doing in the mission field today… There were three divisions of mankind in the pre-existence, and when you are born into this life, you are born into one of these three divisions of people. There is an imposed judgment placed upon everyone who leaves the Spirit World just the same as there will be when they leave this life and go into one of three places. When they left the Spirit World, they had already been judged by what they had done in the Spirit World and in their previous life. From what judgment is determined how they shall be born in this life? When you understand that, you know that God is not unjust to cause a righteous spirit to be born as a CURSED member of the BLACK RACE or to be CURSED as one of the other people who have been CURSED. Everything is in order. The procreation of man is orderly and in accordance with the plan of life and salvation. “In keeping with this thought, when Noah went into the Ark, here again he took with him his three sons—one representing the CURSED LINEAGE…. Those who have been cursed in the pre-existence were born through this lineage of Ham. “I suppose, and you may have often heard missionaries say it or have asked the question: Why is a Negro a Negro? And, you have heard this answer. ‘Well, they must have been neutral in the pre-existence or they must have straddled the fence. That is the most common saying—they were neither hot nor cold, so the Lord made them Negroes. This, of course, is not true. The reason that spirits are born into Negro bodies is because those spirits rejected the Priesthood of God in the pre-existence. This is the reason why you have Negroes upon the earth. “You will observe that when Cain was influenced by the power of Lucifer to follow him…Cain rejected the counsel of God. He rejected again the Priesthood as his forebearers had done in the pre-existence. Therefore, the curse of the pre-existence was made institute through the loins of Cain. Consequently, you have the beginning of the race of men and women into which would be born those in the pre-existence who had rejected the Priesthood of God….Ham reinstated the curse of the pre-existence when he rejected the Priesthood of Noah, and in consequence of that he preserved the curse on the earth. Therefore, the Negroes to be born thereafter, or those who were to become Negroes, were to be born through the loins of Ham. “All of this is according to a well worked-out plan, that these millions and billions of spirits awaiting birth in the pre-existence would be born through a channel or race of people. Consequently, the cursed were to be born through Ham…. The cursed people are the descendants of Ham. The chosen people are the descendants of Shem… Through these lineages thespirits that compare with their station are born in this life. This is why you have colored people, why you have dark people and why you have white people…. “I don’t know whether the knowledge or the revelation of these things will have an effect upon you as a missionary, but I know that it has an effect upon me,…the day will come when you know who you are, because you are a person of nobility. You may not fully know that now, but you were a person of nobility in the pre-existence. If you were not, you would have been born into one of these other channels, and you would not have been born in this day and age, because the Lord has withheld the CHOICE spirits of the pre-existence to come forth in this, the last dispensation,… I wanted you to know the reason why you are preaching the Gospel. There is a purpose behind it and knowing this as you do and knowing your NOBILITY—what kind of a missionary are you going to be from this day to the end of your mission?… “I have always thought and have proven the point many times that if you will place into the mind of a boy or a girl, firmly, that they are noble persons born of noble heritage in the pre-existence, they will never stoop to anything that is sordid…. I have made known to you today something you may not have known before, but you know them now because the Spirit bears record. “May the Lord bless you in it and bless you with this knowledge. I bear record of its truthfulness in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”
Conference Reports, CR April 1939, Second Day-Morning Meeting: Elder George F. Richards
“The negro is an unfortunate man. He has been given a black skin….But that is as nothing compared with that greater handicap that he is not permitted to receive the Priesthood and the ordinances of the temple, necessary to prepare men and women to enter into and enjoy a fulness of glory in the celestial kingdom….What is the reason for this condition, we ask, and I find it to my satisfaction to think that as spirit children of our Eternal Father they were not valiant in the fight. We are told that Michael and his angels fought, and we understand that we stood with Christ our Lord, on the platform, “Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.” I cannot conceive our Father consigning his children to a condition such as that of the negro race, if they had been valiant in the spirit world in that war in heaven. Neither could they have been a part of those who rebelled and were cast down, for the latter had not the privilege of tabernacling in the flesh. Somewhere along the line were these spirits, indifferent perhaps, and possibly neutral in the war. We have no definite knowledge concerning this. But I learn this lesson from it, brethren and sisters, and I believe we all should, that it does not pay in religious matters, matters that pertain to our eternal salvation, to be indifferent, neutral, or lukewarm.”
Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, All Are Alike Unto God
There are statements in our literature by the early Brethren that we have interpreted to mean that the Negroes would not receive the priesthood in mortality. I have said the same things, and people write me letters and say, “You said such and such, and how is it now that we do such and such?” All I can say is that it is time disbelieving people repented and got in line and believed in a living, modern prophet. Forget everything that I have said, or what President Brigham Young or George Q. Cannon or whoever has said in days past that is contrary to the present revelation. We spoke with a limited understanding and without the light and knowledge that now has come into the world.
It doesn’t make a particle of difference what anybody ever said about the Negro matter before the first day of June 1978. It is a new day and a new arrangement, and the Lord has now given the revelation that sheds light out into the world on this subject. As to any slivers of light or any particles of darkness of the past, we forget about them. We now do what meridian Israel did when the Lord said the gospel should go to the Gentiles. We forget all the statements that limited the gospel to the house of Israel, and we start going to the Gentiles.
We get our truth and light line upon line and precept upon precept (2 Ne. 28:30; Isa. 28:9-10; D&C 98:11-12; 128:21). We have now added a new flood of intelligence and light on this particular subject, and it erases all the darkness and all the views and all the thoughts of the past. They don’t matter anymore.
EXCERPTS FROM THREE ADDRESSES BY
PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF
REGARDING THE MANIFESTO
The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty. (Sixty-first Semiannual General Conference of the Church, Monday, October 6, 1890, Salt Lake City, Utah. Reported in Deseret Evening News, October 11, 1890, p. 2.)
The “60 Minutes” program on the LDS Church
Broadcast on CBS TV, April 7, 1996
Gordon B. Hinckley interview
Mike Wallace: From 1830 to 1978, blacks could not become priests in the Mormon church. Right?
Gordon B. Hinckley: That’s correct.
Mike Wallace: Why?
Gordon B. Hinckley: Because the leaders of the church at that time interpreted that doctrine that way.
Mike Wallace: Church policy had it that blacks had the mark of Cain. Brigham Young said, “Cain slew his brother, and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin.”
Gordon B. Hinckley: It’s behind us. Look, that’s behind us. Don’t worry about those little flecks of history.
Darron Smith, a black convert, wrote:
. . . even though the priesthood ban was repealed in 1978, the discourse that constructs what blackness means is still very much intact today. . . . Hence there are Church members today who continue to summon and teach at every level of Church education the racial discourse that blacks are descendants of Cain, that they merited lesser earthly privilege because they were “fence-sitters” in the War in Heaven, and that, science and climatic factors aside, there is a link between skin color and righteousness. . . .
Further anchoring the early LDS appropriation of negative notions concerning blackness are several Book of Mormon teachings that associate dark skin with that which is vile, filthy, and evil, and white skin with that which is delightsome, pure, and good. . .
I did not find out about the priesthood ban on blacks until after I had joined the Church, and, sadly, I passed on much of the folklore while serving an LDS mission in Michigan. Looking back on that experience, I venture to say that had I known about such teachings in the Church, I might not have joined. . . .
Blacks who do move toward Mormonism should not be made to feel that blackness is synonymous with curses, marks, or indifference. And this can be accomplished only by a formal repudiation, in no uncertain terms, of all teachings about Cain, the pre-mortal unworthiness of spirits born to black bodies, and any idea that skin color is connected to righteousness (“The Persistence of Racialized Discourse in Mormonism,” by Darron Smith, Sunstone, March 2003, pp. 31-33).
Gordon B. Hinckley ……. 176th Annual General Conference
“I remind you that no man who makes disparaging remarks concerning those of another race can consider himself a true disciple of Christ, nor can he consider himself to be in harmony with the teachings of the Church of Christ. How can any man, holding the Melchizedek Priesthood, arrogantly assume that he is eligible for the Priesthood while another who lives a righteous life but whose skin is of a different color is ineligible.”
Alexander B. Morrison, “‘No More Strangers’,” Ensign, Sep 2000, 16
Racism is an offense against God and a tool in the devil’s hands.
“How grateful I am that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has from its beginnings stood strongly against racism in any of its malignant manifestations.”
He also said in the same talk
“President Spencer W. Kimball stated the Church’s position well: “We do wish that there would be no racial prejudice. … Racial prejudice is of the devil. … There is no place for it in the gospel of Jesus Christ” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 236–37).
Joseph Fielding Smith Answers to Gospel Questions 4:170. (1957-1966).
, “The Latter-day Saints have no animosity towards the Negro. Neither have they described him as belonging to an `inferior race’“
The Way to Perfection, page 101, Joseph Fielding Smith wrote(1931)
“Not only was Cain called upon to suffer, but because of his wickedness he became the father of an inferior race.”
By: Hyrum L. Andrus, Doctrinal Commentary on the Pearl of Great Price, p.406 – 407 (1998)
“The position of the Church regarding the Negro may be understood when another doctrine of the Church is kept in mind; namely, that the conduct of spirits in the pre-mortal existence has some determining effect upon the conditions and circumstances under which these spirits take on mortality, and that while the details of the principle have not been made known, the principle itself indicates that the coming to this earth and taking on mortality is a privilege that is given to those who maintain their first estate; and that the worth of the principle is so great that spirits are willing to come to earth and take on bodies no matter what the handicap may be as to the kind of bodies they are to secure; and that among the handicaps, failure of the right to enjoy in mortality the blessings of the priesthood, is a handicap which spirits are willing to assume in order that they might come to earth. Under this principle there is no injustice whatsoever involved in this deprivation as to the holding of the Priesthood by Negroes.”
Book Of Mormon Teachings – Black/White Skin
1 Nephi 11: 13 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the great city of Jerusalem, and also other cities. And I beheld the city of Nazareth; and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white.
Lamenites turn Black
1 Nephi 12: 23 And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.
2 Nephi 5:21 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.
Alma 3:6 And 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 and their rebellion against their brethren, who consisted of Nephi, Jacob, and Joseph, and Sam, who were just and holy men
Jacob 3:5, Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.
8 O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that their skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God.
Mormon. 5: 15 And also that the seed of this people may more fully believe his gospel, which shall go forth unto them from the Gentiles; for this people shall be scattered, and shall become a dark, a filthy, and a loathsome people, beyond the description of that which ever hath been amongst us, yea, even that which hath been among the Lamanites, and this because of their unbelief and idolatry.
Skin Colour Changes - It happened before to the Children of Cain
Moses 7: 8 For behold, the Lord shall curse the land with much heat, and the barrenness thereof shall go forth forever; and there was a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan, that they were despised among all people.
Lamenites turn white again !
2 Nephi 30: 6 And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and a delightsome people.
Pure – changed from ‘White’ pre 78 revelation
3 Nephi 2:15 And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites;
Alma 3: 14 Thus the word of God is fulfilled, for these are the words which he said to Nephi: Behold, the Lamanites have I cursed, and I will set a mark on them that they and their seed may be separated from thee and thy seed, from this time henceforth and forever, except they repent of their wickedness and turn to me that I may have mercy upon them.
1Nephi13: 15 And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, and they did prosper and aobtain the bland for their inheritance; and I beheld that they were white, and exceedingly fair and cbeautiful, like unto my people before they were dslain.
Moses 7: 22 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.
21 Now this king of Egypt was a descendant from the aloins of bHam, and was a partaker of the blood of the cCanaanites by birth.
22 From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the aCanaanites was preserved in the land.
23 The land of aEgypt being first discovered by a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus, which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden;
24 When this woman discovered the land it was under water, who afterward settled her sons in it; and thus, from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land.
25 Now the first agovernment of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal.
26 Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that aorder 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 bblessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood.
27 Now, Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of aPriesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain bclaim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry;
Moses7: 8 For behold, the Lord shall curse the land with much heat, and the barrenness thereof shall go forth forever; and there was a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan, that they were despised among all people.
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First Presidency said it was DOCTRINE |
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Date: |
Jun 07 14:00 |
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Author: |
Richard Packham |
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Mail Address: |
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On August 17, 1951, the First Presidency made an official statement on the “Negro question”: “The attitude of the Church with reference to Negroes remains as it has always stood. It is NOT a matter of the declaration of a POLICY but of direct commandment from the the Lord, on which is founded the DOCTRINE of the Church from the day of its organization, to the effect that Negroes may become members of the Church but that they are not entitled to the Priesthood at the present time.” [emphasis added] In a widely circulated letter to Dr. Lowry Nelson, the First Presidency wrote in 1947: “From the days of the Prophet Joseph even until now, it has been the DOCTRINE of the Church, never questioned by any of the Church leaders, that the Negroes are not entitled to the full blessings of the Gospel.” [emphasis added] The citations are from John L. Lund’s book “The Church and the Negro,” 1967. pp 88-89. I guess the First Presidency in those days really didn’t know what was doctrine and what was not. |
